July 29th 2013

We had a couple of great things happen this week! First off, we had an incredible zone conference where the Mission President and a Stake President spoke to us. Our mission president spoke about coming closer to Christ, and the Stake President talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan. He suggested that the Savior chose every word carefully when he gave a parable, and that this one is full of symbolism down to the oil and wine used to bind up the wounds. Try studying the parable assuming that the good Samaritan represents you, then that the man who fell among thieves represents you, then that the "beast" represents you. It is quite interesting!

 

On Saturday I got to attend my first baptism since I entered the mission field! He is the 8 year old son in a family in the branch.

The missionaries have been a big part of his preparation to be baptized as his family is returning from inactivity, so it was a really cool day for me.

 

A couple of interesting things happened this week, one of which was us burning some boilup. My companion told me that it is impossible to burn the stuff, and that you can just throw it in a pot and eat it whenever you are ready. Maybe our planning session that night was too long, but when we went to eat our boilup the kitchen was filled with smoke and all the water in the pot had boiled off. The flat still stinks a little bit.

 

Another interesting thing that happened is that Elder Webber smashed his bed. I'll send the pictures.

Have a good week everyone!
Elder Winters

The other day I parallel parked in a really tight spot. It was brilliant!

My Companion trying to salvage our boilup.

Baptism Photo!

Another one.

My Companions broken bed!

July 22nd 2013

I got to spend some time with my trainer this week which was great!

My current companion and I traveled a few hours to pick up my old trainer and his companion to bring them back to Aberystwyth. He had to come to Aber for an appointment he set up before he knew that he was being transferred. We hit some brutal traffic on the drive to Aber! We passed one old guy who was running up the hill, then we got stuck in a line so long that the guy ended up passing us. It was quite embarrassing.

 

We met two awesome people this week who we are beginning to teach! We saw a woman walking down the road a few days ago and asked her how her day was going. She told us that it was going awful, and we asked what we could do to make it better. She said that she needed shelter, food, money, pretty much everything. We told her to wait a minute, and we ran into our flat and filled a bag with food for her. It turned out that she was a previous investigator who we had tried to make contact with only a week or two earlier! We were able to meet both her and her husband on Sunday and get a bit of their story. I'm here to tell you, some people have had incredibly tough lives! We shared a bit about our message with the two of them, and they said that they would like to hear more of what we have to say and that it would be incredible if they could know that they have a loving Heavenly Father.

I am so excited to begin teaching these two and to see how the gospel will be able to fill their lives with joy!

 

Right after we experienced this miracle on Sunday we went over to a man we are working with and found a bit of a crazy situation. He really wanted to give up smoking, and so we did the missionary stop smoking program with him which allows you to stop smoking in 7 days. He finished the program on Saturday, and then didn't come to church on Sunday. We went over to see what had happened, and he told us that he had had a panic attack only partially related to giving up smoking and had had to go to the hospital. The doctor there told him that he shouldn't try to quit smoking "cold turkey," and that he should drink a little coffee and use an e-cigarette a little bit every day. I was gutted! We will be trying to figure things out over the next little while.

I love you all!

Elder Winters

Hanging out with a Frog!!!

Our District!

 

July 1st 2013

We had a number of awesome experiences this week! First and foremost, we were able to invite two people to be baptized when they receive a witness that what we have been teaching is true and they accepted!

That has never happened to me before on my mission, and two people accepted the invitation in one week! The Lord has been so good to us!

 

Let me tell you a little bit about what happened with one of the people who actually requested a visit from the missionaries online. We had our third lesson with her on Friday, and we brought a member who I haven't had the chance to go teaching with yet. We went into her home, and we got to know her a bit. Then the member with us said "it seems like you know an awful lot about Mormons, why aren't you one?"  I was a bit surprised at first, but then I realized that it was a really good question! Why wasn't she a Mormon? If we could understand that and address those concerns, then she would have nothing holding her back from being baptized! We listened to her and then taught and testified as the spirit directed us. The spirit was in the room, and I know that she felt it because she told us afterward that we had planted a seed in her and she would read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. She then told us that when she knows that the Book of Mormon is true, she will be baptized into the church. It was one of the most powerful lessons I have had the privilege to be a part of so far in my mission!

 

Another cool experience happened on Saturday when we were able to teach the missionary stop smoking program to a man we have been seeing for a few weeks. He has a great desire to stop smoking, and his sister came over to provide support as we taught the lesson. I am so excited to see the program begin to work! The Lord blesses us when we do our best to keep his commandments!

 

Let me finish off with something that made me laugh. On Sunday my companion and I drove about 20 minutes out of town to bring the sacrament to a member who has been feeling very poorly. We decided to just head out to his home without bringing any bread, planning to just use something that he had in the house for the sacrament. We were a bit disappointed when we got to the member's house and he told us that he didn't have bread or anything that could be used for the sacrament in the house! He told us not to worry about it and that he would just take the sacrament next week, but we promised him that we would get back to his house some time that day to bring the sacrament to him.

My Companion then had the brilliant idea to just walk across the street and knock on someone's door to ask for a slice a bread! We knocked on a lady's door who took one look at our badges and said "Latter Day Saints? Not interested!" We explained that we were just wondering if she could do us a favor and give us a slice of bread. She looked very surprised and a bit angry! I explained that we had a friend across the street who had been unable to come to church that day and that we wanted to administer the sacrament to him. She said ok, went and got us a slice of bread, and we walked straight over and gave the sacrament to the member. It was great! Elder Webber and I are thinking about bringing cookies or a thank you card over the lady when we are in the area next.

I love you all!

Elder Winters