WOW

Hello all!!

WOW. This past week and a half has been quite eventful. :) I got transferred to the Shenandoah YSA Ward with Sister Otteman!! ...YSA life has been pretty different! I have been humbled beyond compare. We are having so much fun though!

I have no idea where to even start... I already know there is no way that I will be able to tell you all the amazing, stressful, miraculous, life-changing things that happened. I will say that I have learned SO much about relying completely on the Spirit. Without Him I would have not been able to survive this past week.

Saying goodbyes to all the Rolling Valley people was weird. It was almost like leaving my ward back home! I have loved getting to know all those amazing people! They will always be remembered. It is crazy that I'm not there anymore!

Last Thursday we had transfer day. Sister Hansen was so sad to say goodbye. She is the sweetest!! I miss her so much. I know she is in good hands though! She is now companions with my MTC companion Sister Malufau!! Annnnd companions with another Sister! Rolling Valley has a trio now! That should be a ton of fun! I feel a lot better about leaving Sis. Hansen now that Sis. Malufau is with her! :) I love them both a bunch!!

My new companion is Sister Otteman! She is from Mesa, Arizona! She got baptized when she was 18 years old and then came out here pretty quick after that! She is amazinggg. I look up to her so much! She has a gift for recognizing promptings from the Spirit. She has helped me so much in this transition. She has one more transfer left after this one on her mission. I hope to become more like her!

With this new area I have been called to serve as a "Sister Training Leader". Sis. O and I go on exchanges with all the Sisters in our area and help support them in anyway they need. We also help train the Zone in Zone Conferences, etc. (We have one tomorrow and I'm kind of freaking out. Except not really because I know for a fact that the Spirit will help us!) So this is a LOT of change for me.. it is a lot to take on. I am learning so much!

Learning how to be social with YSA's was nothing that I really expected! I didn't realize how much of a change it would be. We really have to get down to their level.. if you know what I mean. We don't have to be all professional -- like expected in a family ward. Anyway, it's been a little hard, but I'm liking it more as the days go on! Also, being in a YSA ward, we get to have a "munch n mingle" activity after church every Sunday! This past Sunday the Bishopbric wives prepared pancakes, etc. Also we get to attend Institute on Thursday nights if there are less-actives or investigators there. So fun! On Mondays we have FHE! This past Monday we watched them do line-dancing. :)

This area is rockin compared to what I'm used to!! We are working with a ton of recent converts! They are amazing. One guy named Hector is 19 years old. He is so hilarious! We also have a recent convert named David who is completely deaf. Which means I have to learn sign language on top of everything else I have to do! It's pretty fun to talk with him! Super funny guy.

OH. On Halloween we got to watch the movie "Cokeville Miracle" with our Zone!!! It was amazing!! Highly recommend it. That was fun to get together with everyone! Sis. O and I put together quick little goodie bags for the Sisters. Everyone also brought a ton of treats! We also played games that night. Toilet paper mummies, basketball, and other random things. ...I love beating Elders in "Speed"... ;)

The reason why we switched preparation day was because we had Elder Anthony D. Perkins from the Seventy come to our mission this week!! We had a 1/2 Mission Conference with him on Monday. He is amazing! I love how he taught us to have a simple, powerful first lesson with everyone we teach. He also talked about how we can make every meeting a 'revelatory experience' if we come with a question. Let me tell you - it works! I invite each of you to try it this Sunday before going to Church. If you write down a question or two beforehand and go with real intent, you will receive an answer. I feel so blessed to have been able to meet and learn from Elder Perkins. Something cool-- Sister O and I were asked to practice teach (role-play) the first lesson in ten minutes in front of the entire audience! Pretty nerve-racking if ya ask me! We weren't perfect or anything, but the Spirit was there so that's all that matters!

Being a leader in the mission, we had another meeting with Elder Perkins on Wednesday as well! That was also really cool.

We have been talking to everyone we meet on the streets and have been seeing so many miracles! We are teaching a lot of lessons to less-actives and converts. We have one super solid investigator named Carter who is amazing! She is asking US what scriptures to read in preparation for the lessons before we can give them to her. She has such a strong desire to be happy and learn about the gospel.

One super cool miracle-- One night we had no idea where we needed to be. Unlike being in a family ward, we don't go tracting. We said a prayer and Sis. O asked if we needed to go to the church. I had the strongest feeling that we did. We drove there annnd there was one car in the parking lot! We went up to the car and introduced ourselves to a guy named Tom. He was waiting for the Family History Center to open. He ended up being a non-member who has been going for about 8 years!! Once it opened, we went in with him and talked to the women who serve there. They didn't even know he was not a member! We now have scheduled a time to go next week and teach him about temples. Pretty amazing!! ;)

Annnnnyway.... Sorry this is so long and so scattered! Too many amazing things happening lately! I love this work. I am so so grateful for the guidance of the Spirit. I'm so grateful for all of you! I wish you a happy week! 

Love,

Sister Winterton

Pictures--

*Eating at "Melt" with some members! HUGE burgers.

*YSA's on Halloween night

*New comp Sis. O :)

*Bye Sis. H ♥