September 19, 2016

Hello everyone :) this week has been pretty good! Life is starting to move more smoothly and seem normal :) I'm starting to get the hang of things around here. Elder Mitchell and I get along really well.

We had a pretty eventful and interesting week. We went to some crazy houses that some of them I will attach pictures of. One was a lady that was like a very organized hoarder. She has SO much crap that was everywhere, but it was all perfectly placed and organized. Another was a house that was completely surrounded by overgrown weeds and bushes that had a pit bull still chained up that ran at us but the chain stopped it. It was just a little scary lol. We also went to a house that had a confederate flag and was Linda creepy lol. Taught a person that was ex communicated and we have my first baptism this Saturday. Her name is Shawnta and she's awesome :) She has a bible that is obviously translated for a southern person, since when we were teaching her the commandments and had her read "Thou shalt not kill." She read "Y'all shouldn't kill". The south is crazy :)

Some crazy stuff happened around the mission. The AP's were about to head out for the day, when suddenly a car drove straight through their wall. I wish I had the pictures but I don't :( so ya their apartment is completely destroyed so they got moved out. Some elders in Hartsville have a crazy cat lady next door who has like 100 cats. One of her cats died on their porch and she said they killed it so she called her son and he came with a gun and said if they're gonna kill here cat he was gonna kill them or something like that so they had a big deal with the cops and I don't know really what's happening there. The Spanish elders in the building over from us got infested with cockroaches so they moved in with us and now we have MEGABED:) Scarff didn't want anything to do with it so his mattress is on the other side of the room haha. The Spanish Elders have soccer night at the church every Thursday and we went to that which was way fun :) 

The people here are crazy. There's legit a bullet bike gang of like 30 guys that mob around Friday and Saturday nights. They're pretty cool to watch :) the cops are nuts. They're legit like the cops in Superbad (TV version) hehe they turn on their lights just to merge or pass people them keep driving like normal hahaha. We saw like 20 cop cars surrounding the woods in Swansea and a bunch of cops running in with K-9 units. Pretty crazy stuff. 

One day we decided to bike for my first time out here. We were all excited that it had cooled down enough to bike. We made into the parking lot before I did a wheelie and my back tire fell off...we spent like 10 minutes putting it back on and getting the chain and brakes figured out, made it like 10 yards before I decided to test it out and do another wheelie. It fell off again so we had a member give us a ride hahaha

I've been having a lot of people tell me that I have a typical Utah boy haircut, so I had Elder Mitchell buzz my head :) hope you like it Mom!! 

Life is good here. Football is a way of life, high schools look like Junior Colleges, and we live next to an airport so planes fly over at 2 am which Linda sucks :(  itching to really complain about. It's cooling down so it's much nicer around here :) still super humid tho. I like it here tho. Mission is good. Life is good. God is good. <3 u all

Pic 1: Elder Mitchell and MEGABED

Pic 2: Dope Corvette

Pic 3: My bike:)

Pic 4/5: Ripped my pants wrestling Elder Mitchell

Pic 6: Haircut:)

Pic 7-11: Cool places we've been

Be a PRO

Jacob 4:7

Alma 34:38

Mosiah 5:15

Elder Winn

September 12, 2016

Hello from West Columbia South Carolina :) this has been a very
interesting and eventful week! I am in the West Columbia zone and am
in a pretty diverse area. Part of my area is super ghetto hood type,
part is total white trash trailer park country,  and part is very
wealthy. It's interesting how people live here. I've talked to a lot
of people on the couch on their front lawn and gotten a couple big
AMEN's haha.

Life is completely different down here. It's honestly like I'm in a
different country down here. Everyone joked about how I would have to
learn how to speak southern but you actually do. It's pretty hard to
understand a toothless southern dude. I talked to a guy that I
literally had no idea what he was saying the whole time so my
companions had to talk to him and I just shook my head. Oh ya, I have
companion’S.

I was put into a 3 pack because we have an odd number of missionaries.
They are named Elder Mitchell and Elder Scarff. They're both 20 and
class of 2014. Elder Mitchell is way cool. He is from Kansas and his
family is converts. He's been out for 11 months cause he went to
college for a year. He's playing football at Weber State when he gets
home and we are a ton alike. Elder Scarff is from Canada and is from a
convert family too. He has been out for 20 months. He's way nice and
very on task and obedient. We get along
really well. He is kind of like Elder Mitchell and I's big brother
that keeps us on task. They're both awesome though and fun to be
around.

We live in a pretty nice apartment which has been way nice. We cook
eggs or pancakes at home for almost every meal. We have a car so I
haven't even ridden my bike yet. That's been nice but made it so I
work out morning and night to keep from getting fat. Elder Mitchell is
getting ready for football so he works me hard. We jump rope and use
resistance bands a lot so we get some solid work outs in. Elder Scarff
just sits on the bed and watch us hahaha. I also have an iPad so I
don't carry anything around. It's nice to always have my paper
scriptures on my desk so there always there for studies. I just read
the BOM on my iPad at night :)

I've already been introduced to some weird southern stuff. I've eaten
some dang good chicken, but also ate boiled P nuts as they call them.
They are awful. Like they made me feel sick, but I
tried to be as nice as I could so I said they were good and kept
eating them. I've also been introduced to a new driving
style. From other people's emails it sounds like it's pretty common in
all over the south, but people just drive as fast as they want, turn
when they want, and park where they want. I don't get it. I swear
every car here is wrecked. We see legit AT LEAST 3 ambulances a day,
sometimes a lot more.

I'm starting to understand southern a lot better.
They all can tell that I'm from Utah from my hair cut and the way I
talk I guess. I just figure that since I'm a Mormon they probably just
guess that I'm from Utah haha. I'm picking up on saying y'all pretty
quickly. Getting used to being sweaty 99% of the time. The south is
great :)

I was in a house the other day talking to some less active members
that had little kids. One of the kids was holding my finger and
laughing idk why but her mom was yelling at her to let go and she
wouldn't so her mom got a stick out and hit her across the thigh. It
made me so sad :( such a nice little girl :( southern people are super
polite and respectful. Like so respectful that if they don't listen
100% of the time they get hit :( so sad.

I'm definitely enjoying myself out here. It's hard but it's good. I'm
getting used to being tired, hot and hungry all the time. The good times
make the bad times seem like nothing so it's good. I'm happy and
enjoying myself. I've grown so much in almost a month of being out.
Can't wait to see what the Lord has left in store for me!! I love you
all!  Love you all and would love to
hear from you guys or see pictures of your life!! Love :)

Elder Winn


Be a PRO
James 1:5-6
Ether 12:6
Moroni 10:32

Pic 1-4: some of the places we've been to and hood cars lol
Pic 5: us doing daily planning
Pic 6: Elder Mitchell getting boiled P nuts.
Pic 7: I fell asleep on the floor during lunch in our apartment so
they took my iPad

September 5, 2016

Hello everyone. Sorry it is kind of late but with it being my last day in the MTC we were given computer time from 8:30-9:30. Hopefully this doesn't bother anyone and everyone is doing well :)

To give you an update on me: as of Saturday night I weigh 190, I ate 6 chick fil a sandwiches tonight, and every day my testimony grows stronger. I have had some really cool experiences this week that I am excited to share with all of you.

I want to start by talking about tonight. Some might think to keep this as a personal experience and not share it with everyone, but that would be only thinking of myself and not sharing the blessings of the mission with others. Because we leave tomorrow we gave everyone blessings for comfort through their missions. I was able to bless Elder Beck, My companion Elder Edwards, and my good friend Elder Parkinson. Elder Parkinson blessed me as well, and through all of that I have never felt the spirit so strong. It was amazing to see how the blessings were not the words of the elders, but the words of our heavenly father. The resemblance Elder Parkinson’s blessing had to the blessings I have received in the past was incredible. I can't describe the feeling of knowing that that prayer was of God and was exactly what I needed to hear. 

It was hard to say bye to some of the elders that left last week, because in just two weeks we became incredibly close. One of them was Elder Christensen, but we called him cowboy. He was a redneck farm boy from Richmond, Utah and was a huge influence on me. He was so funny and crazy, he brought a lasso and he hog tied me in one of our dorms which was fun I guess haha. Aside from that he was like an adult watching over us, with a very strong testimony and love of the gospel and the people around him.

This week we got some competition for our hair cut business. A poly kid from Fiji came into our residence and was giving cuts in the bathroom. He barely spoke any English, and didn't know anyone, but he could give a dope fade! He took the blades out of a face razor and used them to free cut lines which was pretty cool. A lot of weird but interesting stuff happens in the residences at night. 

I was sad to find out that Elder Holland spoke at a devotional here the day before we reported, and tomorrow night Elder Oaks will be speaking :(   It’s ok though because last night we had an awesome devotional from a guy that some of you may know of, named Chad Lewis. For those of you who don't know who Chad Lewis is, he played football for BYU, Helped the Philadelphia Eagles make it to the super bowl, and played in the Pro Bowl. He talked to us about a lot of things, but the thing I got out of it the most was the way you act, think, and live, is the way you will react in moment of need. If you follow Galatians 5:25 and live in the spirit, you will walk in the spirit. It was awesome to hear of all of the people associated with pro sports, including the CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers, being converted to the gospel, just from the example of him living and walking in the spirit. Always remember to keep the spirit with you at all times.

We had a TRC investigator this week named Arnold that taught me and my companion, more than we taught him. He thought in ways I had never even heard of. He told a LONG story about a farmer who lost a sheep, and after explaining a long journey, he told us that the first thing he did was fix the whole in the fence to make sure the rest of his sheep were safe, similar to how the savior began his ministry and the first thing he did was call the apostles to make sure man was safe, then he went on with his work. Always thinks like the farmer and Christ, and think of your loved ones before yourself. 

Lastly I met an elder this week named Elder Ugba. He is an African American/Poly kid from Missouri. We met in the bathroom, but standing at the urinals he told me that he hadn't even been a member of the church for a year yet, and he was already in the MTC!! That is incredible faith. To add onto the faith it takes to even serve that quickly, he is here for 9 weeks learning French, Tahitian, and the language of teaching the gospel. He is incredible and every time I see him now he amazes me. That is the faith that we all need. 

I love all of you and am so grateful for you guys. I have found first hand that the gospel and heavenly father can guide you through hard times. I would love to hear from all of you and how you guys are doing!!

Be a PRO :)

James 2:26

D&C 6:36

Alma 26:27

​​

Goodnight Everyone<3

--

Elder Winn

August 30, 2016

Hello everyone :) first off I want to say sorry for my late night email last week. We got cut short earlier in the day so we were given some more time at night to email and not sure what I was thinking sending that. Very selfish of me and I need to focus on others and the gospel, not myself. Sorry :)

Now to talk about my week! This week has gone by really fast at times and really slow at others. I have been kind of sick all week which has sucked but its ok. Definitely has made the days feel longer and waking up harder but it’s not that bad. I'm better than I was so that’s good :) 

We did some cool stuff this week. We got to use the observation rooms that have one way glass like in law and order lol it was fun to be able to watch the other companionships in my district teach and see how they teach! We have done that a couple times and i always learn from it :) 

Last night we gave all of the sisters in our district priesthood blessings for comfort because they are all stressed. I blessed sister Ulrich, she’s from Viewmont and is going to Jacksonville Florida. It was pretty cool to see the elders do that :) 

We also did an activity to help us learn how to be quick and to the point when inviting an investigator. We had 9 minutes to go around campus and invite as many companionships as possible to hug each other and keep hugging while we explained, told of the blessings they would receive for it, and testify to them. We won with 25 companionships :) It was weird but fun.

Last Tuesday night and Sunday night the devotional talks were really good. Elder Useda of the 70 and the head of missionary operations talked to us. They both broke down scriptures and taught a lot, and introduced the district 3 is coming out (if you guys even know what that is lol). They brought the convert from the district and he bore his testimony to us in Spanish while being translated which was cool. I love the devotionals they always teach me so much. I fell asleep during the first one we had but now I make sure to stay awake :)

Sunday I taught Sunday school to my district. it was kind of stressful having to do that and write a talk for sacrament but turned out nicely:) We were also shown a YouTube video called Missionary work and the Atonement. It has President Eyring and Elder Holland talking in it and it is amazing. All of you should watch it if you have the time! Being here has shown me how much free time we really do have. Even a way busy day back home would be laid back compared to around here. I wish i would have gotten more out of my time at home.

I got my fight plans the other day :) I have to be in the travel office at 3:30 am yay:):):) I fly to Atlanta then have a 1.5 hour layover then to SC:) We’re on Delta so hopefully we make it without the computers crashing :) 

Being District Leader is kind of like being a counselor I feel like. I have to meet with everyone and talk about their problems and see how their studies are going. It's kind of fun sometimes but kind of sucks at the same time, but it’s all good :)

We still have plenty of fun messing around here :) We cut hair every night and were all getting pretty good at catching gummy bears in our mouths. Mom all of the gummy bears you sent me are being put towards competition (hehe) We moved the couches from the commons of our residence into our dorm one day :) The MTC can be pretty fun aside from how stressful and hard it is. I'm still losing weight so that’s good :) 

1st Pic: My District

2nd: The Elder Dogs

3rd: Me, My companion, and Elder Kim

4th, 5th, and 6th: My District at the temple this morning :)

7th: Elder Parkinson and I

8th: Idk lol

9th: The couches in our room :)

10th: Elder Parkinson and I at the temple

I love it here and would love to hear from all of you! Hope you're all doing great! Love you guys

Be a PRO :)

Luke 6:37

D&C 112:10

2 Nephi 26:31

Elder Winn