HE LIVES!

Hello family and friends! :) Happy week of Easter! This is such an exciting holiday! I have never loved Easter this much in my entire life. ....there is something about being a missionary that just changes everything! Enjoy every bit of this week and continue to think about the Savior and His love for you! 

This past week has continued to be slow... Not many teaching appointments. However, I do think that this week has helped shape and form Sister Johnson and I. :) 

On Monday we had a great time tie-dying t-shirts with the Sister in our Zone. It was also fun to shoot some hoops! 

Later that day, Brother and Sister Davis had some company over. There was a young couple visiting. For some reason, when I saw the wife, something hit me really hard. I had this overwhelming feeling that I was doing the right thing by being on a mission. I am supposed to be out here so I can prepare for marriage and motherhood that will come sooner than later. That was one of the moments I had the confirmation that I needed to be here on this mission. Being out here has helped me learn and grow SO much. I cannot imagine myself letting this experience slip away. :) I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father blesses me with those confirming moments. Mission life is seriously hard, but He always makes sure that I know I need to be here. 

On Monday evening we met with an inactive member. A few days before, we talked to him on the phone and were super excited to meet with this nice 87 year old man. That night we were expecting to have a nice discussion about Christ and the Book of Mormon, and get to know him. .....that's not exactly what happened. Thankfully, we brought a sweet member from the ward with us. When this inactive opened the door, I was surprised at what I saw! An intimidating, very healthy older man. He used to travel all over the world, and made maps! He has traveled to almost every country in the world! Anyway, as soon as we pulled out the scriptures and read John 3:16, he shot us down. He told us that the book of John is irrelevant and false. He was bashing the Bible! We hadn't even gotten to the Book of Mormon yet. I was so surprised to see someone (especially someone who once knew the gospel) argue about Christ and God. We were not expecting that one. He pulled out a lot of atheist literature, but the member in our ward was wonderful at continuing to bear her testimony. That's all we could do. Bear testimony. I felt so sad for that man. How could he deny Christ and our Heavenly Father? All I could do was pray for him. After that meeting, Sister Johnson and I couldn't help but cry for him. 

That is one time I will never forget. That night I felt prompted to pull out the scripture Alma 31 and read it to Sister J. I had read that during personal study that morning, but didn't quite know why I needed to read it again. Wow! It was perfect for what we were going through! Alma says the exact prayer we said for the inactive. The previous chapter is about Korihor the anti-Christ. I'm pretty sure my schedule of reading in the Book of Mormon follows my daily experiences! It's amazing! I am continuing to love the Book of Mormon more and MORE. It really does have power. Please read it daily! You will begin to feel God's hand more abundantly in your life! 

On Thursday, Sister J and I had to pack up and move to live with some other members in our ward for the rest of the week! We have been staying with the Perves's! :) The Davis' had family coming, so they needed the beds. It has been weird living somewhere else, but fun too! The Perves' are hilarious!:) Today we are back with the Davis'. Great to be home! I can't believe I could be transferred next week! I will find out on Tuesday April 7th... If I do get transferred, yesterday was my last time going to church in the Great Falls ward. Crazy! 

On Thursday it got up to be 81 degrees! Hottest it has ever been while I've been in Virginia! ...nice and humid!:) I'm nervous to see how hot it will be in the summer! 

Friday was the usual weekly planning day. In the evening, we stopped by the Suttons (members in our ward). Little did we know they would be giving us the spiritual thought! We definitely needed that! They talked about their missions and how hard things get. I totally cried... Yep. I cry a lot. ;) Sis. Sutton said, "Maybe this transfer Heavenly Father is working with you two, rather than the people in the Great Falls area." Yes! That totally feels right! I know that this has been a hard transfer, but I feel like my testimony has been strengthened so much! I'm so grateful for the ward members! 

Well, to end my note to you all, I'd like to share the words from the "Because He Lives" video that has recently come out: 

Wherever He walked, 

Wherever He taught, 

Wherever He healed, 

He changed everything. 

Then everything changed. 

The man they called Master, Messiah, Friend was gone. 

But the greatest miracle was yet to come. 

He is not here, He is risen! 

He lives. 

And because He lives...

If you reach out,

Call out, 

Cry out, 

He is here. 

Then, now, always. 

He is here. 

During the good, the bad, the in-between. 

He is here. 

No matter who you are, or who you were. 

He is here. 

No exceptions. 

No lost causes. 

At all times. 

In all places. 

He is here. 

He rose on the third day. 

He lives today. 

FIND HIM. 

I LOVE that video. He is here! He is always there with open arms. 

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18)

I know that Christ is here with me, helping me along the way. I couldn't do it without Him. 

Have a Happy Easter and General Conference weekend!!! Thank you for all of your love and support! 

I love you all so much, 

❤️Sister Winterton 

Fancy Shmancy House

Hello again!

It feels like just yesterday I was talking to all of you great people! ...(I guess it was just 3 days ago..)

There isn't much to update, except more tracting! ;) We hit some of the big mansions this weekend. So fun! They are pretty intimidating... Especially the long driveways! Attached is a picture of the house that was the most exhilarating to knock! That was quite the long walk up to the door! And the door was basically a big window! The entire house is like a fish bowl. Tons of windows! You can see everything in their house.The woman who answered the door held her nose pretty high, and dramatically opened the super duper cool door! (The hinge is on the middle of the door! So when it opens, there are two holes that you can walk through!!!) Too bad she wasn't interested. She's missing out on the best thing the world has to offer! :) Anyway, it was a great experience!

I continue to study, pray, and hope for someone to teach! The mission life is treating me well. :) I have come to love reading the Book of Mormon more and more! So many great stories and examples to learn from. It's amazing how similar our experiences are to the prophets of old. Alma is awesome!

I'm so grateful for all of you, and for all of your support. It makes me smile to find so many notes of encouragement! Thank you!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Start getting excited for General Conference!

Love you all so much,

Sister Winterton

♥♥♥

This is a picture of a picture..

A 93 year old man took this picture of us last night after dinner! And had it printed out for us. ;) He lives with his son and his son's wife. They are in our ward and had us over. So fun! ;)

Thank you so much for everything!! I loved all the notes from everyone too! ♥♥♥

P.s. Sorry I look so exhausted! ;) This was taken right before bed haha!

Nevertheless!

Hello from VA!!

Since I haven't had my Preparation Day until today, I have the past two weeks to talk about! :)

On Monday the 9th, my Zone went to "hike" in the Great Falls Park! It was so fun to be outside and hang out with all the Sisters! The Great Falls were pretty, but I bet they're prettier in the summer when the trees have leaves. ;) Because of all the snow melting, the trails were super muddy as well. Nevertheless, it was a great day!!:) (Yes, I totally just used the word "nevertheless". It's my all time favorite word in the scriptures!!!) It was so fun to be with the Zone! So great
to be around people my age who are doing and going through everything I'm going through.

 On Tuesday, we had Zone Conference. We talked a lot about the new iPads and also about the new Easter initiative coming up! I'm so excited! The closing song was "I Believe in Christ". I felt the Spirit so powerfully. The line that stuck out to me most was: "I believe in Christ, so come what may!" With Christ, we can do ANYTHING.

Wednesday was great! We had a lesson with our 16 year old investigator. She is so sweet. She is hoping to get baptized sometime in the "future".... We're going to change that, don't worry! ;) It is so amazing to see the power of the Book of Mormon in her conversion.

On Thursday, we did another District Blitz! Because the weather was much nicer, there were more people out and about! Yay! We did a lot more street contacting. I met this teenage girl on the street, and had the most amazing experience. After getting to know her a little bit, and asking if she believed in God, she told us that she wasn't going to church. I looked her in the eyes and said, "I know that God loves you. You are his daughter. He wants the very best for you." After that, she listened to everything we had to say. I felt the Spirit so strongly. I felt that love that Heavenly Father has for her. I know she felt that same love. What an amazing experience! She is in the Elders' area, so hopefully something good happens with that! :)

We had interviews with President Riggs on Friday!! I just cry the whole time. :) He is AMAZING. I am so grateful to know him. It is amazing how powerfully the Spirit works through him. I am so grateful for the many leaders who hold Priesthood keys.

We also got our new iPads on Friday! Woo! It is a lot of fun to know that I will take this one home with me.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday..... I was sick! Not very fun, but at least I was able to rest. On Tuesday night I received a blessing from my District Leader. Miraculous :) I feel so much better ever since then!! I am so grateful for the Priesthood!

On Wednesday, we had a specialized training on the Book of Mormon with my zone and one other zone. I love those meetings! President Riggs is amazing!! :) Also.... we got to play a game of Speed with everyone!! I was the last Sister standing yet again.. and was in the last three playing! Those Elders have nothin on me! :) ha! So fun to play some basketball!

Yesterday we had the chance to serve one of the less actives in the ward. What a great experience!! :)

Early this morning, my super fun companion Sister Johnson went to the temple with another Sister. So I got to do a quick exchange with another Sister! So fun!

I am so grateful to be a missionary!!! It is the best!!! I am so grateful for all the people I am meeting each day. Tracting is definitely something to get used to... but it's also so fun to see who's waiting behind that door! You never know who it may be!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! I am so grateful for all of your sweet letters and notes of encouragement. It means so much! I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Winterton

Picture:

Tracting the BIG houses in our area! Woo!!

​

Confidence is key!

Hope everyone has had a fun week! :)

This past week has been pretty good!

On Monday we had an awesome lesson!! An amazing ward member invited us, along with our two investigators and a less-active over for dinner! (Empanadas!) It was amazing! The two investigators there (one has been investigating for over 2 years, and the other is the lady who has tried to drop us) had a great time! And the conversation was amazing. At one point, one investigator was testifying and teaching the other! :) What a great night!

On Tuesday, we went on exchange with our Sister Training Leaders. That is always fun to have change! I went over to the other area, and got to experience nighttime Virginia freeway driving! (It was terrifying and crazy!!!) Sister Donato - the Sister I stayed with - is from the Philippines. She is so sweet and helped boost my confidence! When we were out checking on potential investigators, I approached a man in the hall of the apartment building. (YES, I was the one who APPROACHED him!) He was surprised at first, but agreed to listen to what we had to say!! After I told him about the Book of Mormon, and handed it to him, he said, "I believe this!" Amazing!!! :) Ever since then, I have found more confidence in myself and in the Spirit!

The next day we exchanged back with our companions. Sister Johnson was so glad!! She had a tough time during her exchange... She had tears of joy when we were reunited! I am so grateful for her!! We are having a blast together! Even with all the craziness around here :)

On Thursday it snowed a bunch!! No bueno!! So we had to stay home and study and plan all day!!!! But it was also great to have a day of rest.
(It's also a bonus to have Bro. Davis make his famous biscuits and gravy in the morning!!) This week we are excited to get the show on the road and FIND people!! :)

Yesterday Sister Johnson and I had the chance to teach the young women for part of their New Beginnings!! That was so fun! It's amazing how comfortable I feel when talking with members! :) ...now I just need to feel that confident when teaching non-members! ;)

I love you all and hope you continue to find ways to share your light!! you never know who needs it! :)

Love,
Sister Winterton
♥♥♥

Blitz!!

This week has been weird!! I cannot believe it is over. It feels like nothing happened, but at the same time, SO much was accomplished. Most of the accomplishments were personal, and more towards planning.

We met with our Ward Mission Leader, and with the Bishop. We are getting our ward directory all marked up with notes on who the less-actives are, the famous "Do Not Contact" people, and part member families. It is exciting to start working with people in our ward! Especially when it has been very difficult to find more people to teach.

On Friday we planned a District Blitz!! (The Elders in our district came to our area for 2 hours and tracted in some neighborhoods to help us find). That was great! They found a few people for us, and we're excited to go meet them. While the Elders were having somewhat success, we had NONE. This was my first time truly tracting ....and it was terrifying!! My trainer never took me out to do it...so Sis. J tried her best to help me. I was feeling overwhelmed because I felt like I wasn't doing it right. I felt inadequate. I felt like I wasn't bringing the gospel to these people correctly. (I know.... Silly me, right?) I ended up breaking down in tears on the sidewalk! I'm sure Sis. J felt helpless and awkward. But, being the sweet companion she is, she just hugged me and talked things through. We came to the conclusion that I just need to practice teach door approaches more. :) So we decided to head home and practice! I feel so much better about it now. I know knocking doors will never be easy, but I feel more confident in myself now. It is so important to look at the potential you have. My goal is to take my weaknesses and make them into strengths! I'm grateful I am able to recognize those shortcomings so that I CAN become stronger!!

One of my favorite quotes... "Be comfortable with being uncomfortable!!!" .....thank you workout video!! :D

Missionary life is great! I am constantly learning and growing closer to our Heavenly Father. I am loving it!! :)

We haven't had any success with our investigators quite yet. Still giving them time to think about things. Praying for them!

I hope all is well with everyone!! Be grateful for the hard times that come! They usually mean you're about to get stronger!

I love you all!!!
Sister Winterton



P.s. The definition of "blitz" is: An intensive or sudden military attack!! :)