Elder Jack Lauck Winn

My future is bright. I know who I am, what my purpose is, and where I am going.

2010-09-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

I should be packing

or cleaning

but instead I am doing a lot of reflecting.

This envelope came towards the end of May bearing the name

Elder Jack Lauck Winn

and it sat on the mantle for what seemed like forever,

waiting for family and friends to assemble.

Opening this envelope began the 2 year 4 month adventure that is about to come

to it's conclusion.

There are no words to describe what I am feeling.

This last email from Elder Winn will always be one that I will treasure.

In it he bore a testimony gained through sacrifice, prayer and service.

It expresses beautifully what is in my heart as well.

Amen my son, amen.

this is a sad and a happy moment.

Hey everyone!

Well, this is the moment that we have been waiting for. With excitement, yet a little bit of sadness, i can tell you guys that this will be my very last email i send home as a missionary. =0 As you guys can imagine, i have many mixed emotions about ending my mission. I truly have loved these two years serving the Lord. I have learned so much about the Gospel, and about life in general.

Well, this email is going to be different, because i am going to do Question Time first. Then, seeing how this is my last email, i will take a little bit of time to write my testimony.

So. Question time! Last one!

1. The hotels we booked all have free internet. I really want to bring my laptop but I am just so afraid of everyone's warnings.I would leave it in the room which I would think would be fairly safe. Do you think that it is a bad idea?

Well, it would be safe in the hotel. I imagine it would be safe. I have never been robbed here. But then again, this country is dangerous. So i dunno. If you bring it, make sure it doesn't have any bank information, or files that you don't want to lose. I doubt someone will rob us though.

2. If you answered yes to that question then are there places that I can go to use the internet that we could stop at everyday so that I can keep in touch and download pictures?

Yes. There are Internet places everywhere.

3. You said that the family you are staying with in Peten has 5 children? Are there really two 15 year old boys or was that a typo?

NO, one of them is adopted.

4. What could I bring 15 year old boys? Would it be stupid to bring a tie or a white shirt? Is the family pretty poor or do they have the basic necessities?

I think that would be a good idea. The family isn't poor, but everyone likes a shirt and tie.

5. Do you have the number of a Mormon taxi driver that can drive us around on Thursday to the mission office and anywhere else you want to go that day?

Yes, i have a few numbers.

6. We get in at like 11:30 so we could go somewhere to visit that afternoon. Do you have an idea where you would like to go that day?

Yes. There are some people we can visit that day.

7. So are you going to the airport with your group when they fly out? Do you have to wait around for us? Will you be alone?

Yeah, i will probably be there. I will probably go to the office, and wait until 11, and then go to the airport. It shouldn't be a problem.

8. Since it is conference weekend do you think that I might see Elder Smith to give him his box. Do the elders from the more outlying parts of the zone come in to Flores for conference. Will we be able to go listen somewhere and will it be in Spanish? (dumb question huh? lol)

Yes, you will see him. I think we will get to watch it in English too. That would be good for you guys. =)

9. Best/worst thing eaten.....next week we can answer that in person to each other. Why am I worried that there will be more worst things than best? Lol

The best thing i have eaten was pizza! We go together last Friday, because we were hitting 2 years that day. It was pretty fun. The worst thing i ate was a tamale. It was again, very gross.

10. Have you been practicing tell people that your awesome mother who is the best mother in the world is allergic pretty much to ALL type of food?

Lolol good luck when you come up here. =)

11. Any last requests on what to bring with us?

No, just pop-tarts. And a chicken biscuit

Well, now i would like to share a little bit of my testimony that i have acquired here on the mission. I am reminded of how Alma gained his testimony. Even though he saw an angel, the way he describes his testimony gaining process was by fasting and prayer. That is how i have gained my testimony as well. I have been able to see miracles, and great wonders here on my mission, but the real way i was able to gain my testimony was through simple and fervent fasting and prayer.

I know through personal revelation that God lives, and that He loves us. I know that He has a plan for each and every one of us, because we are His children. We have great potential, and I know that God is actively helping us become who we need to become. I know that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth, to atone and suffer for the sins of the world. I know that only through Him can we ever have the hope of coming back to live with our Heavenly Father. His Atonement made repentance possible, something we all need to be cleansed from our sins. I know that through repentance we can have the pains that we carry healed. That thought makes me very happy.

I also know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the face of the earth. It is true, because the priesthood authority was restored almost 200 years ago by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that he, at a young age, saw the Father and the Son, and that through him, the true Church of Christ was restored. That is something very important for me.

I also know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have been able to study it very well for the last two years. I have found many answers to my prayers through that book. I know that it has come unto us through the power of God, and that if we read it throughout our lives, the Lord will bless us, and we will be able to better understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I know that through the power of the priesthood, my family is sealed together for all eternity. What a reassuring and comforting truth. I know that only through the restored Gospel can we enjoy these blessings.

Leaving my mission will be sad for me, but i know that there are great things that lie ahead of me. I have developed a great love for the people i have served here in Guatemala.

My future is bright. I know who I am, what my purpose is, and where I am going.

I love my Savior. I know that He lives, and loves me.

I love my family. I know that they know that. I know that they love me as well.

And this, my last testimony as a missionary, i seal up, knowing full well that by it, at the last day, i will be judged. I have thrust my sickle with my might.

I say these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Love,

Elder Winn

Two years ago to the day

2010-09-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is two years ago.
Exactly.
The last picture taken of Jack and I together.
We look happy and we are..
but there is fear too.
Fear of the unknown.
uncharted territories.
New lands.
A week from today.
Exactly.
I will take another picture with my son.
The first picture in two years.
I wonder what our eyes will look like then.
I think I know.
Reunion eyes.
No fear...just joy.
I can't wait.

Hey guys!

So, pretty much this will be my last email. I guess i will be writing next Monday, but i will be seeing you guys very soon afterward. I am getting really excited to see you guys. Leaving the mission will be hard though. I have learned so much here, and i have barely felt the time. What a strange experience it will be to be home again. To be honest, i feel in many ways, that this country is my home. I have lived here for two years, as the people do, and i have grown to love it. I have gone through so many character building experiences. Some of my saddest and happiest moments have happened here on the mission.

Well, this week has been pretty good. This Tuesday Elder Dunkley, Pierce, and I wrote our final goals and experiences packet. That was an interesting experience. I have always watched my companions who were ending their missions write it, and it always felt like i would never be doing that. Then we had some tasty breakfast at Burger King.

We were not able to teach Gabriel this week, because he was out of town working. We did talk to his family though. They invited us over to eat tamales, and even though i hate tamales, it was great to have the invitation. This week, being my last week, i am going to be eating with the members almost every day. There’s a lot of people who are going to give us cake too. That will be fun.

Yesterday was an interesting day. It was very hot, as usual, and we had an extra meeting at the Church, which added a good 4 miles to the walking count. Anyways, almost all of our teaching appointments fell, which was a little discouraging. My companion and i sat on a rock to try and figure out what to do. I said a silent prayer, asking for the Spirit so that i could know where to go, and that the day could be a productive day. We got up and decided to go knocking doors. It didn't take more than two houses to find a man sitting on his porch. We contacted him and he let us in. We taught him about the purpose of live and then invited him to baptism. He accepted and seemed interested to learn more. After that visit we were prompted to visit a member in San Jose. Hours previously she had prayed to God, asking Him to help her know that she and her family were not alone. We were able to be the answer to her prayer.

Experiences like that are many in my mission. I know that this is the work of the Lord, because not only have i received specific answers to my own prayers, but i have been able to see other have their sincere prayers answered. Learning about prayer has been a great experience for me on my mission.

This Wednesday will be my last district meeting. I have really enjoyed the opportunity this last change to be a district leader. In a lot of ways i like it better than being zone leader. I feel like i have a more in depth influence on the missionaries in my district. I love preparing district meetings, because i find that i learn so much from it.

Well, I think it is time for Question time. There’s a lot of them this week.

Lets start with Dad’s

You said you thought you would meet us at the airport. Is that for certain? I guess I was expecting that we would need to take a taxi to your mission office and pick you up there. Will you please find out from President Torres where we should meet you? And what time?

Yeah, that is pretty for certain. The mission office is very close to the airport. I can get there in like 5 minutes. I just think it would be pretty difficult for you guys to get a taxi and explain where the mission office is when you cant speak Spanish. Lol

I’ll get the details planned out.

If we need to take a cab to your mission office, what is the best way to pay the cab driver? Will we need to get some U.S. dollars exchanged for Quets at the airport? I assume so. I doubt taxis are going to want to take U.S. dollars, right? Do any stores take U.S. currency?

You guys will need quets. In the taxis, you don't pay until after, so i could pay him myself when i meet you there. The only thing is that he will probably charge you guys more than double. I am pretty sure i will be able to meet you guys there.

1. That would be great if you met us at the airport but when will you know for sure?

Um, this week. Basically it’s for sure.

2. Can we still go to the mission office so that I can bring a package to Elder Mays and take some pictures for his mother?

Yes. I imagine you guys are going to want to meet president Torres as well.

3. When you said "hallmark candles" does it matter what brand of candle? Does it need to be a Yankee Candle?

It just needs to be one of those candles that come in the glass thing. It definitely doesn't need to be fancy. Lol

4. Should I bring a couple of them for anyone else?

That would be a pretty good idea.

5. What are the ages of the children in the place you are living right now? Boys or girls?

Girl Year and a half

Girl 7

Girl 12

Boy 15

7. Do you have some taxi drivers that are LDS lined up and their phone numbers?

Kind of. There’s always the bus too. Lol

No don't worry about it, i will get some people.

8. Are you going to buy a cell phone or two for us to use while we are there? How much money should I put in your account for that? Or do you want to wait until we get there?

There is a member that will let us borrow one for the week, so that’s taken care of.

10. Isn't your mom really prepared for this adventure and pretty awesome to boot?

Yes. So nerent to her

11. Best thing/worst thing eaten?? yeah I will keep asking this to the bitter end.

Lol

Best would be the burger king cini minis. And the chocolate pie.

The worst would be tamales. Those are constantly gross.

12. HOW IS YOUR EYE???

GOOD: NERENT TO YOU!

13. Are you sure you don't need me to bring any clothes for you or anything?

No. Just a chick fil a chicken biscuit and pop tarts!

14. NERENT??

Yes!

Well, this has been a great week, and i know that next week will also be a great week. It will be my last week, but i will continue to work hard to help these people that i love so dearly.

Thanks for all the emails and you love.

Love,

Elder Winn

Life in the eye of the storm

2010-09-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

I have written before that exactly two years ago we were cleaning up from a hurricane.
Hurricane Ike.
I really couldn't believe that something so devastating to our community was happening
right as I was preparing to send my son away for two years.
Everything had to be changed, rescheduled, or done a different way.
I worried and fretted about it,
but in the end it all worked out.
The irony is not lost on me that while I prepare for the trip to pick up my son
There is another storm approaching.
Tropical Storm Karl....at least for now
is heading for Guatemala and should make landfall by
tomorrow night.
Possible flash floods...
mostly in North Guatemala.
right where he is.
and after it finishes there it is headed my way...
of course.
But I am trying to remember the lessons learned
two years ago
in the eye of the storm.
Just have faith...
believe that it will all work out
and just
breathe.
See you soon son. :)

(Jack and his Dad cleaning up and surveying the damage from Hurricane Ike.)

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the emails. It’s good to know that you guys are doing well.

Today i am writing a little bit late because we went to Tikal a little bit last minute. It was fun, but i mostly spent the time talking with Elder Dunkley about our plans for after the mission. I didn't really take too much time to look around, because i figured that we would be seeing it in two weeks. I am very excited.

This week has been pretty good as always. We had our training conference, which once again inspired me to become a better missionary. We had a lot of great lessons this week. One of the items that we focused on was using the Spirit to know how to begin teaching a lesson.

We had two interesting lessons with two new investigators that we found. We were planning on teaching them both the same lesson, but the results turned out very differently. The first lesson we taught was to a man who was fairly skeptical about the Book of Mormon. At first his questions seemed like a sign of real interest and desire to learn, but we quickly learned otherwise. He began to attack the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. His argument, of course, had no validity, but his obstinacy impeded him from really knowing the truth. We tried to explain for awhile, but then we noticed that he was blind, not wanting to see, and deaf, not wanting to hear.

The other lesson we has was very different. We got to the house of a humble father with a true desire to be able to help his family find happiness. It was a very spiritual lesson, because he listened with an open heart, and we were all edified. He expressed the concerns of his heart, and we as missionaries followed the Spirit to be able to understand how best to address his needs through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All of us left the lesson happy.

Those were two very different lessons that we had, and i thought a lot about the different outcomes. I think it is crucial for us to find the people who are really willing to open their hearts. I know that there are a lot of people out there for us to find.

Well, on a different note, i think a flea bit me in the eye a week and a half ago, and its been bothering me somewhat. I’ll be glad to get away from all these fleas. IT gets old really quickly. Anyways, i talked to Hermana Torres and she told me to buy some antibiotic eye drops to put in my eyes for 5 days. Ive been doing so, but the horrible news is that i cant wear my contacts. I have been wearing glasses for 3 days now, and it drives me insane!! I hate glasses! I guess its a good thing that i have them though.

Lets see, what else happened. We are having some trouble getting people to come to church. We are trying really hard, but it is far to walk, and the bus costs 3 quets. I am trying to get the people to have sufficient faith to pay the bus fare. I guess i could have members come with their cars to pic them up, but that's what i did last time i was here, and the members stopped doing it when i left, which caused inactivation. This new approach is more difficult, but i think it will be worth it.

Oh, and that cool lesson we had, the mans name is Gabriel, and he is family of the lady we helped chop wood. That was the primary reason we were able to teach them. Service is great, and i love doing it. This week we went to clean a corn field, and to chop wood again. I always feel good when i serve. I want to have the opportunity to be able to serve when i get home as well.

Well i think it is question time!!!

2. Are you good with flying? 0=

Yes! =)
3. Do the dates sound like it gives you enough time in Peten?
yes, that World be plenty of time

4. Do you know if you are going to meet us at the mission office or the airport?
I'mprobably just going to take a taxi to the airport at 11 30 to meet you guys

5. Is there enough time in the capital to do all the visiting that you want?

I think. Theres alot to buy and see in the capital though.

6. Does you awesome mother sound both excited and scared? lol NERENT!
yes! Lol

7. Best thing/worst thing eaten this week....cmon only two more times to answer that one.

Best was definitely the burritos again, the worst was an egg that i cooked in a microwave. OH! You guys wont believe this one! The misión just got microwaves for everyone 2 weeks befote i leave!! Thats great.

8. Does President Torres have any directions or advice to give us about traveling with our missionary?

Not that i know of, i think we’re on our own. We will do just fine though =)

Well, i think that is all for today. It has been a great week, and i am still 100 percent dedicated to the service of the Lord. My time is running out, but i will serve these last two weeks with all the strength that i posses. Thanks for all the emails of encouragement and support. I love you guys very much, and pray for you daily.

Have a great week!

Love

Elder Winn

Oh Question Nine!

I would like a cheesecake. That is for sure

And i would like just a classic roast with mashed potatoes.

And a fancy fruit salad!

Or anything else is good too, because grandma is a good cook. =)

Thanks Grandma!

Surreal!

2010-09-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of surrealism; surrealistic.

having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic. FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

In three weeks from TODAY.

I will be sitting with my son.

That is if I can stop hugging him long enough to sit.

It still seems like a dream, unreal, fantastic.

Fantastic!

Hey Family!

Thanks for the emails. As always I love hearing from you guys. This week has been a great week in the mission. As always I love being a missionary, and serving the Lord.

Today we just got done with a training conference. It was the same that I went to last change, but I was able to learn more that will help me with some of my investigators. The conference will continue until Wednesday. Of course, the food is also a great reason to be there, likewise the air conditioning, but being able to feel the Spirit with the some of the other missionaries in the zone is a great opportunity.

This week we did a lot of service. Actually, all the weeks we are here we do a lot of service. There seems to be more service opportunities here in Peten. They do a lot of work with machete here, and my now 2 year old machete had served me well. It’s been well used, and it will be a really cool memory to take home with. I can now mow an entire lawn with a machete. It is a lot harder than using a lawnmower, but in some respects it’s more fun. This week we did a lot of chopping grass, and cutting wood, since many of the people here cook with firewood. We were walking down the street one day in the heat of the day, and we saw an old lady gathering some giant pieces of wood for her wood storage. It was a little impressive that she could carry that much wood, but we quickly went to help her. We managed to get a lot of wood, and then spent the next hour chopping it up. At first she was very reluctant, but after time she became very grateful. I always feel good helping people, and it helps them to be more receptive to listen to the Gospel. Before we served her she refused to hear anything from the missionaries, but after having helped her she is receptive.

I continue to work with my converts. It is a hard task, and I have to fight the temptation to get discouraged. I had a really good lesson with Luki, who was originally unreceptive to our messages. We taught her about the importance of having an open heart. There’s a scripture that I really like in Ezequiel that talks about having a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone. We talked a lot about that. At first she wasn’t paying much attention, but later I shared a personal experience, and it seemed to open her up a lot. At the end she shared that she had felt the Spirit, and that is had been awhile since she had felt that.

The Ax family will be hard. I am finding that one of their main problems is the language barrier. They speak Spanish a little bit, but their native language is Kekchi, and sometimes I feel that they don’t understand us. Ive been thinking about that a lot lately. Many times the people we teach don’t seem to understand what we are telling them, not so much for the language barrier, but it seems that there are many people who refuse to see, and who refuse to hear. It make me think of 2 Nephi 9 31 and 32. There are a lot of people in this work who refuse to see, even when the truth is presented to them in a mast simple way. I think one of the greatest tasks of a missionary is to look for those people who really are willing to open their eyes, and listen with their heart.

Then I started thinking about how that scripture applies to us as members. I think a lot of times we think that some of the scriptures like that only apply to people to who completely reject the Gospel. I think that’s one of the temptations that Satan gives us, so that we don’t try and become better people. I think that we are all in some way needful of opening our eyes and our hearts a little more. I have been thinking a lot about that scripture.

I have been thinking a lot about the importance of meditating over the scriptures. I have learned that the scriptures are there to help us feel the Spirit, and we can more fully feel the Spirit when we dedicate a little bit of time to meditation. I have found that I have been specifically guided in time of meditation, and have receive personal revelation that would not have come if I didn’t take the time to really ponder over the scriptures. I have received many answers to prayer in my mission, and I have really learned how the Spirit is felt. This was something that I didn’t really understand so fully before my mission. I have learned a countless number of lessons on my mission, all of which will help my immensely when I get home, but when I really think of it, learning how to understand the Spirit has been one of the most important things I have learned. If I were to go home after having served the Lord two years, and only have learned how to recognize the Spirit, these two dedicated years would have been well worth it. And to think of all the other great lessons that I have learned, it makes me happy. I am so grateful for my mission.

Well, I think it is time for….

QUESTION TIME!

Mud slides....ELABORATE!! Are they happening where you are? Are they a possibility there?

I haven’t heard much about these mudslides, but they happened in the south mission. There are no mountains where I live, and no risk of mudslides.

2. What were the drunks saying about you or your religion? Are they still harassing you?

I don’t really remember. I didn’t listen to them, but it was pretty pathetic. I haven’t seen them recently, but we need to deal with them to get the Ramirez family married. We’ll see how that goes.

Did you figure out the name of the hotel in Peten?

Ummmmm, next week….=)

4. I bought a bum load of gems and church stuff to give as gifts. Any other requests?

Just temple recommend holders. I cant really think of anything else. There are two of my cooks that are particularly special for me, so something for them.

5. Elder Smiths mom gave me some packages to take to her son. Is he too far away from Peten for us to take them to him? Are we allowed to do that?

He is about 3 hours away from us, but we can drop the stuff off at the mission home, or at the ZL house here in Peten. It will get to him easily.

6. Aren't you glad your awesome mother landed safely in Houston?

Yes! What an exciting plane ride.

7. Any luck activating any of your converts?

I'm working on it. It’s a hard task, but I think I am making some progress.

8. Best thing eaten?/worst?

Best would be the burritos in my area. The worst would be some mushroom stuff that someone gave us that they found it on a tree. It was pretty grossss.

Well, we have been working with the Ramirez family. Hugo has a lot of desires to be baptized, but his wife is a little less enthusiastic. She has small children and she doesn’t like bringing them to church. Keep them in your prayers, as well as Luki and Clara, so they can go to church again.

Well, there isn't much time to write today, but it has been a great week, and I have really enjoyed my time here in San Jose.

Thanks for all of your love and support and prayers. I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Love

Elder Winn

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

2010-09-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

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!

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

The Future Is Always Bright For The Faithful

2010-08-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Pretty spectacular.
Sunrise in San Jose Peten Guatemala
It is amazing to me that I can receive a picture of a
sunrise that my son watched this morning
from a small city
in a jungle region
of a different country.
Isn't technology something?
My mom reminds me that all she got was a letter that would take two or three weeks to get
to her with news that was long since past.
And by the time her answers to that letter were sent a month would have gone by.
I'm sure she thinks I'm spoiled.
Well I am.
And I am grateful for every megabyte of technology
I receive.
I am a thankful missionary mom.
I only wonder what Jack's son will have access to in the future.
What amazing things will help the work
and connect our hearts.
I hope that I can call him spoiled and talk about how hard it was for me
with only emails and pictures
in the good ole days.

Hey guys!
Thanks for your emails. It looks like we’re all moving on to different chapters of our lives. It can be sad at times, but it’s also exciting. I know that the end of my mission is coming up, even though i don't think about it that often. Even though its coming, and even though it’s sad, it’s also exciting to be able to move on. The future is always bright for the faithful.

Well, this morning we woke up early, when it was still dark, quickly got dressed, and made the small hike to a cliff that overlooks Lake Itza so see the sunrise. Of course this was all done in my new area in the beautiful town of San Jose Peten! What an amazing place to be in. After having been in the capital for 14 months it makes this place look even more amazing. I don't know why i love this place so much, but i do. I started my mission here, and now i get to end my mission here. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful.

We left Wednesday at about 2, and got to peten pretty late in the night. We went in a bus, and it was not bad at all. It was air conditioned, and it had comfortable seats, and it was a charter bus. It costs 20 dollars a person, and i was able to sleep. I bet if we went in a bus we would be able to sleep, and we would save alot of money. The bus wasn't even very full either, and there's alot of gringos that go on them.

Thursday morning we packed our bags in the micro bus that goes to San Andres, and we got there in about 45 minutes. I remember every bit of the ride there. Once I got to San Jose I was flooded with memories. I was here about 19 months ago, and it was such a great experience for me.

I’ve visited all the members that i knew, and they couldn't believe that i was back in San Jose. They were all very excited to see me and i was very excited to see them. Being here again is probably one of the strangest experiences that i have been through in my mission. I have so many great memories of this place. We visited alot of the people that i taught.

We also visited my old converts. That has been a happy and sad experience. They are inactive. I hope to be able to take some time here to help them out. I love them all, and to see them fallen away from the Church is a sad thing for me. It’s almost difficult for me to teach them, now as inactive members, but i am trying to stay happy when i am teaching them. They are not as happy as they were when they accepted the Gospel. My converts here were the following/ Luki, Juanita, Edwin, Clara, Seidel, and the Ax Family. Some of them are more receptive than others. Some of them ignore me. Others have fallen bitterly away from the church. There will be some challenges, but i am here to do all that i can.

There’s so many cool stories to tell, and so little time to tell them in these emails. The good news is that you guys will be able to see what this place is like when you come here in a little more than 5 weeks. =)

Well, Question time! And Schedule planning time!

What is your companion's name?

Elder Rivera

Where is he from?
El Salvador.

How long has he been on his mission?
This is his second change. He is pretty new on the mission. We get along very well, and its fun to be with a new missionary because it reminds me of when i first came here. He speaks English fluently, and we go in and out of talking English and Spanish during the day.

Describe your living conditions there? Are you living in a member's home, or in an apartment?

We’re living in a members home. The living conditions have notably dropped compared to the capital. First, it is WAY WAY HOT HERE! I’m drinking about 3.5 liters of water a day, and i sweat it all out. The house is made of cement, and is 1 room, including the bathroom. I am used to it though because its the same house i was living in when i first got here. There is no hot water, but there isn't a need for hot water anyways. There's actually a need for a water cooler. The water comes out pretty hot because of the sun.

Is there a lot of walking in your area, or are there buses for transportation?

There is alot of walking. Theoretically the border of Mexico is in my area, but i don't think we will be able to make it up there. Yesterday we talked about 15 kilometers. We walk alot.

Are there fast food restaurants there, or are you on your own for all of your cooking now?

In my area no. In Flores there is burger king, and pizza hut. We are going to eat pizza after this. =)

Who are you teaching? Tell us a little about them.

Other than all my less active converts, we are teaching a family. Their names are Alfredo and Candy. They like the message but don't want to go to church. We also are teaching a mother names Marili, who has been going to church, but says she isn't ready for baptism. I'm still pretty new to the area, so i am getting to know all the people that the other missionaries were teaching.

8. What about the proposed schedule I just wrote?

Sounds great! I think it will work

9. Best food/worst food? (as if I wouldn't ask that!! nerent)

Best food wassssss Taco Bell!! Big surprise. Worst food. Some rice we made. It came out hard and gross.

10. What words of advice and counsel can you give your favorite mother?

Other than nerent! I would say that you should pursue some of your interests, because you have alot of talent, like in photography. You would make a very good photographer. =)

Well, My time went out very quickly today! I have alot more to write, but i will have to write it next week. I am recording all my experiences in my journal. =) Thanks for all the emails and love. Stay happy, even when there are changes. We kids love you guys alot, and just because we aren't living in the house anymore, doesn'tisn't our home. It will always be. =) mean that 8110 myrtle lane
I love you guys very much, and am very happy to be in Peten again.
I have a strong testimony of the Gospel. I know it is true.

Love,
Elder Winn

So we started to sing hymns.

2010-08-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

The final 6 weeks..
The last change.
On my good days I dreamed about and planned for it.
On my bad days it seemed as if it would never come.
And ironically and beautifully it will end where it began.
With people that Jack has reserved a special place for in his heart.
When a beloved family in our ward who are from Guatemala and own land in Peten
went there this month, they were introduced as
a family from Elder Winn's home ward in the United States.
Our friends told the bishop that Elder Winn's mom and dad would be coming to visit them.
They said they are very excited to meet us.
I can't tell you how excited I am to meet them.
To meet the people who Jack has grown to care so much about.
I cannot believe that it will really happen in just 6 short weeks.
And they do seem short now.
I never thought that I would EVER say that.

Hey everyone!

Well, this should be my last email from the capital! I say should, because you never know about the changes thing. Sometimes President says something, and then changes it, so I have kind of been preparing myself for that. I think I will be going though, after all, he did tell me.

The thought of going to Peten again makes me very happy, but almost a little nervous. I have so many memories from that place, and so many people that I love very dearly, but have inactivated from the church. That makes me a little sad, so I think it will be a very interesting experience to see them again, and to work with them again. My goal is to have them all active before I leave.

Well, this was my last week in Llano Largo. I have officially been there for 6 months. I’m not going to lie, they have been a challenging 6 months, but I have learned a lot, and am very grateful for all the experiences that I have had here. I have had some great companions and some great lessons with our investigators.

This week we contacted a lot by the church, even though it isn’t in our area. We figured that if people have a hard time going to church, why not contact the people who live right next to it? We found a few people that were mildly interested. This week we’re going to try and teach them while the whole family is there.

This week my companion has been pretty sick. I think he has parasites, because he has the same symptoms that I had when I was in Coban. Remember that? I sure do. That was a fun experience. Today he is feeling better.

Yesterday we had an interesting experience. We were teaching a new family that was a reference of the Gonzalez family. The mother recently got hit by a bus, and broke many of her bones. They halfway operated her, and then put her on hold for a few months, until they find time to finish. Anyways, she is in a lot of pain. Well, yesterday we were teaching, and she began to have a lot of pain, and began to panic. We tried to explain that she needed to keep calm, or it would just be more painful, but she didn’t really listen. I said a silent prayer, as well as my companion, and he turned to me and said. ´´you know what we should do right now?´´ and I said ´´yes, we should sing her some hymns.´´ That was the same idea that my companion had. So we started to sing hymns. We sang a lot! And as we started singing she was able to calm down. We didn’t get to teach much, but the Spirit was felt.

My scripture memorizing activity is going well. I am now up to 51 scriptures.

This morning I spent some time packing. I am going to leave a lot of my stuff with Sister Cristy. That way I don’t have to bring soo much stuff up with me to peten. This week I made her lunch. I cooked chicken and rice, or at least I tried to. I think it came out pretty well. She really liked it. She gives us meals almost twice a week, and they are always very tasty. Last Sunday she gave us a steak lunch, for my farewell Sunday. She is a nice lady.

Well I think it is question time.

Is it still raining down there? I heard from Brother Stone, who was down there a few weeks ago and from the Vanegas's who were there last week, that it has been raining like crazy in Guatemala. Is the rainy season coming to an end?
It is still raining, and will rain untill the end of September. I think. It rains a lot here.

Is there danger of mudslides or flooding during the rainy season?
Yes, but not too much. The ground is used to all the moisture. Only when there are tropical storms.

Did you have any particularly spiritual teaching moments this week? Tell me about it
We had an interesting experience with my convert Esperanza. She had accepted work on Sunday, and was not going to be able to go to church for quite some time. We talked about sacrifice, and putting our trust in God. She listened attentively, but didn’t commit to leaving her work. However, to my surprise, we saw her walk in to church yesterday. I think that lesson really helped her to put the important things first in her life. That made me happy.

When will you be leaving for Peten?

Wednesday night, like at 8 or 9.

I assume you will be traveling by bus on the 8 hour ride there. Do you ever have to travel by yourself during transfers? Or are you always with another missionary?

We always travel with another missionary. There´s always more than one leaving for peten.

I soccer the most popular sport in that country? Do you see kids playing soccer a lot?

Yes, it is. All people play here is soccer. You guys should have been here when it was the World Cup. The country went crazy.

Do you know of any LDS taxi drivers who we can arrange to pick us up at the airport and drive us to the mission home? or do you think we'll be just as well to pick a random taxi driver at the airport?
Well, I might be at the airport to meet you guys. Ill have to ask and see how that works.

As we go around the capital with you, we were thinking we could just go by taxi. Maybe if you know someone who we could hire, you can get his phone number, and let him know we will be calling him after we pick you up. Just try to get his phone number before you leave the area. What do you think of that? Or shall we just call any random taxi driver?

I know a few guys that can take us. To rent a taxi driver for the whole day is very expensive.

2. Can you get much sleep on the bus ride or is it pretty uncomfortable?
I can sleep pretty well. It’s a double decker charter bus, and I think there’s even a first class. I can look into that. Because 15 dollars each is a lot cheaper than 600. =0

2. How long should we plan on staying in Peten?

Good question. You should send me a revised travel plan.

4. Final vote!! Bus or Plane to Peten?
I think a plane would be cool. But 600 is a lot. It all depends on if you guys think you can sleep on a charter bus.

5. What is something that you missed about being in Peten that you did not get in the capital?
All the nature, and the people, and the lack of crime, and… well the list goes on. =)

6. DID YOU GET YOUR DEBIT CARD???

Yes!

7. Best food/worst food....had to ask it...HAD TO! nerent
The best would be the steak dinner, and the worst would be a juice that I bought today for 12 quets. Its supposed to be grapefruit juice, but it tastes like baking soda. Bad purchase.

8. Did you know that your awesome mother is so proud of you that it is nauseating?

Nerent to her!
9. What will you miss most about Llano Largo?

Well, there's a lot of people here that I love, and the buses are incredibly cheap.

Well, it looks like time is almost up.

Thanks for the emails! I love you guys, and cant wait to be in Peten.

Love,

Elder Winn

I will be a witness (and I have a stomach of steel)

2010-08-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of the first pictures I received from Elder Winn on his mission.
It was taken in his first area of the Peten.
He looks so young and so fresh and clean.
A contrast to the scenery behind him.
It meant so much to me to see this picture...
To see where my son was visually and to see that he looked eager and happy.
It is still one of my all time favorite pictures of his mission.
(Don't you love the dog all curled up and looking at him in the background. It actually looks a little like his beloved dog Sadie who I am trying to keep alive until he comes home)
Jack was so excited to email today..
to tell us that he is going back to his favorite place.
Peten..
He has been asking the mission president for this for awhile now.
In his sweet gentle Jack-like way.
I am happy for him.
I hope he will take a picture standing in that exact spot.
A picture to show the changes I know have occured.
A dingy shirt, sunburned skin, tattered tie and worn out shoes,
And the smile of two years worth of spiritual experience.
(and maybe the dog will be there too.)

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all your emails. Like always I love hearing from you guys. Yesterday I didn’t write because we had interviews with President, and we also went to the Temple today, which makes today our p day. Today we had to get up at 3 50 to be able to make it to the first session. I am a little tired, but I love going to the Temple. Somehow being here in this country makes going to the Temple more special for me, considering the danger and evil that often prevails here. The Temple is a very literal refuge from the world here, and I feel most at home when I am able to go there.

Well, are you ready for some exciting news? Yesterday in my interview I learned that my last area will be San Jose Peten! That was my first, and by far, my favorite area. I don’t know why, but I am really attached to that place. President asked me last change where I wanted to end my mission, and I explained that I wanted to go to San Jose to activate some of my converts there, and to and baptize some of my older investigators. Yesterday he told me that I would be ending my mission there, and that I had much to do there before I left. I am ecstatic. I can’t wait to get up there. I will be there next Wednesday.

This week in Llano Largo was challenging! A lot of our appointments fell, and some of our investigators told us not to come by anymore, and we were limited in our working time, because we had ZL council and zone conference. I’m enduring to the end here in Llano Largo. I like the area, but it is really hard. It’s been my hardest area, and I have worked very hard here. All i can say is that alot of people have had the chance to accept the only true and everlasting Gospel here, but have denied themselves the opportunity to be saved in the Kingdom of God, and I will be a witness. I know that I have been here for a reason, and that may have been a reason. I have 2 converts here, Esperanza and Jasmin. They are still active, even though they have been going through some financial problems lately. Esperanza started working Sundays and wasn’t able to go to church for awhile, but we taught her, and helped her understand the commandments again, and last Sunday she decided to come to church instead of going to work. That made me happy. I care a lot for my investigators.

It´s raining right now. It rains all the time here. Ive gotten wet many times.

Let’s see, what else can I write about. The highlight of my week was knowing that I am going to Petén to finish my mission.

Well, lets do Question Time as I think.

Are you teaching any new families this week?

We had a hard time finding families this week, because we didn’t have too much time to work. We keep trying though.

What is your favorite lesson to teach?
That´s a hard question. I really like teaching the Plan of Salvation, but I also like teaching the Restoration. Both are really good lessons.

Is there a particular lesson that you find seems to touch the hearts of people any more than the others?
I find that some of our most effective lessons are reading in chapters of the Book of Mormon with our investigators. That seems to help them a lot, and you can feel the Spirit very strongly.

Do you teach English lessons to people? Seems like that might be a way to get in the door with some people.
We were doing that for awhile, but there was very little attendance, so we had to stop. Sometimes it works though. It depends on where you are, and how close the Church is to people.

Are you still running each morning? Does Elder Vasquez like to do that?
Elder Vasquez isn’t much of a runner, so I run stairs in the morning along with my sit-ups and push-ups. That’s my normal routine.

You have about 7 more weeks in your mission. What's your gut feeling about where you will serve in your last area? Stay in the Guatemala City? Are you still hoping to go back to Peten to finish up?

Peten!!! =)

How's your goal of memorizing 1 scripture per day coming along? How do you select the scriptures?

It’s going quite well. I really enjoy doing it and I have a system to help me. Right now I have over 40 verses memorized, and even though I am memorizing them in English, it helps me when I teach, because I have the reference in my mind, and I can pull out scriptures much faster. The goals of the activity are to learn more about the scriptures, and to be able to have a better memory, which will really help me as I study, and I plan on studying for quite some time.

1. Is it change week this coming Saturday?

Wednesday is change day now. That’s the reason they extended my mission. I’m serving for almost 2 years and 1 week now.

2. When will you be told? Do ZL's know sooner than everybody?
I only know my change. We figure out the changes about 5 minutes before everyone else. =) what a privilege

2. How do you feel about this being your last change?
In some ways strange, and in some ways I feel the same. Sometimes it makes me very happy to know that I will be home soon, and in other ways it makes me very sad that I will be leaving this country that I love so much. There are lots of mixed feelings.

4. I need a name of a hotel in Peten. I don't want to wait until we are there. Remember Muleshoe?
I stayed at a really cheap one once. Lol I don’t think you guys would like it. =)

5. Do you and the other Elders talk about or know about all of the Guatemala North Moms blogs?
Nope. =)

6. Is there anything that you need?
Not really. I’ll be home soon. =0

7. Did you know that Rick Stone was on business in Guatemala last week? He said it rained the whole time he was there. Do I need a rain poncho or a bunch of those disposable rain baggie things. Can I just buy an umbrella there?
Well, we can probably buy umbrellas there. The rain season wraps up right when you guys get up here.

8. Is your awesome mom possibly excited at the prospect of seeing her son?
Prolly. =)

9. FOOD!! Best/worst?
Best food was Carnitas, wich is a Guatemalan dish here. Its basically chuncks of fried pork meat. Its really good. The worst was… Some meat we had in our refrigerator that I think went bad. Lol. I didn’t get sick though. I have a stomach of steel.

10. Knowing that I ask that question every week, does it make you try to eat something great or bad so you can answer that?
Lol, sometimes. =)

Well, it looks like my time is running out. I’ll still be in the capital for my next email. But soon enough I will be in Peten! I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

I will always take a part of this country with me.

2010-08-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Elder Winn climbed a mountain today on his P-day
(short for preparation day; the half day they have to email, shop, clean and laundry)
Why?
Because it was there.
He took his machete with him.
(There's a sentence I never thought I would write about one of my children)
The best part is that he took a little video clip on top of the mountain.
( where it was safe to take out his camera)
I laughed, I cried, I worried a little.
(I still haven't decided on one emotion yet.)
The best part is that I got to hear his voice.
(with just a hint of a Guatemalan accent)
I really miss that.

So I thought I'd share with you.
Enjoy.
I know that I will
over and over and over and
over.

Hey everyone!

How’s it going? Thanks for the emails! That was pretty funny about dad asking how the refrigerator works. Lol. You just have to plug it in. =)

Well, this morning started with an adventure. There is a big mountain close to our area that I have been looking at for the past 5 months. I have always wondered if I could climb it, and today we decided to take the challenge. We woke up at 4 30 and started the climb. We got lost many times, and there wasn’t a trail, just Guatemalan jungle, so we brought my machete and hacked a path up. It took four hours, but was well worth it, because the view was beautiful. You could see almost all the Capital, and all of my area. Guatemala is a really beautiful country.

This week went be really fast. I did some baptismal interviews, but they didn’t pass because they were drinking coffee. They seemed to understand though, and they didn’t get upset. They should be baptized this coming week. I’ve been in some awkward baptism interviews. Some people don’t really don’t like getting their baptism postponed.

This week we found 24 people to teach, which was great, because usually we only find 10. Most of them were references from the Gonzalez family. They are progressing nicely. We invited them to baptism. They didn’t accept, but they didn’t reject either. This week they weren’t able to go to church because they had to visit sick family out of town.

We have a baptismal date with Miguel and Jesus, who are two sons of Leonardo and Araceli. They are progressing well, and should be baptized this month.

What helped us find all these people was service. That was one of the things we learned about in the training meeting. We talked about how Ammon gave service, and how it helped him with success. It is a great way of finding people.

For the last few weeks I have memorized a scripture each day. Supposedly if I do it for 2 years I will have a photographic memory. We’ll see how it goes. I write the scriptures on a note card, and usually memorize them on the bus. I enjoy the activity.

Lets see, what else. I have 8 weeks left of my mission, and this change has gone by really quickly. I feel both excited, and nervous about going home. Not that I am worried about what I am going to do, or life at home, but I am concerned that I will be able to do everything I need to do here in Guatemala. I really love my mission, and to have it end is something that is a little sad. But I will always take a part of this country with me. I have learned so much here, and I have put in all my effort. I haven’t been perfect, but I have really tried to serve the Lord with all of my heart, might, mind and strength. These next couple of weeks will be great. I am excited, because I know that I can still do a lot in 8 weeks.

Well, I am running out of time, so it is Question Time!

1. Did you ever ask the President which hotel he stays in Peten?

No I forgot to ask. We can just get there and book a room there. I'm sure it doesn’t fill up. Not too many people brave Guatemala.

2. I have been reading the daily blog for the Royals Peru trip to pick up David and have thought about what gifts to bring. I will get the candle for Sister Christy and some CTR rings and some oil vial key chains but how many of each?

CTR rings?: Hmm. I still have a few, but you could bring some. I don’t know how many. =0
Oil vials: Like, 5
Gospel Picture books: Um. Like 5 or 10. =0

Possibly coloring books and crayons for kids?: Yes, good idea

Someone said that the primary children needed colored pencils?: maybe

Any other gift ideas?:

Temple recommend holders. Pictures of Christ, and the Temple. It can be Guatemala or Salt Lake. They like the both of them.,

3. Does you awesome amazing mother ask too many questions within a question?

Nerent to her!

4. Best thing you ate/worst....you know I HAVE to ask it every week it is my favorite....

Best thing I ate was a tub of cream cheese with some caramel sauce on it. It was almost like a cheese cake. =)

Worst thing, was Chow Mein. I hate that dish here.

5. How come you were outside at 9pm in Zone 18 but you didn't think that that RM and his parents should be...hmmmmmmmmm....nerent to you.

I’m always out at that time…. Lol. Usually not actually, but sometimes. =)

Well, thanks for all your love. I think you guys are awesome.

I want you to know that I have a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen it change lives, and I know that the Church is true, and that it is directed by Christ Himself. The Book of Mormon is true. I know that what I am doing here is the work of the Lord.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

Missionary Mom Sisters

2010-07-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

I have made some really special friends through the network of missionary mothers online.

Women that I have never met but feel as if I've known forever.

Maybe I have.

I asked Jack to get a picture with their sons.

And lo and behold...he did!

What a wonderful surprise.

(I am use to getting more grief when I ask for favors like this...but no, not even a murmur and done within a week)

In August I get to meet my good friends.

I will take a picture with them to match.

I can't imagine any finer or better looking sons!

Hey everyone!

We just got back from a pioneer day activity. It was pretty fun. We had a devotional about pioneers, and we ate hamburgers, and we played some games. This time it wasn’t as big as the last one was, so I didn’t get any good pictures, nor did anyone dress up. Sorry mom. =)

(last years Pioneer celebration complete with costume. Jack's cost like 75 cents. Can you tell?)

This week was excellent, and challenging. We had a leadership training seminar in the mission office everyday this week. It was a great conference, but the challenging part was getting there. Usually we take a taxi, but in an effort to save the Church money this week, we decided to take a bus there and back. In a taxi it´s about a 40 minute drive. In a bus it is a 2 and a half hour drive, usually standing up, crammed with a bunch of people, some of which don’t bathe, and being in bumper to bumper traffic all morning. It was miserable, and we had to leave at 5 30 AM. It was worth it though because the conferences were excellent. We talked a lot about how the job of a missionary is to teach the people, not the lessons. I was able to take a lot out of it, and I wish I would have had it earlier in my mission, because we have changed our teaching style, and it seems to be very effective. We also got really good food, like Subway and Quiz-nos, and Wendy's.

This week was also great because we found a family. They are the Gonzalez Family, and they are looking really positive. When we got there, we felt prompted to teach them the Plan of Salvation, instead of the Restoration, which is the lesson that we usually teach to begin. They really liked the lesson, but most importantly it helped them a few days after when the sister of the mother of the family passed away. I believe God sent us there to teach them that Plan, because it would help them in their loss. Sister Gonzalez is sad, but she said that she will do what it takes to obtain a testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. She asked us how we could be so sure that Christ conquered death. My answer was the Book of Mormon, because that is where my testimony of Christ comes from. She committed to read it and pray about it. Then, we asked if we could help them, and they did need help making tamales and helping around the house. The next morning we went to her mother’s house to help the family out, and there was a lot of work to be done. It was a great blessing to serve, because I think the family saw our true desire to help them. The great part was that in the house we did the service, there was about 15 other members of her extended family, all of whom we are going to teach tomorrow. I feel really good about that family. I hope they can progress.

Lets see. One of the missionaries that I knew, Elder Pratt, and his parents came to Guatemala this week. They were less than prepared. We had an interesting experience with them. We were walking home at 9 at night, and we saw them. I thought that was a little weird, because I wouldn’t ever take you guys to my area at 9 at night. The offered to buy us tacos at a taco stand, and while doing it they locked their keys in the car, in the middle of zone 18, right on the side of the highway. The car was pretty nice too. So then, the father pulls out his blackberry trying to call someone! In the middle of zone 18! That’s an invitation to get robbed and shot. So, it was a mess. We hired a gangster looking guy to break into the car, and he couldn’t. So then I told his parents to get in our house, because it was not safe at all for them. Finally I found the number of the car rental agency, and I convinced to guy to bring an extra set of keys. I thought that was pretty crazy. Not the kind of experience that we want when you guys come. =)

We also worked in our area with President Torres. It made us a little nervous, but it was a great experience. He taught us a lot.

Leonardo´s kids went to church this week. That was good. I think they are going to get baptized. We had a really good lesson with him and his wife, but he is still a little difficult.

Well, I think it is question time!

1. Whatever happened to your companion from the CCM? Do you ever see him?

He went to the Quetzaltenango Mission. I haven’t heard of him. My companions in the MTC, Elder Fincher went home early for a knee problem.

2. Are your shoes going to make it to the bitter end? They better. I still have the Eccos.Those have a lifetime warranty right? Because if they do they are going to give me some new ones. =)

2. Should I be bringing you any clothing and shoes to Guatemala?

No, but the lady we live with, Sister Cristy, really wants one of those Hallmark candles. She has been really good to me. One of the nicest people I know here.

4. Do you think that you would be interested in taking that class about Guatemala at BYU?

Yes! That would be awesome. Guatemalan Culture is fascinating.

5. Doesn't your awesome mother think up really awesome questions?Yes. Lol she only has 9 more emails to think up questions. =0

6. What was the best/worst thing you ate this week.

Best was the Quiz-nos. The worst was tamales again. =0

7. What is the size of the ward that you attend? Do you ever have to fill in any callings? What do you do on Sundays during the three hours?

About 150 people. It is the largest in the stake. Here we don’t fill in callings. I teach the Principles of the Gospel class every once and a while though.

8. Any advice for Lauren preparing for her freshman year?

Study! Don’t be like me! I didn’t study much. And now I regret it, because I need to play catch up now. Treat school like an 8 hour job. Class only takes 3 hours a day, but go somewhere to study for the other 5 hours.

Well, thanks for the emails! I have 9 weeks left in my mission, and they will be a great next few weeks. I love being a missionary, and I love helping people here.

Love,

Elder Winn

I know they are waiting for me.

2010-07-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

I bought tickets last week to go to a place
I NEVER thought I wanted to go to.
Before May of 2008 I could not have identified it on a map.
I could not have given any facts or information about it.
I was not even sure how to spell it.
Now I am flying there in 10 weeks.
I cheered when their Olympic team of 2 entered the stadium.
I look for and buy bananas that are grown there.
I know the local time and weather at all times with a widget on my computer screen.
Pictures of it adorn my house.
A nativity set made there sits on my piano year round.
I ask everyone that I suspect could be from there where they are from.
I care about the people who live there.
I dream about this place on a regular basis.

and 10 weeks tomorrow I will board a plane and fly there.
As far away as it has seemed it is actually closer to my home than Salt Lake City.
The flight 10 minutes shorter.
What an adventure this will be.
Guatemala here we come....

and we will be looking for this young man.

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the emails. It is great to hear from you.

Well, this email may be a little short because I am going to try and give as much commentary about the travel plans as possible. I am getting pretty excited about this trip. You guys are going to love Guatemala. This country is beautiful.

Well, this week went well. We were able to teach a lot of lessons and find some investigators. Only the Flores family went to church though. We had an interesting lesson with them yesterday. We invited them for the 50^th time to get married and baptized, but no matter what we do or say Ivan wont really budge. He says that we don’t understand because we are too young. I think he is making the whole marriage thing into a problem that is a lot bigger than it really is. We talked to Meri, and she has told us that there isn’t really a problem. He just doesn’t really want to get married. We are going to schedule an appointment with the Bishop for them. I think he may be able to help a little.

Luis told us this week that he doesn’t want to talk to us anymore. That was a little disappointing. He knows that the Church is true, and he tries to disprove it to himself. He has fear of changing his life to be able to keep the commandments. Cases like his are sad, because he knows the truth, and is denying it because he just doesn’t want to change. I hope someday he accepts the missionaries again, and changes his life to be able to receive his salvation.

Who else, Leonardo and Aracely didn’t go to church. We aren’t really sure if they want to . Right now we are focusing on their son, Miguel, who is 17. He really likes the church and our teachings, and told us that he is willing to be baptized. He didn’t go to church this week, but he has before. He is looking like our most positive investigator.

All in all we just need to find new people to teach. At of all my areas this has been the most challenging, and I have been here for the most time. I like it here, but it is very hard for me to help these people understand. I have been through dozens and dozens of investigators here, but they all seem to fall away.

Even though it’s tough here, we are determined to find the families that are ready to hear the Gospel. I know that the Lord is preparing people, and I will diligently search them out. We have a very strong desire to find these people and help them.

I am excited to find these people. I know they are waiting for me.

1. Which of the days do we spend in Peten?

The same ones that you planned.

2. Do you want to spend a night in antigua or just drive there and then drive back to the capital the same day?

Well, that depends on how much time you guys want to spent in Antigua. To be honest, I don’t remember it too much, but I remember that it was cool.

3. Is there a hotel in Flores that you have heard the people talk about that is nice?

Theres the one that President stays at. I have heard it is pretty nice. Its really close to Flores.

4. Would going to see that place that is famous in Coban be a possibility? Can't remember the name but you sent some beautiful pictures. Would you want to go back and see it?

Semuc Champey would be awesome to see again. I think it would be possible, but we we would have to be in a bus a lot. Well, not too much, but a decent amount of time. Some if it maybe at night. But semuc Chapey is very cool.

5. Do you have any interest in Lake Atitlan?

Yes, I think that would be cool.

6. Who's the best travel agent/mom in the world?

Lol, nerent to her.

7. What am I going to eat there????

McDonnalds, unless you want me to have the members prepare you pig face stew. lol

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

The best thing was Smores! I made them with the chocolate you guys gave me! Thanks! The worst thing I ate was a drink made from boiled corn starch and sugar. It was gross.

9. Can or should I bring my laptop?

Well, if you want to. Im not sure I would. This is the most dangerous country in the world. =)

10. Can we buy two cheap cell phones to use while we are there?

Yes, they are about 10 dollars each, and they come with 10 dollars of air time, so they’re basically free.

How did you and Elder Vasquez do on your goal to find 3 new families to teach this week? I have been praying that you would meet your goal. How did the zone do?

Well, we tried really hard, but we just found one. We had a lot of zone stuff to do this week, so we didn’t get as much time as we wanted to to work in the area, but this week I think we will be able to find more families. In the zone we increased our baptismal dates by 350 percent, which was a really awesome achievement. We are very happy with the zone right now.

Is this the first time for Elder Vasquez to be a zone leader?

Yes. I am training his as a zone leader. He is a really good companion though, and we are getting along well.

Well, time is running out. Sorry the email was a little short. I love you guys, and I love my mission. I am excited to continue working for the Lord this week.

Love,

Elder WInn

Action Heroes; Defenders of the Faith

2010-07-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I miss Jack so much
that I forget what he is really doing in Guatemala.
An adorable little boy two rows in front of me on Sunday reminded me
of what Elder Winn is accomplishing.
The strawberry blonde named Phoenix, gripped in his hand an action figure,
moving it along the back of the pew.
An action hero.
With a white shirt and a name tag.
Side by side with the other action figures
Captain Moroni,
Nephi,
Ammon
and I realized that Jack is doing what they did.
Giving up his former life to serve God.
His letters and the letters of his fellow Guatemala North missionaries
read just like the scriptures,
testifying each week of Jesus Christ and
loving the people they serve.
It brought tears to my eyes to see the representation of all of our sons
clutched in a future missionary's hand.
Action heroes they are.

This is Phoenix and his brother Landon...future missionary action heroes. Aren't they adorable.

Hey everyone!

So today I am using a good computer, which is good, because it seems like all the computers here are missing pieces. I guess that’s understandable here in this country.

Today we had a district leader meeting. I think it went well. Here in the zone we´re struggling with putting baptismal dates, so we are putting a lot of focus on that. We have two new district leaders, and they are trying hard to help their districts.

After that we played capture the flag again which was fun. Our team won.

Thanks for all the emails. It sounds like the garage sale was a success, well, at least you all were able to get rid of some junk. I bet that was fun.

This week has been a great week. I really like my new companion, and we are working hard here in our area. We have been working with our three main possibilities. The first is Luis. He has come to church 3 times now, but he is very confused about how to know what church is true. He has prayed to fund out, but he says he hasn’t gotten an answer. I think a lot of times people get an answer, but they don’t know how to recognize it, or they think that God is going to give some miraculous answer. We’re trying to get him to accept a baptismal date. I think he knows that the church is true.

We are also working with Leonardo and Aracely and their son Miguel. They have been listening to the lessons for some time now, but they haven’t come to church. They didn’t come this last week because their grandmother was sick, or something like that. I think they might be able to progress, and we are going to continue working with them.

We also hare working with the Family Flores. We had an interesting lesson with them yesterday. We explained about the spirit world, and that the Gospel will be preached to the people who have not had the opportunity to accept it here. Then we explained about procrastinating the day of our repentance. The father, Ivan, was very interested, and was writing down all the scriptures we cited. Then, I think he got scared for the welfare of his soul. He recognized that the opportunity to accept the Gospel is now, and they there might not be another. We didn’t get him to decide to get married, but he says he’s going to seriously consider it. We were in the lesson for about an hour and a half.

Well, those are my investigators so far. We have more, but they are progressing so well. We have been putting a lot of focus in the zone on finding families to teach, and it is our goal to find 3 families to teach this week. Pray for us so we can reach that goal.

This week went be really quickly.

Okay it’s question time!

Are there giant banana farms down there? And are they owned by large corporate farms? Or are there small independent farmers who grow bananas and such?

I know that bananas are the major export of this country, but I have never seen a banana farm here! Only bean farms, and cabbage farms, and corn farms, and lots of tomato farms.

I was talking to Brother Vanegas, and he said he owns a tomato farm in El Salvador. He says Salvadorans love tomatoes, and they grow a lot of those down there. Do you see many tomatoes in Guatemala?

There are tons of tomatoes here, and Guatemalans love eating tomatoes. They use tomatoes in about everything the cook with.

Does Elder Vasquez speak any English? Do you feel like it is helpful to your Spanish skills to be assigned to him? Do you two speak only Spanish?

He speaks very little English. I think he can understand a little bit. Elder Vasquez is very intelligent. We only speak Spanish. It helps me a lot with my Spanish skills. That is why I was hoping for a latino companion.

Tell us a little more about Elder Vasquez. Is he pretty friendly? Does he like to work hard? You mentioned that some of the Central American missionaries come from pretty humble circumstances. Do you think this is the case with Elder Vasquez?

He has been a great companion so far. He is from some pretty poor circumstances, but he did go to college and a degree in computers, or something like that. He is friendly, and we are already pretty good friends. He likes to work. He is 22 years old, and is about to be 23, I think.

What was Elder Vasquez doing before his mission? What are his plans after his mission? Will he have an opportunity to go to college?

He was studying and working. He is going to go back to college. He has an associate’s degree right now, and he is going to go back for another two years to get a degree in computer engineering. He is a pretty bright kid.

Do you ever hear of people down there participating in the Church's Perpetual Education program? I think it's a pretty neat program to help church members get educations and training with job skills that will help them provide for their families. Do you know of any people in that program down there?

Yes, a lot of returned missionaries use the Perpetual Education Fund. I convinced my companion Elder Obando to use it when he got back home to be able to study. It really helps people here get higher education, and if you have education here it’s the difference between eating beans everyday and living in a tin house, or living in a decent house eating more than beans and rice.

How has the weather been down there? Hot?
Pretty temperate. Not hot or cold. It rains a lot. It is rainy season here until the end of September.

Is the Flores Family making any progress? Who else should we pray for?

Pray for the investigators that I listed earlier. I thin they can all be baptized soon.

1. Have you eaten ALL your chocolate bars yet?

Not yet! There are a lot! I made some dark chocolate chip pancakes the other day. They were amazing.

2. What did you think about the socks with the color on the toes and heels? Now they will be harder for you to leave.

I really liked those socks. The laundry lady thought they were really cool too. Now I wont lose them. =)

3. Did the belt fit ok?

Yes, I am wearing it now. My other belts are in pretty bad shape. Thanks for the replacement.

4. What is your companion like? (I think that Dad asked a lot of questions about him so I will let you answer his with the details)

He is cool. =)

5. I got another debit card for you in the mail so I am going to have to mail it to you and then activate it after you tell me you get it. I can't believe that they have issued another one.....NERENT!

Lol that’s not a question, but that is crazy. Is this the third or the fourth?

6. Did you do anything fun on your ACTUAL birthday?

A member family bought me pizza, and we had some tasty pizza. That was fun.

7. Doesn't your wonderful sainted mother really know how to fill a flat rate box?

Yes she does. Nerent to her.

8. Best thing you ate this week/worst? (I know I ask that every week but it is one of my favorite questions.)

The best thing I ate was definitely the chocolate chip pancakes. The worst think I ate was some expired ice cream. No wonder they were selling it for so cheap.. =)

Well, looks like that’s all for the email. I ran out of time. Thanks for all your love and support. The Church is true, and I love the opportunity to be able to represent Christ in His work here in this county. I love you guys, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

I will give you my testimony....

2010-07-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

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

That Hurricane Was Something Big....

2010-06-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

I felt like someone was pushing me....

2010-06-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

(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)

2010-06-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Volcano, Tropical Storm and little miracles

2010-05-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had myself all prepared for no email today...
But of course since I did...it came.
I am not complaining..
Definitely not complaining.
I googled a picture of the volcano Pacaya so I could see it without lava shooting out.
So I could remember that things there are calm once more.
Now if I could only get the lady in his ward to quit picking on him......

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the emails, and all of the concerns. Don’t worry, because we are all doing well here. Today the sun came out, which was great. I thought that would never happen.

Well, this week was the exciting natural disaster week! It was kind of a cool experience, because now I will be able to say I lived through a volcano eruption, even though the volcano is pretty far from where I live. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see it erupt, but I did see all the tons of ash that fell down. It was kind of a funny story. We had just got back into the house, and I was washing dishes, when I hear the lady downstairs screaming that the sky is falling. She-s kind of crazy at times, so I got a good laugh out of it, until I realized that the sky really was falling! It definitely was a very interesting experience. It was raining black sand for a good few hours. I put some in a little bottle to take home and show you all. So, then I got back inside and realized that I got a bunch of the sand, ash stuff in my hair, so I went to take a shower to get it out. Let’s just say that when volcanic ash gets in your hair, it doesn’t come out! I think it’s still in my hair.

The next morning was spent trying to sweep it up, which was a task, because it was raining, and when the ask gets wet it’s really sticky. It took a good while to get everything cleaned out, and afterward it started raining and more ash was washed where we had cleaned. It-s going to be a while before this all gets cleaned up.

So, the next day we wake up and it’s raining pretty hard, and I figured it would stop in the afternoon. We went to our meeting with the ward mission leader, and then worked a few hours, all of which it poured rain on us. Then we had lunch, and I fully expected the rain to stop, or at least lighten up, but it didn’t! We went out anyways (I had no idea about any tropical storm. I didn’t think Guatemala got those often.) Well, we worked all say in the pouring rain, and we got absolutely soaked, but I didn’t really think much of it. The river where we live got really big though. Anyways, we get home about 8 and there’s like 100 missed calls from the Assistants telling us that we all need to be inside and that we needed to call everyone and get a report of their houses and the flooding. That’s when I realized that it was a little more than a small storm.

We ended up working yesterday though. There wasn’t any church, but there wasn’t any rain. We couldn’t have church meetings because the government declared the country a disaster zone. Today we have to help clean up some more though.

The volcano and storm was pretty bad timing, but I kept thinking to myself this weekend that the damage and severity of the storm wasn’t anything like some of the hurricanes we’ve seen. Hurricane Ike was pretty bad. If a storm like that ever came here thousands of people would die. We’re pretty lucky that it wasn’t that bad.

The good news is that I live on top of a giant hill, so there won’t ever be any flooding where we are.

Well that’s the disaster report. Pretty exciting. On the day of the tropical storm, we visited a member lady who recently inactivated. She is one of the rudest people I know, but I feel bad that she’s inactive, so we’re trying to visit her to get her to come back. The worth of every soul, even the rude ones, is great in the eyes of God. Anyways, she’s always mad at me because I told her we can only visit her when there’s another guy in the house. I’ve been trying to be very obedient with that rule, even though it’s one of the hardest, and most of the missionaries in the mission don’t follow it. Anyways, she’s always telling me about how all the other disobedient missionaries have been so great, and that I have been so awful and that people leaving the ward is partly my fault. Anyways, we got a member to come with us, and that day she was being particularly offensive. I started to get a little mad at her, so I said a prayer that I would be able to keep my patience. Right as I ended my prayer is started raining really heavy, and the roof was made of tin, so I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. I just saw her moving her mouth for the next few minutes without being able to hear a thing. I laughed to my self in the moment, knowing that God had answered my prayer. I thought it was pretty funny.

There’s actually a lot to write this week, but very few time to write it all! Another cool story that I have to share. Early this week it was very hot, and it was in the middle of the day, and I needed a bag of water, which is what they use to sell water in, so I went to the little store they have here, and I guess they thought they could rip me off because they tried to charge me double price, and all I had was enough for the normal price. Well, I refused to buy it, and walked away thirsty and a little twirped. As we were walking though, a random stranger came up to me and gave me a bag of water, telling me he had an extra and that I looked thirsty. Then he left. I-ve never had any stranger give me anything before, and I thought it was a cool experience. It reminded me of that scripture in the Bible when Christ tells his Apostles not to worry about their physical needs, because they will be taken care of. I definitely feel like that here. My needs are always taken care of.

Well, that-s all that time lets me write today! I didn’t get to question time, nor did I get to write about my companion, but that will give us something to look forward to next Wednesday! Lol

Well, the Church is true, and I love my mission. I know that what I am doing is the right thing to do. Thanks to everyone for their love and support, and for all the people who read my email who aren’t members of my Church, please take the time to examine my beliefs, and the things that I am teaching the beautiful Guatemalan people. www.mormon.org

If you have questions ask me!

Love,

Elder Winn

Eruptions

2010-05-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the volcano in Guatemala.
Pacaya.
Not so far from Jack
that thick black ash has covered the landscape.
It erupted on a week that has had me thinking a lot about Jack.
It was two years ago this week that he opened the thick envelope from Salt Lake.
In all my wildest imaginations...
I never even came close to guessing Guatemala.
It was a hard time in my life...two years ago.
There were things happening that I have not written or recorded,
And may very well never.
But waiting for Jack's mission call was a bright spot.
But when it was opened and he read the words,
Guatemala
My world started spinning.
I kept a smile on my face but my mind was racing.
I knew nothing about Guatemala
Except that it was in Central America.
I knew nothing about Central America
except that it was dangerous.
I had never heard anyone express a desire to visit there or live there.
It was not a coveted vacation spot.
I tried to keep the smile plastered on my face while searching my sons eyes for his reaction.
What were his real thoughts? What did he know about Guatemala? Was he excited? Was he scared?
I couldn't tell.
Did his smile hide that same thoughts that mine did?

Jack is my pleaser child.
Every since he was born he has tried to figure out what I wanted from him
and then do it.
He hated any sadness or disapproval or worry in my eyes.
I never had to raise my voice because just a look from me was enough.
I in turn try to hide my fears and worries from him as well.
It is a delicate dance
between
my son
and
I.

I did what every missionary mother does.
I went to the internet to read about this place.
This place that would be my son's temporary two year home.
It was not a good idea.
Beside the obvious third world conditions
there was crime,
a country that had only been decades past civil unrest.
and there was natural disaster potential a plenty.
Hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions....
You get the picture.
I tried to picture his living conditions.
I talked to other missionary mothers who became my angels...
They told me stories that were not available to be googled
of sons currently serving that loved it so much that they didn't want to come home.
Pictures of fresh faced smiling young men looking like they were on the adventure of their lives.
I felt better.
But still....
I cried.....
over simple things
I cried in the shower every morning because I had hot water.
How could I shower with hot water when my son would not always be able to?
I would tear up in grocery stores,
wondering how I would be able to walk by so much plenty with all his favorite foods,
and when I locked the door at night I wondered how I could
EVER feel like he would be safe.
I really wasn't sure that I could do this.
I felt at times like I was brittle.
And ready to crack.
But I didn't want Jack to see that side.
And so I smiled.
And so did he.

It is two years later.....
And I am smiling.
But it is real this time.
As I read about the volcano Pacaya
erupting.
I did not.
erupt.
I did not even feel worried.
I had an incredible feeling of peace and calm.
I didn't even have to ask for it.
The blessing was already in place.
The blessing of knowing that my son is being cared for by someone who knows his needs
better than I.
Who knows that hot water or snacks do not bring happiness.
He knows where my son is and how to keep him safe.
He knows me
and my needs.
And so I am smiling for real and telling those who ask me how Elder Winn is doing....
I say,
"Great and you should see his pictures because in every one he is smiling."
And I don't have to even try to guess what type of smile it is.
It is amazingly obvious to all.
And I am not worried.
And that my dear friends, if you know me very well....
is a miracle.

Defender of the Faith

2010-05-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken 20 months ago today.
We had dropped his luggage off
And were headed into the room where I knew we would say goodbye
for awhile.
2 years
24 months
104 weeks
730 days
17520 hours
1051200 minutes
I was walking slow behind them mentally calculating time.
trying to figure out which way sounded the shortest.
which method of counting off
would bring me the most comfort.
As I snapped this picture I realized
that no matter how it was calculated
this would be tough.
for all of us.
We were going to have to decide what type of
sacrifice we were willing to make.
And it felt that day like a sacrifice
I was not sure I could handle.
But I have....
for
1 year 8 months
20 months
87 weeks
606 days
14544 hours
872640 minutes.
And it has been a blessing.
Elder Winn would probably say that it is going too fast
this block of time.
But we Moms mark off every bit of it
As a victory and
an offering.
Happy 20 months Elder Winn
Love you, Mom

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the emails. It-s great to hear from you.

Well, first item of business, I don’t have a change. Elder Dunkley left to Peten, and my new companion is Elder Richardson. This will be his last change. I don’t know him really well, but he seems like he will be a good companion. I’m excited to work with him here in Llano Largo.

This week was pretty good. Do you guys remember Julian, who I was teaching in Lomas? Well, this last week we went to Lomas to interview him for his baptism. I was pretty excited, and I took the opportunity to visit the Castillo family. Anyways, he passed his interview, and was to be baptized the next day. So, the next day Elder Dunkley and I travel to Lomas again to see the baptism, after all he was my old investigator. When we got there the Elders there told us that he was nowhere to be found. Elder Dunkley and I went to go and look for him only to find that he went to work! That was a little frustrating. I-m thinking he might have forgotten about his baptism. Oh well, hopefully he gets baptized this next week.

Lately we've been working with the Rico family. They didn’t come to church, which was a little disappointing, but I think they will go this next Sunday. They also have to get married, which is an added challenge.

We are also working with another family- Carlos and Alejandra. They were looking really excited about learning the Gospel. We haven’t been able to find them lately, but we’re going to visit them tonight. They live far away, and it’s a bit of a hike to get there. Elder Richardson will have fun with that. I’ve gotten a lot more in shape here in Llano Largo.

The leadership changed a lot here in our zone, which is a good thing. We have a lot of really good district leaders, and I think the zone will do well this change.

Let’s see, what else is new? There’s never a lot to write about the first week of the change. I’m sure there will be more to say next week.

So now it’s question time!

WHERE ARE YOU?? (If you have changed...give details!!)

I’m still here in Llano Largo!

2. Who is your companion?? (remember....DETAILS)
I gave all the details I had! I’ve only talked to him for about 10 minutes. Lol

3. Do they watch American TV there? What is the favorite TV show? (Not that YOU watch tv but does anyone talk about shows?)
Not really, mostly because they don’t speak English. They watch a lot of movies here though. Other than that I don’t really know.

4. How many years or grades do kids go through there and is it mandatory to go to school? Is the education system very good?

It depends. I would say about 10 or 11. The education system is really bad here. School lasts only 4 or 5 hours, with an hour of PE every day. The teachers only need the equivalent of a high school education to teach, and from all the homework that I’ve seen them do it seems like they don’t do much.

I would say that the lack of a good education system is the reason this country is in its poverty.

5. What was your favorite food eaten this week?

Elder Dunkley and I have a new diet of eating a peanut butter and jelly sanwitch, a fruit, and a pack of cookies for lunch. It’s a really tasty and light meal. I enjoy it a lot.

6. Have you mailed the letter yet to your favorite mother?

Lol, and if I fax it? Jk I will mail it

7. How is the new bed?

Amazing. New beds in the mission are great.

8. Are my questions getting lame or WHAT?? nerent nerent nerent!

Lol =)

Do the youth go to early morning seminary there?

Yes, and it starts at 5! Even earlier!
Do you remember any particular scriptures you learned in seminary that you are able to use in your mission? Which ones?

I cant say I remember a lot from seminary, but I remember the scripture mastery scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that talks about obedience. We use that one a lot here.

We saw some pictures of you on the Pres. & Sister Torres' website. It looked like you all were eating lunch in the gym of a chapel. What was that meeting?
That was for a zone conference that we had with Elder Fallabela. It was a really good conference.

I saw basketball goals in the ward meeting house. Looks just like our chapels. Do the kids down there like to shoot baskets on youth activity nights like they do here?

That was a the stake center, and it’s the nicest one in the mission, and the only one with an indoor basketball court. Most of the chapels have outside ones. And yes the youth get together frequently to play soccer. Basketball isn’t really big here.
Have you gone on exchanges with the ward members lately? Have you had any good experiences with going on exchanges with members?

Not exchanges. We have been leaving with a future missionary. He likes to work with us, and does pretty well at teaching.

Well, it looks like that’s all for this week. Thanks for the emails, and the Line of Authority. That’s pretty cool. Well, the Church is true. I frequently get the chance to defend it here, and I love being able to teach the truth. I really like in the mission packet towards the end where it says that we are to be Defenders of the Faith. I like that title, and hope to be worthy of it these last 4 months of my mission. I love you guys. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

We seem to shovel dirt a lot!

2010-05-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

Fancy Towel Technology

2010-05-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

I had to chuckle at Jack's final email to me today.
Since I didn't have too much to say,
since we talked quite a bit yesterday.....(heavenly)
my email was extraordinarily boring.
It was the MOTHER of all boring emails
and trust me I have sent some doozies.
I was racking my brain to ask him questions.
I decided to ask him what every mother does
when she wants her missionary to know that he is loved
and she still desires to take care of him
(even though the Lord is doing the majority of that now)
"Do you need anything?"
"Can I send you anything?"
"How about towels...those new microfiber ones that the other cool mothers are sending their sons"
"Would you like some of those?"
Here was his reply,
oh, i am good on towels. i don't need any fancy towel technology
lol
well have a great day!
i hope you had a great mothers day
thanks for the pizza!
i love you!
jack
I laughed out loud.
Laughing is always good for us missionary moms.

Hey everyone!

Well, it was great to hear from you guys! Calling home has always been some of the days I most look forward to. It was really nice talking to you guys, and it’s sounds like everything is great at home. I talked to Megan too, and she is doing well. We’re still in a feud though. Lol mln

The only bad thing about the phone calls, particularly the Sunday calls, is that i don’t have much to say now! =) But that’s okay. Elder Dunkley and I spent the morning cleaning and reorganizing the hose. We don’t like the idea of scorpions living with us. We deep cleaned the refrigerator and the stove, which took awhile. Last night we watched the Restoration movie with a less active in our ward. I like that movie a lot.

Oh, I told mom yesterday, but the nephew of Ana Garcia, and her brother received the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday. That was pretty exciting. Her nephew, Jesus, is getting ready to go on a mission now. That makes me pretty happy. That will fulfill a goal I have on the mission, which is baptizing a future missionary. Now I fell like what I am doing here will last another 2 years. Anyways, it’s great to see converts receive the Priesthood, because when they have that they can serve a wider variety of callings and leadership positions, and they are less likely to inactivate.

Here in the area we continue to look for families to teach.

Oh, so Saturday they established a new church 3 doors down from our house. It’s pretty annoying because they blast everything on loud speakers and they have a keyboardist who plays the same 2 chords over and over again. And they cry and scream a lot. The churches here are very different than what they are in the states. It’s almost frightening. Anyways, we’ll see how long that church lasts. They usually don’t last very long.

Well, the mission is great. I still have a lot of time here, and I plan on using it all wisely. Thanks for the emails and it was great talking to you. The next time I talk to you It will be in person! Okay, have a great week!

Love,

Elder Winn

Jack tried to send pictures but couldn't because of the slow internet connection. So I thought I would post a picture of the beautiful table runner he sent to me at Christmas. It is hand done by a lady that was in his ward in Coban. It is the pattern of her village (not sure if that is the correct terminology). I guess each village has their own distinct pattern. He said that when he told her it was for his mother so said that she would need to make it extra nice. He said that it took her two full weeks of all day sitting on the ground stitching. It is flawless. It is amazing to me.

Which thought is scarier? Scorpion or Fire?

2010-05-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

(random bug picture Jack took at the beginning of his mission but not a scorpion)

Today the last line in Jack's email was:
"Oh, yesterday while we were about to go to bed, we found a giant scorpion! Then we spent about half an hour trying to kill it by fire and looking for other ones. I don’t like scorpions."
I don't know which part of that statement troubled me more....
That there was a scorpion in their living quarters
OR
That they tried to kill it BY FIRE?
Both seem kinda disturbing...
and yet,
I had to chuckle

because this is how he probably looked during the scorpion escapade....

Because in spite of all the wisdom and maturity they are gaining..
Despite all of the testimony building, faith enriching experiences they are having..
They are still our boys.
And boys will be boys......
Chasing a scorpion around with fire.
(I guess using a hard whack with the back of a shoe would have been too easy)

Here is Elder Winn's latest epistle:

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the emails. It’s good to hear from you.

This week has been pretty eventful. We had a zone conference with President Falabela from the 1^st quorum of the seventy. It was a great conference. We talked about the need to build up the church here in Guatemala, and the only way to do that is by baptizing families. It made me think a lot about how the Gospel is always focused on the families, and that the only way to truly receive our exaltation is through our families. Sometimes it’s hard to find families. We can pretty frequently find single mothers, or mothers whose husbands don’t want anything with the Gospel, but it’s hard to find families. The men here are usually not very receptive, but we’re trying to be able to find the ones that are. He also pointed out that we should only be working with the people who are ready to hear the Gospel. A lot of people aren’t ready to hear, and even though they let us into their houses it is a waste of time if they will never progress. Elder Dunkley and I have been working a lot on that this week. We’re looking for families, and future priesthood holders. We’ve had to pass up a lot of potential lessons to find them. Even though it’s more desirable to be teaching people than contacting, we have to make the sacrifice to find these people.

Oh, happy anniversary by the way! Congratulations.

We also had a zone leader council with President Falabela. That was a pretty intense day. Funny story actually. Elder Dunkley and I were positive that it was going to start at 9, so we left early, because it takes about an hour with traffic to get there. We ended up getting there at 7 30, and we hadn’t ate breakfast that morning, and the fancy restaurant at the office building had a 2 for 1 deal, so we decided to eat breakfast. Well, we took our sweet time eating a tasty Guatemalan breakfast, and we got to the office at 8 30 only to realize that it had started at 8! It was pretty embarrassing. The best part was that when we were eating I was telling Elder Dunkley about the story when Megan and I were eating at that restaurant thinking we had all the time in the world when we were actually supposed to be there for our final exam. It was pretty funny.(Megan and Jack took a class together their freshman year and had the best time. Their last final was the class they had together and was right before they were to race to the airport to catch a plane flight home for Christmas. They decided to celebrate and have a fancy breakfast at the top of the Wilkinson Center and then wait outside the classroom for the final. They had a marvelous time and were patting themselves on the back for arriving a half an hour early to the exam. When they got there they noticed that the classroom was full and that is when they found out that they had the wrong time and only had 20 minutes to take a 2 hour test.....an essay exam! They scribbled something down. Megan said that she couldn't even read her writing through the tears. She called me sobbing afterward because she felt she had let down her brother and now they would both fail. Jack was so worried what his Dad and I would think. I felt sick for the both of them. Thankfully we can all laugh about it now.)

Right now we’re working with a family that we’re having a hard time bringing to church. They are Fransisco an Julia. They agree with all of our teachings, and are reading the Book of Mormon, but they wont cone to church. It’s hard to get people to church here, because it’s a little far away. Elder Dunkley and I are thinking of giving piano lessons to try and get non members to at least enter the church and see what it’s like. The church here is beautiful, and we want to get people to enter it, even if it’s not for sacrament meeting.

Okay, it’s question time!

1.THE CALL!
When:?

I’ll probably do a pre-call on Wednesday, and I will call Sunday after church. Like at 1 or 2
How?(who calls whom)?

I will call you guys.
How long can we talk?:

President Torres hasn’t said anything yet. =0
Are you excited??:

YES! =)

2. Did your debit card work at taco bell? I assume that it did. Have you had any other problems with it?

Yes, and it worked this morning at McDonal…… lol never mind. It works. =)

I’ll be taking money out to by minutes this week though.

3. You said that you wanted to go to some places that I hadn't heard of. What is Livingston? What is Puerto Barrios?

It’s an island that’s supposed to be really pretty, and it’s where rio dulce is. I’ve heard it’s pretty cool.

4. The reason I said to fly to Peten is that it would save time and give us more time actually in Peten. They sell packages that include hotel and shuttles and entrance fees to Tikal. I just thought that it might be an option. How scary are the buses that drive all night. Are they pretty creepy? (we will probably rent a car in Peten)

I think it would be cool to fly. I know a hotel that I’ve stayed in, that’s pretty alright, that charges 20 dollars a night. And I can get into Tikal for a lot cheaper. The entrance fee is about 12 dollars for foreigners and about 2 dollars for me. Just be careful with the tourists people up there. They will rip you off. The buses aren’t really creepy to me, but it would be cool to fly as well. (Something tells me that I do NOT want to stay in the 20 dollar hotel that Jack has found. lol)

5. BTW the whole Vanegas family won't be there. Only Sister and Brother Vanegas. All of their children will be attending BYU at that time. So no problem with that. Wait...this isn't a question at all....oh yea I know....isn't your mother really really great? (remember to answer carefully since it is so close to Mother's day!!)

Yes. Nerent!

7. Cow hoof and spinal column....mmmmm mmmmm. What was the worst thing you have eaten this week?

Yeah, it was gross. This week we’ve eaten pretty normal food. Th best thing was lasagna that Hra Torres made for council.

9. How was the zone conference and zone leader council?

It was very good.

11. Healthy??

Yes!
12 Do you need anything??

No =)

And I think I have lost some weight, so nobody has called me fat lately. I stopped drinking soda and eating sugar in an effort to be healthier. I haven’t lost a lot, but I’m getting a little thinner.

Oh, yesterday while we were about to go to bed, we found a giant scorpion! Then we spent about half an hour trying to kill it by fire and looking for other ones. I don’t like scorpions.

Well, I am excited to be able to call you guys. I am grateful for everything you do for me, and I know that I am always in your thoughts and prayers. I love being a missionary, and I know that this Gospel is true, and that we are children of God, with many blessings in store for us.

Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Winn

Elder Jack Lauck Winn

My future is bright. I know who I am, what my purpose is, and where I am going.

Two years ago to the day

Life in the eye of the storm

Surreal!

sur·re·al

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

The Future Is Always Bright For The Faithful

So we started to sing hymns.

I will be a witness (and I have a stomach of steel)

I will always take a part of this country with me.

Missionary Mom Sisters

I know they are waiting for me.

Action Heroes; Defenders of the Faith

I will give you my testimony....

That Hurricane Was Something Big....

99 Days till A Hug From My Son

Guatemala City Guatemala LDS (Mormon) Temple - Mormonism

I felt like someone was pushing me....

Nobody can attack my testimony

Volcano, Tropical Storm and little miracles

Eruptions

Defender of the Faith

We seem to shovel dirt a lot!

Fancy Towel Technology

Which thought is scarier? Scorpion or Fire?