Tis the Season!

Happy late Thanksgiving!!! And happy DECEMBER!!! :)

Wow, it seems like I was just at the computer writing to you all... this week has gone fast! Yet SO much has happened. Where to begin... I am SO thankful for all of you!! And I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

I guess I'll start by telling you how the rest of my P-day went last Monday! After emailing, laundry, and all that good stuff, Sister C and I went to the crazy huge mall out here to look around! It was really fun! I can't wait to go see the main sites out here throughout my future P-days! ;) Later that evening, we had dinner with a less-active family. We are teaching their 8 year old daughter all the discussions. Her parents want her to learn and know so she can decide if she wants to be baptized. I thought that was very cool! I could feel the Spirit so strong as we talked about the promises we make at baptism, and what Heavenly Father promises us in return. Her mom was totally teaching the lesson for us! What a great way to help remind her the blessings of the gospel as well! We ended up not teaching Elder Gerard from the Seventy that night..they had family come early for Thanksgiving! :)

On Tuesday we had Zone and District Meetings! That was great! Afterwards, we had lunch with an older man at the Virginian Restaurant (café). He was so sweet, and wants to feed us lunch as often as possible! He also said, "Well! I wasn't expecting two glamorous missionaries!!" Haha! He was fun to talk with. He also gave us some brain teaser puzzles. Out here we get treated like queens! I have only had to "make" dinner once out here in VA! And that was leftovers that we got from the night before. ;) The members are so sweet. They also take our coats and hang them up as we walk in. It makes me feel so good! They take great care of us. It also makes me so happy to hear "Thanks for making our day so much better!" after leaving their homes.

Wednesday morning I attended the New Missionary Meeting! It was SO good to see my MTC buddies!!!! Yes, I did cry when I saw Sister Malufau. I miss her! It's fun to see all of them! :) President Riggs is amazing! And very fun!

The night consisted of member lessons and visiting some investigators --the usual. :)

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Party! Before dinner, we went and visited the Great Falls Manor. (It is a member's home--mansion-- where they also house 3 older ladies in their basement. Yes, that sounded creepy, but it's like a cute rest home down there) :) That was cool! We read poems and talked to this cute lady. She didn't quite catch everything we said, but it was great!

For dinner, we went over to a member's house! They were so fun!!! I loved all the yummy food- especially the homemade ice-cream and pie! ;) Their kids were super fun too! Mom, I sure hope you got the picture their grandma sent via text that day!... That was so nice of her to think of that! She was hilarious :)

Fridays are pretty fun! They are our weekly planning days. So pretty much, we spend all morning and afternoon planning out what, who, and how we're going to teach for the next week! We also sneak in some nail-painting fun. :) I'm glad Sister C keeps it fun and creative! That night we had our first chance to cook dinner! We made it for Sister Conley, our downstairs neighbor, too! Yes, it did consist of some Thanksgiving leftovers, but it was fun to cook!

Yesterday was AWESOME! We met with some members in the morning. They are an older couple, who have a pug named Precious. (They worship her.. it's quite hilarious!) It is amazing to hear the conversion stories they share and to hear how the gospel has blessed them so much! I can tell that they are in a strong relationship together with God. True love right there! Later, we had dinner with Sister Conley! She is the best!! We just absolutely love her. ..her dog doesn't particularly love us, but it's fun :) She tells us how grateful she is to have us upstairs. She says she can feel the power that comes from our room! She is so uplifting and so goofy! Love it!! While she was telling us a story from her mission, and talking about how she wants to work on being more fearless, I had a very cool experience! This has never happened to me before. It was as if I was watching myself on a screen, knocking on doors. I imagined myself having no fear as I talked and greeted people. So many great things were happening! People were so excited to hear what I had to say! Right then I knew what I need to work on, and what Heavenly Father wants me to work on: being COURAGIOUS. 1 Nephi 4:31! "And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much STRENGTH of the Lord, therefore I DID..." I love how confident Nephi is in this scripture! He knows he's large in stature, and knows he receives it from the Lord. He is awesome! And he ACTS in the strength he receives. I am going to do my best and act on the strength I receive hourly from Heavenly Father!

~After dinner, we went to check on the family from Saudi Arabia!! When we first arrived, the 12 year old daughter opened the door and said hi. And luckily the dad pulled into the driveway just in time! He is so nice and loved to see us when we first met last week! He let us come inside their home!! We talked about what we do as missionaries, etc. And they talked a little bit about the Curran. The wife gave us some Arabic bread with cheese and honey stuff in it and some Mountain Dew :) That was good! She doesn't speak English, but she is very nice! The dad asked for the website for the church and for all the materials! We will be dropping some Arabic Book of Mormons (...Books of Mormon?...) off soon! :) He even said, "Oh we can just learn from the websites." But I didn't let him get away with that! I told him we'd love to talk about what he learns! I'm so excited to start teaching! They even let us pray with them! They told us about how they pray five times a day, and have movements, so they wanted to see how we prayed. I hope they felt something as we prayed! I just can't wait to continue meeting with them. It really makes me feel rushed when I think about when transfers are!! We really do have to work fast! Only 6 weeks in a transfer, which means 6 times in church, and in order for someone to get baptized, they have to go three times in a row! The work is moving quick! :)

Sunday is always busy busy! Double meetings (covering two wards) and lessons all day! Sister Cordner and I taught the Priests and Laurels in the Great Falls ward. ..We forgot until we arrived at church..but it all worked out! It's amazing how well the Spirit guides when you have faith! I have been working on that goal to be more fearless when I speak and teach. It is amazing! Heavenly Father truly does give us the words in the very moment that we need it (D&C 100:6-7). Later that evening we went to visit a less active woman in the hospital. She is doing better, and it was fun to cheer her up! It is amazing how she called us missionaries to visit her! And very nice of some members (older couple) to take us.  

Well, I wish I could tell you even more about everything, but there's no way to tell you about all the amazing experiences I have! I love you all so much!! I cannot believe Christmas is almost here!!! All the decorations are getting me excited!! Sister Cordner and I are just about to go help Sister Conley pick out and decorate her tree!! So fun!!! :) I'm so excited!!

Have a fantastic first week of December!♥

Love,

Sister Winterton

P.S. It has only snowed once so far!