I think I'm getting jilted (I wanted to say "gipped" but I wasn't sure how to spell it.....) on time today, so real quick some highlights from this week.

-Ran in to Cameron Dopp's Dad this week! He was awesome! It was great to see someone from home!

-We've had some hard days this week (lots of walking, late nights staying up and making plans for the next day, working every minute of every hour just to get into a house) but the work is starting to pay off!

-We met a super contentious guy this week, who just wanted to talk trash about the book of Mormon. And while it's not new to meet people like this, this was the first time I'd left content!

Hahahaha and all it took was a firm testimony of the book of Mormon.

"Wait, brother, you're telling us that The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ was written by a 20 year old young man from 19th century New York? And that he wrote a book testifying of Jesus Christ, an unknown group of people, with unknown governments, monies, and politics that tells us about even the most minute details of a previously unknown civilization?

"Uhh....well when you put it that way".....

Hahahahaha so we had fun!

Agh. They're cutting me off here.....

I guess I'll tell you guys more next week.

Basically we've had crazy miracles and we're hoping for two baptisms this week!!!! Love you! Sorry about this!!!!

Things are going great!!!

Here's all of Lima!!!!

Ahhhhh I feel bad I'm getting cut off like this!!!! Don't hate me for lack of detail!!! I love you guys!!!!!!!! Bye!

I swear this isn't my fault........

Tour bus pics, Plus we met Peruvian Superman!

#Peruvian SupermanVsBatman

#Peruvian SupermanWins

This picture was sent to me (Syd) in a text last Thursday.

First time I've had one sent his entire mission, it was

a cool surprise!!!!

This is what Dave had to say about it.

Well basically:

We were walking in our sector and we heard "Hey Elders" but in like a gringo voice....not like a Peruvian "Elderes"

So we turn around and there's a middle aged white guy, he talks to us and asks us where we're from (In English (he didn't speak Spanish) so I had to translate for my companion).

He said he was from Salt Lake! I told him I was from Bountiful, and then he said he was from Bountiful! He looked at my nametag and asked who my parents were. I told him. He then introduced himself as Cam Dopp's dad! I gave him a hug, and he took my picture, and asked if there was anything he could do for us, we told him no, then talked some more, then he asked again, and we still said no....then he gave me 50 soles. (Don't worry, I politely refused, he just wouldn't take no for an answer)!   He's a great person! If you can, tell him I said thanks, and that his visit meant a lot to me!!!

March 14, 2016

Well, it's been a pretty good week!!!   Starting from where we left off....

Monday night we got the call we had been expecting.

"Elder Tonga will be going to San Martín, and Elder Winn will be receiving Elder Villarroel".

So, Elder Tonga left, and I'm now with Villarroel. Despite the fact his name resembles that of a past companion of mine, and they're both from Argentina I assure you they are nothing alike. We get along perfectly and we both look forward very much to helping the zone meet their potential as missionaries. It's great.

Aside from that things have been moving along quickly!!! Elder Robbins came on Thursday and spoke to us and two other missions. He talked about the importance of obedience, our roles as missionaries, and how we could better help all those around us. It was great!!! Afterwards we had a leadership meeting with Elder Montoya (of the 70). It was.....a learning experience.....hahaha!  Let’s just say that I'm glad I've been going about things right!!! Hahaha, I'm sure it was a much less enjoyable experience for some of the other Elders. He also talked a lot about obedience, and about some of the specific problems that we're experiencing here in this mission.

After that, on Sunday we had a video conference with Elder Alvarez (Area 70). Which was also a.....learning experience..... something that I have learned, is that while I may be able to sit through, and participate in a meeting....that in no way means that I enjoy them. It’s incredibly easy to feel inadequate with one of them talking to you, calling out all of your flaws......but, I guess it's a learning experience.

So that's been fun....ish. and then we've been working a lot with the investigators in our sector.....President Larson has asked us to reach a goal of 11 baptisms this month (compared to other zones, and other times in the mission, that's actually relatively low). It should be attainable, however the zone has a few problems.....and it appears as if 6 of those 11 baptisms will need to come from our sector.....Which is a lot of pressure....and a lot of stress.....but that's ok. I know that with a lot of fasting and prayer, we can get it done.

So that's been my week. Lots of meetings. Lots of wearing gross worn out suits. Lots of stress. Lots of prayer. Lots of fallen through meetings with investigators....And Lots of happiness.

Because in the end, happiness is something you choose, not something that results from what happens to you.

😁

I hope you're all doing great!!! Because I am!!!

I'm looking forward to a lot of hard work this week!!! Love you guys!!!

Elder Winn

March 7, 2016

I'd like to start off by stating why I've come to love the mission so much.

Before my mission I had looked forward to it with a hope to learn and to progress. I saw it as yet another learning experience in my life. I thought I would be able to really look inward and re-invent myself. That after two years I would come back, and be a completely new and better person thanks to all that I had learned; however, upon entering I quickly learned that it was kind of hard to focus on me..... I found that when I focused on what I needed to do and how I could improve. I often felt completely crushed when I realized how much I really would have to change to become the person I wanted to be. It seemed so far out of reach that I contemplated settling on where I was. I saw how well others were doing, and with my competitive mindset, well, that just meant I wasn't doing as well as them.

But then I stopped focusing so much on my problems. I didn't focus on my defects, my flaws....but I didn't focus on my strengths either.....I just stopped focusing on me.

President Hinkley's motto: "Forget yourself and go to work", Became personally meaningful. Matthew 16:25 spoke to me with such force that I couldn't do anything but re-read it again and again.

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it"

It doesn't really matter if your life is good or bad.......In comparison to the life plan God's got laid out for us.....our plans really aren't that great....

And as I started to realize that more and more.....I stopped worrying about what I was doing wrong......instead I just focused on how I could help others.... And what I learned has been phrased perfectly by Tagore

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy."

I have absolutely loved my mission, because I have learned firsthand that the best way we can improve, the fastest way we can change, and the most fulfilling thing we can do. Is serve.

That being said: This has been a pretty excellent week!

Marcos got baptized this Saturday!!!! It's been great being able to teach him and share the gospel with him!!!! His Mom will also be getting baptized this month!!! I look forward to teaching them for the months to follow.

....then the not so fortunate news.

Zoraida and her kids have postponed their baptisms......Her ex-husband talked her out of it.....and it looks like we won't be meeting up with her for a few weeks or so......but oh well. We'll just keep praying for her!

We've had the opportunity to do a lot more interchanges this week!!! I got to know some of the Elders in the zone better! But most importantly I got to serve them.

So that's been fun!!!.....

And yesterday a miracle happened.

We were pretty tired, it was 7:30 and it was still pretty hot out. We had to make some calls to the zone and so we sat on the curb.....I suppose we looked pretty pathetic, because not long after we hear

"Hey, you guys want something to drink"?

We're a little confused (because he's not a member and usually only members say that).

We accept and He and his wife let us in....They give us some ham sandwiches and we start talking. They've got a daughter in Utah (to express the rarity of that I think it's worth noting He was the ONLY person in my ENTIRE mission to have family in Utah who aren't members). He said all the people there were trying to convert her. We laugh, we share some of our beliefs, we pray, they invite us back for dinner Saturday.

I'm probably really downplaying it. But it's probably one of the most awesome things that's happened in this sector!!!

So....in short.

It was a pretty good week!!! We'll be hearing from Elder Lynn G Robbins this week!!! So that should be cool!!!! I'm doing great and I love you guys!!!!!

-Elder Winn

Picture #1 and #2  Marco's Baptism

#3                          The Zone

#4                          Selfie (mom requested)

#5                          Spike-a-pillars

#6                          Peruvian bottle caps

Ladies and Gentlemen......

LET’S GET READY TO BAPIZZZZZZZZZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week is totally it!!!! Marcos will be getting baptized at 5 this Saturday and Zoraida and her kids at 7!!! It will be great!!!

They've both come quite a ways! I'm so happy for both of them and I know they'll make incredible members!!!!

We've been walking over every square inch of our sector looking for investigators! It's probably the first sector I've been in where there's actually a lack of people to teach (something that I realize has been an incredible blessing up until now). But even so, we're still finding incredible people! Take Lucero for example! She was a reference we'd received about 3 weeks ago, but she was never home.....after passing by for about the 80th time we hear a young woman answer the intercom! She let us in; we talked with her, her sister, and her father. They're a wonderful family and Lucero and Estrella (her sister) are very interested! I know you'll be hearing a lot more about them!

Other than that, the work steadily continues!!! We've done interchanges with all the elders in the zone! (Which sounds like a lot, but it's really just 4 other companionships). Our zone's incredible!!! Each and every missionary has their own incredible story of how they became converted, what they've had to overcome, and why they came out! Missionaries are the greatest!

On a different note, I've recently been studying a lot on pride. One of my favorite quotes is from Elder Bednar, during a devotional he stated that "all sin is a result of selfishness"..... I began to think and I realized.....no wonder a perfect Charity (the opposite of selfishness) would be so desirable......As I read more and more about pride and how to avoid it, I read: "Humility is not about thinking less of yourself, it's about thinking less about yourself".

This has honestly been one of the most striking lessons for me in my entire mission. The key to becoming Christ-like, lies in not thinking about ourselves. Every possible sin can be avoided just by thinking about others first. It's incredible.

I have had many moments like this.....and all because I started studying the gospel. It's the fastest and most effective way to happiness!!!

I'm doing great and love you all!!!!!

Stay safe!!!!!!

-Elder Winn

Hey Everyone!!!!  This week was another great one here in Precursores!!!

To start off we got 4 new investigators yesterday!!! Just because their friends invited them to church! When we walked into our Gospel Principles class we were greeted by 4 new smiles, each one of whom lived in our sector! They said they had been invited by their friends and would like to learn more!

They call this ward the ward of miracles, and it's been pretty easy to see why!!! Since it's a very wealthy sector, tracting doesn't do much for us, instead we have to work a lot with the members, and the missionary work's been going much faster than any of my previous sectors.

Almost routinely we are greeted by new investigators in the church (all of whom have been invited by, and are accompanied by a friend!

It's amazing!!!

Other than that we've been running in the mornings. It's terrible. I haven't run this much in like......ever I think.....Hahaha and it was all going well until I got a head cold Friday, so proselyting wasn't the most fun Saturday and Sunday, but I'm feeling great now!!!

Today we played Volleyball as a zone, and ate Papa Johns!!! It was pretty fun!!!

So.....that's honestly it for this week!!! Ricardo got baptized in La Perla!!! I couldn't make it, but I'll attach a photo!!!

So just a quick update on our progressing investigators.

Marcos- Doing great, it's just that he's been attending a different ward (his girlfriends) lately; we’ve got stake conference this weekend, so his baptism should be for the 5th of March.

Elizabeth- Sister Elizabeth was kind of a surprise!!! When we first started teaching her and Marcos (she's his Mom), she adamantly stated that she was catholic and would not be changing in this lifetime. However and time progressed, she has faithfully attended every week since the first. She is now praying to receive a testimony, and will most likely be baptized with her son on the 5th.

Zoraida-Carlos-Diego- Zoraida and her kids are absolutely amazing to teach, they're all very attentive, and excited for their baptisms the 5th. Carlos even went to the young mens campout this weekend!

I'll be sure to keep you updated about all new people we begin to teach!!!

The work is going great and I absolutely love it.  I'm doing great and I hope you are too!!!!

-Elder Winn

Picture 1 and 2:  Gnarly tan line…..also I was sick…does it show?

Picture 3 and 4: Here’s me and Tonga about to PREACH THE GOSPEL!!!!!!!!

 

February 15, 2016

Thank you dear family for the package!!!! It was great!!!!

This has been a pretty good week!!! We had another lunch with the Aunt Jana family (I've taken to calling the Rojas family that because their lunches are *almost* as good as Aunt Jana's Sunday dinners). It was a BBQ. Steak, fries, salad, Sausage, and some other meat I have yet to identify (don't worry it was delicious....therefore not octopus chicken).

We've had some incredibly good luck with our investigators this week!!!

We've been in kind of a rut with finding new investigators lately....but I'm starting to think that may just be a sign to focus on the ones we've already got first!!!

So first off.....Marcos didn't get baptized (again....) He was hardly home this week, so we didn't have the opportunity to teach him......we've put a firm and final date for March 5th (it would be the 27th but we've got stake conference that day). That's also when we're planning Zoraida, Carlos, and Diego's baptisms as well.....so that should be a good day!....anyway....back to the good luck!

This week Zoraida AND her kids came! And so did Marcos's Mom, Elizabeth. She's actually came the past two weeks along with Marcos, but this week she came on her own!!! We didn't even have the time to pass by and invite her this week!!! She just came!!! She said she feels at home here.....She plans on coming for many more weeks and will likely be getting baptized the 5th as well!!!

Hahahaha anyway.....that's about it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Multizonas are this week!!!! It should be fun!!!!

I know the church is true!!!! I hope you all know that!!!!

I'm doing great!!!!!!

Love you!!!

Elder Winn