Cheers! :)

This week was filled with Christmas cheer... Let me tell you! :D

This season I have learned so much about how Christmas is meant to be
simple. On Monday we were trying to make these super cute Christmas
cards (you know, the kind with the pictures and all that) but the
photo machine wasn't having it! Everything in the Photo Section of
Walmart started to shut down.. literally. After getting pretty
frustrated, we finally left. Although it is sad that we didn't get
cute cards sent out, our Christmas seemed to be a lot less about
"looks".

Our ward Christmas party was on Monday night! We had a nice bbq feast
and an ugly sweater contest. (Luckily some other Sisters in our zone
had some sweaters to share for us!) It also ended with a fun white
elephant gift exchange. It was a blast!

It was Sister Otteman's 21st Birthday on Tuesday! We had pancakes for
breakfast. In the afternoon we went to Cold Stone with one of our
investigators named Theo! Later that night we got to go caroling with
a lot of the missionaries in our zone. That was the best! It was so
fun to see people's faces light up when they opened the door. :)

On Wednesday night we got to meet with David again. He got his
Patriarchal Blessing on Tuesday! Someone interpreted in ASL while he
was given the blessing. How incredible! David is doing awesome!

Christmas Eve was amazing. We had lunch with the Parkin family (they
have two YSA's) before we drove to DC for our Mission Choir
performance! The concert was super
awesome! We had two shows - one at 7 and one at 8:30. Through the hot
spot lights and tired legs, we all sounded pretty good. ;) The Spirit
was so powerful when we sang the last song at the end of the night!
Our mission has some amazing talent. I'm so grateful I could be a part
of it! Oscar and Hector came to support us - they're awesome! I also
got to see Brother & Sister Davis! (I lived with them last year!)

Drum rollllll please..... Christmas!! Skyping with my family was the
best!! I can't believe how much deeper my brothers' voices have
gotten... haha! :) I can't believe another year has come and gone. I'm
so grateful for my family!! They're pretty much the best.

That day we had Christmas lunch at the Lewis's and then Christmas
dinner with Bishop Janzen's famliy. Party! I'm so grateful for all the
support and love we receive out here.

On Saturday we got to go help serve at the DC Temple Visitors Center!
It was awesome! My cheeks hurt from smiling. :) I had a really cool
experience! A man and his girlfriend walked up to me and another
Sister (she's from England!) and asked us a lot of questions about the
church. He was pretty intense about some of them and almost came
across as bashing, but the conversation went well. It is amazing how
the Spirit works through you while teaching. I do not know how to
answer every questoin, but I do know that God loves all of His
children. He will give us help when we need it.

I love you all and hope you have a Happy New Year!!
Love,
Sister Winterton

Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

Merry Christmas!! :D

I'm so grateful for this season!! Everyone is so excited to serve and to reach out to others. It's awesome!

On Monday for FHE we all went caroling in the neighborhood! It was so fun to brighten someone's night. ..the only weird thing was leaving the doorstep without teaching them about the Book of Mormon! (Yes, we could have, but it didn't seem like the right thing for that moment) ;)

We had an exchange with some Sisters again on Tuesday. We went to work at the Temple Visitors Center again! So much fun! I got to help usher people into the concerts that night... And got to say the opening prayer for one of them! (I was soo nervous ha!!) Such a fun experience! It was such a tender mercy to have people thank me afterwards.

On Thursday we got to have interviews with President Huntsman! He is so great! He sure does love us missionaries!

We had our Whole Mission Christmas Conference on Friday!! It was a blast!! I love how Sister Huntsman invited us to find joy in the simplest, smallest things this season. I invite you all to do the same! We don't have to go all crazy and worry about the knickknacks and the sparkles -- this is a season of peace. I am slowly gaining my own personal testimony of that too.. ;)

During our conference we also had a talent show!! And guess what?!.... I PERFORMED! Yep, you heard that right! The Sisters in our zone convinced us. Ha! We sang a cute Disney Sister missionary remix song. :) I was nervous out of my mind! But it turned out great! Everyone else did an amazing job too. We had a blast!

Last night we had an amazing Stake Concert! People around here go all out... :) They even mailed out about 4,000 invites to people in the community! There were a pretty good amount of people that showed up. The Spirit was so strong! Music is such a beautiful way of bearing testimony.

Well, our weeks consist of hunting for lost sheep (less-actives), family history searching with recent converts and planning... lots and lots of planning. It is going so well! We are working our hardest and can't wait to see some miracles happen!

I wish you all a very merry Christmas!!! I know that Christ was born for YOU. (Luke 2:11) He was born so that we can experience true happiness - in this life and the next.

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Winterton

Pictures:

1. My MTC group! (we all came out at the same time!)

2. My sweet MTC companion and I

3. The Sisters in our zone!

4. Us :)

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Temple fun! :)

I can't even believe that it's the middle of December! The weather has been up in the high 60's.. At least we bought a real Christmas tree! (of course a mini one) That helps us feel like it's winter time!

Last Monday we got to have another choir practice with the mission! We are getting excited to sing on Christmas Eve! That day we also got to say hello to a recent convert from one of Sis. Otteman's areas. So fun!!

For FHE our investigator named Theo did the spiritual thought! It was awesome!! The activity was a fun goodbye party for some people who are leaving off to college, etc. We should be having a lot of turnover within the next couple months. Sad and exciting!

We had a Zone Training on Tuesday where we got to present again! I'm slowly starting to get used to that.. ha! It is amazing how much the Spirit works through you. After the meeting we had a fun lunch with our District at a Peruvian place. That night I said my first prayer in ASL! Woo! Haha progress is slow but sure!

On Wednesday we got to be Temple Visitors Center Sisters!! It was SO different -- but so fun!!! We got to walk people through the crèche exhibit and show the video A Savior is Born to them. It was cool to try and pick out all the non-members there. My favorite part was meeting a guy named Vandell! He told us that he was a limo driver and just dropped off some people there. He said, "I usually go and park somewhere while I wait but I felt really strongly that I should come and check it out too! And I don't know what it is but everyone here is so welcoming and right when I walked through the doors there was such a peaceful feeling!" We ended up teaching him a little bit and got his information so we can send missionaries to him. So awesome!!! Prepared people literally come to you at the Visitors Center! It was also fun to see missionaries from our mission bring investigators. :)  

Thursday was transfers! Sister O and I are staying together! :D We are going to have a blast!! I'm so glad we're still together! I don't know how I'll be able to do this YSA thing when she leaves... I get to be her last companion! We're going to kill it this transfer!

For weekly planning on Friday we sat outside on our balcony! The weather is awesome!

We had an awesome service opportunity on Saturday afternoon with our Bishop's wife! We went and helped people "shop" at a Holiday coalition! We walked people who qualified around a warehouse where they got to choose a certain amount of toys, etc for their Christmas! It was a lot of fun to see their eyes light up! A lot of the toys were donated from Toys For Tots. :) I love this time of year!

On Saturday night we got to go to our Ward Temple night! We went with Oscar (a newer member) to go to baptisms for his first time. It was so cool! He had an awesome experience. There truly is nothing that compares to the peace you feel in the temple.

We also got to teach in Relief Society yesterday! So many opportunities to learn and be led by the Spirit. :) I'm so grateful for all of these experiences!!

I hope you are all having a fun December so far! Stay warm!! I love you all so much!

♥Sister Winterton

Pictures:

1- Our Zone!

2- We are VC Sisters! :D

3- Us and some Sisters from our District

4- Oscar's first temple trip!

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It's the Little Things :)

Last Preparation Day we hosted a zone Sisters activity! It was a lot of fun! We wrote a Christmas letter to every Sister in the mission! There were a lot!! :) Everyone had a good time writing.

That night for FHE we presented the spiritual thought before everyone played quiditch! It was hilarious to see everyone running around with brooms throwing dodge-balls through hoops. The Harry Potter theme music added the perfect touch!

On Tuesday night we had an awesome lesson with our investigator named Jean Luc! He is awesome! He was investigating the church a few years ago off and on.. And this time he came to us! He is ready to change. We're excited to start teaching him!!

Our District Meeting on Wednesday was very powerful. We had a testimony meeting for the last half hour. The Spirit was so strong! I'm so grateful to be a part of this mission and to be strengthened by all the missionaries out here. We get to be a big part of God's plan -- and it's awesome! I know that what we share is true. God loves each of us so much! He knows us and He knows our needs.

That night we had a lesson with David! My sign language isn't doing so hot for now.. Luckily we got permission to download an ASL app on our iPads! Hopefully it will help me. :)

On Thursday we had an amazing meeting!!! ..It lasted for about 7 hours..but it was so worth it! All the leaders in the Mission (and a select few) got to attend. President Huntsman, Brother Gonzalez, and Brother Donaldson (former Mission President on the District episodes!) spoke to us. They did a lot of good training on effective planning and teaching simply. I feel so good about it! It only took me a year to realize that I don't have to be so uptight while teaching/contacting... haha! Better late than never. :)

Missions are full of ups and downs, but no matter what God takes care of it all. When lessons don't go quite as planned, or you can't seem to find any lost sheep..  I know that when we pray sincerely and with all our hearts He will give us peace. He also sends loving people in our path! On Saturday when we walked into a Wallgreens a woman ran up to us and yelled, "It's the missionaries!!!" and gave us both a big hug. The tender mercies of the Lord are all around us!

I love our Heavenly Father! I love all of you!

Happy December everyone :)

Love,

Sister Winterton

♥♥♥

P.s. I'm so excited for this week!! We get to be DC Temple Visitors Center Sisters for a day. :) Woot woot!!