Trabajemos hoy en la obra del Señor!

I am going to start this off with...

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS ELDER DAMPT Y SAMI NIELSEN!!! :)

This week I received a new district, and I am the ONLY American in my district! What does this mean? I am going to learn Spanish a LOT faster!!! Haha. They are all super awesome and helpful with EVERYTHING!

My new district: Hermana Hernandez, Hermana Lugo, yo, Hermana Moreno,
Elder Rios y Elder Velazco

We also meet at a different chapel in Fresnillo, and it's literally 2 miles away from our area...and we walk! haha! It is ALL good though because the chapel is BEAUTIFUL and my new district is awesome :)

We ate with the same member who has a piano and I played it AGAIN! And this Sunday, she is going to let me play the piano for sacrament meeting...I AM STOKED!!!!! :) Hma Moreno asked if I could play "All of Me" by Jon Schmidt and she videotaped me! haha. I am only like, SUPER famous :) haha!

We have an investigator who has a store in our area, but lives in another area, se llama Lourdes. Lourdes is SOO kind and hilarious and loves to listen to us as we teach her of her loving Heavenly Father. After we finish each lesson with her, we help her clean, organize and we talk! One day as we were talking, her boyfriend bought raw chiles (her favorite snack) and brought them to us! And well, she told me to eat one... and of course I thought, "She is crazy." But she insisted, "Ay Hermana Winsor, no es picosa! No es picosa!" So, long story short...I ate not only one, but TWO chiles. And she was right, they were a LITTLE spicy but really good! 

As we were teaching Lourdes about prayer, she told us, "I only pray when I am ready to pray." I felt SO sad, I KNOW Heavenly Father is ALWAYS ready to listen and give us blessings. I know this. He is ALWAYS ready to talk to us and hear about our day. He is ALWAYS there. All we need to do is take the first step and drop to our knees.

We had an interesting experience Tuesday night as we returned to our house... Fresnillo is what I call, "La area de Los Borrachos" or The Land of Drunks. We were unlocking to lock to our front gate and a young man approached us and he looked at me, "Vive aqui?" I looked at him, "No." He then said, "Tiene novio?" (Do you have a boyfriend?) My heart skipped about 3,987 beats, "SI." He thought, "Como se llama?" "Uhh....Gabriella." "Tiene Facebook?" "Uh, si." And he left! We waited till he turned the corner down the street and we RAN into our house. I about cried, and I prayed HARD "Please Father in Heaven, please erase his memory...." I know the alcohol will accomplish this desire, but I am praying Father in Heaven will strengthen it. Haha

Everyday this week we ate CARNE! We eat chicken almost EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. It gets SOOOO old. But Sunday, carne. Then the next day, MORE carne....EVERYDAY! Oh it was SUCH a blessing!!!

So, Martin and Miriam didn't attend church yesterday. Their baptismal date fell :( I was SO sad yesterday. During sacrament we received a message, "Sorry, we were walking to the chapel and we received a call to return to the house." I am not going to lie, I put my head in my hands and cried. SATAN IS SO DUMB, I do NOT like him AT ALL! It is SO hard when you KNOW these people are going to be SO blessed in the Gospel, you can see them in the waters of baptism, you can see them receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost … aaaand then their baptismal date changes.

Saturday we taught them about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. They both drink coffee every morning before work and they both had BIG problems with "No drinking coffee". The mom, Soledad, was there and asked, "Where does it say this in the Bible? Miriam doesn't like church because you are separated after the Sacrament. She doesn't like it also because you don’t have a band and you don't dance, you don't sing." We were getting GRILLED. I thought, "No, this can't be happening. Satan STOP. Father in Heaven PLEASE!!!!"

We were able to control the situation, but the next day, they didn't show. Satan then told me, "You have been on your mission for 5 months, and you haven't had ONE baptism. How pathetic." Did I mention Satan is SUPER stupid? Yeah, and he doesn't even have a BODY.

Anywho, but then after, the advice from mom's last letter, "...your success is not in the number of baptisms. Success is how many people you've learned to love, taught the gospel, or touched their lives in some way - the number of people who have heard your voice regardless how far you got with them." Thank you Mom, thank you for telling me this because I finally just said, "No, I am NOT going to get discouraged. Hermana Moreno, we are going to visit them TODAY." And we did! We were there for 2 hours answering doubts and visiting with them. Some people may say, "Wow, that's too long." If you really love your investigators, you are not going to just give up on them, especially when YOU KNOW they are ready. Thank you Mom for your wisdom and your support, I sure love you like crazy :) Please pray for Martin and Miriam, their baptismal date changed to 5 de abril. PLEASE. They need this Gospel!!!

We found a menos activa, Evangelina. She lives alone and very humbly. We have been trying to find her before, but she was either sick or didn't want to talk to us. When we came to her home yesterday, she said, "Oh Hermanas, COME IN!" …very happily and excited! She is VERY kind and has a beautiful singing voice, I loved visiting with her! And, she has a PUPPY ROTTWEILER - she has a baby ROBBIE! :) I loved it and so many memories of Robbie came flowing into my mind.

Me with baby ROBBIE! (it has a different name, but in my mind, it's Robbie) :)

She grows "napal" in her backyard! Napal is CACTUS. Yep, they eat cactus here. But it was awesome to learn about how she grows them and how she cooks them. Walking into her house for the first time, I was once again humbled, I have NO room to complain, NEVER will I EVER have room to complain! I have air conditioning in Arizona, I have a heater, I have money to buy medicine (Evangelina is very sick, and doesn't have money to buy medicine, so she just suffers.) I love Evangelina and her desire to visit with us and to listen to the words of her loving Heavenly Father.

Es hora de español ....

Esta semana nos enseña 42 LECCIONES! Hemos logrado nuestro objetivo, encontramos un montón de gente, y cómo? Hemos cambiado todo. Tenemos más buscamos gente en la calle para enseñar, nuestro deseo de encontrar a más personas aumentaron! Y lo más importante, Hma Moreno y yo teníamos más unidad. Sé que el Padre Celestial ha preparado el corazón de cada persona. Por ejemplo, ayer cuando estábamos en Zapata, un hombre me preguntó: "¿Habla usted español?" Me eché a reír. "Sí, hermano, y ¿cuál es tu nombre?" "Mi nombre es Antonio Ugo. Quiero escuchar lo que tienen que decir." Uhhh, ¿QUÉ?!? Esto no es normal ... que quiere oír! Padre Celestial ha preparado muchas bendiciones para todos sus hijos, pero tenemos que hacer nuestra parte - esta es la verdad. Esta semana fue muy buena, he recibido muchas bendiciones y más amor por cada persona. Yo estoy aquí para amar y servir, no sólo bautizar. Me encanta el trabajo misionero, me siento orgulloso de ser un representante de Jesucristo.

Love you family! DIOS LES BENDIGA SIEMPRE! :) :)

Hermana Winsor

For P day, we played SOCCER with our zone again... I MADE TWO GOALS!!!!! :) :) 

Hermana Eliason y yo comiendo ICE CREAM!

Do you see all the BROWN in the horizon? This is when it was CRAZY windy on Sunday and we were walking in dirty windy, breathing dirty wind and covered in dirty wind!

 

This is for you Mom and Dad - a smile :) Love you :)

Menos activa, Evangelina If you look at the Napal, over our heads is a Napal shaped into a heart, "I'm going to sell this heart shaped cactus for millions of pesos" is what she told us! :)

MY TAN FEET .... and my tan line.... the flash ruined the intensity of the tan....but it is pretty ridiculous. 

A note Dana Alatorre gave us after a lesson, "Ermanas, las quiero mocho y quiero que bengan ciempre." I shed a few happy tears :)  (Translation:“Hermanas, las quiero mucho y quiero que vengan siempre” or “I love you, and want you to always come.”)

Still in Fresnillo!!!!

Sorry I didn't share the news - I am STILL in Fresnillo, goin' on 3 months!

On Tuesday we ate at a member’s house and she has a PIANO! I repeat, A PIANO!!! I haven't played the piano in 4 weeks....and I told her, "Hermana, necesito tocar su piano." "Entonces, Hermana, ándale pues!" haha. I played and oooohhhh boy, it felt GREAT! I miss the piano!

Also the same day after we ate, we walked to an investigator’s house and they weren't there. So we walked back to our house to pick something up. As we were walking, we hear someone talking "firmly" behind us. We ignore it, but then it turns into yelling. We turn our heads and I hear (in Spanish) "You shouldn't be in our country!!!" This woman was YELLING at me! I whisper to my companion "Walk faster...." And as we walk faster, the woman starts walking faster. I tell my companion, "Cross the street!" And we cross the street and walk into a store of the SAME member we ate lunch with. "We need help!" I told them and we hid as the brother stood outside the store watching the woman walk by. Ohhhhhhh the missionary life is SO fun!! hahaha. I laughed after we stopped hiding, "This is definitely going into my journal!" haha! It's great to be a missionary.

My everyday life in our house in Fresnillo.Yes, that is a BLACK WIDOW. A BLACK WIDOW, I repeat. But, it's dead. Thanks to ME! :)

Hma Moreno and I made Mexican CANDY!!!! Simply milk, condensed milk, vanilla and sugar. 

Mix and heat it on the stove and stir stir stir till it's thick! :) 

SUPER GOOD! And then let dry on a plastic sheet 

(we used a plastic bag since wax paper doesn't exist here).

On Sunday, we experienced something PRETTY awesome! We went to pick up Martin and Miriam for church. The night before we taught them “Keep the Sabbath Day Holy,” and they committed! We left the house SUPER late and when we arrived at their house, their other sister answered (in Spanish) "You're not going to believe this." And I thought, "Aw crap, they aren't going to go." And then she said this: "They already left for the church." WHHHAAAATTTT?????!!!! AHH! I was SO happy!!!!! We RAN to church!   

 

Karen, Miriam (going to be baptized 29th de marzo), Soledad (the mom, love her), Martin (going to be baptized 29th de marzo).... this picture cracks me up because Martin is ALWAYS smiling and his sister is ALWAYS laughing! I promise they are happy people!

When we entered the building, the bishop was teaching them about TITHING! Why? Because Martin and Miriam asked about it! Wow. They are SO ready for baptism! Please keep them in your prayers that they will keep this excitement and desire to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ! 29th of March, they WILL be baptized! :) Also when we were teaching about “El Dia de Reposo,” I asked their mom, Soledad, and their other sister if they would attend the baptism of their family members. And they answered, "Of course!" WITH EXCITEMENT!!!!!! WOO HOO MISSIONARY WORK!!!!

These people, Hermano Garcia and Hermana Garcia....I love these members, 

they have become like my 2nd mom and dad. Mom and Dad, 

THESE are who you are going to meet FIRST when you come in Abril de 2015 :)

 We have continued our piñata activity with Dolores. I finished the body of Capitan America and she decorated it! WOW! It is SERIOUSLY a gift! I also helped her make the body of RAPUNZEL!!!! That's right mom, RAPUNZEL!!! :) :) It was SO fun to make piñatas with her and to talk with her. I know we felt prompted to continue to help her with her piñatas because one day this week, she told us how she has NO money and how she is really suffering mentally, emotionally and spiritually. She told us how she has been receiving bad thoughts and then she told us this, "And then there are times where I think, 'I just want to die.'" It hurt me inside, I knew we couldn't stop helping her - she NEEDS us! We talked about enduring to the end and how ALWAYS there is a HUGE blessing in the end, if we endure well. And how we should NEVER feel alone because we NEVER ARE! :) She told us how we have saved her, and how we always have a friend and home to go to. I love Dolores, please keep her in your prayers that more people will ask for piñatas so that she will be able to support her family. 

 

The beginning of Capitan America

I added muscles to Capitan America!!! :) 

Look how I found (and made) in Mexico! :) CAPITAN AMERICA! :)

This is Dolores y sus hijos.

The same day we visited a menos activa, se llama Mari. She has a problem with smoking and drugs, I thought I would never see the day where I, AubriAnna Winsor, would be helping someone quit an addiction. But, here I am, and I will do ANYTHING to help her quit. Her favorite candy are lollipops so before we visit her next, I am going to buy and full bag for her. So that when she has the urge to smoke, she'll turn to her bag of lollipops! Pray that this will work, that the Spirit will take away her urges! :)

DANNY AND MELANIE! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PACKAGE!!!!!!!! I was at a zone conference and the zone leaders said, "Hermana Winsor, Danny y Melanie le envio un paquete." And I thought, "How do they know Danny and Melanie?.Ah, doesn't matter. I HAVE A PACKAGE!" And then I opened it, "WITH PICTURES!!!!!" I was SO happy! Thank you SO much!!!!!!!! 

As a mission, we have a goal: 40-60 lessons EVERY week. Huge goal, but I know we can do it, 7-8 lessons every day, PSH, yah, we can do it! But please pray for us! Pray that we can STAY united and diligent as a companionship. We taught 8 lessons Saturday and 6 lessons yesterday! I know we can keep this up!

I found a quote from President Monson about God's love for us:

"...it is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God's love is there for you whether or not you feel like you deserve it. IT IS SIMPLY ALWAYS THERE."

I KNOW this is true, I know we are CHILDREN of God, and we are NEVER abandoned. I love this Gospel. I don't have ONE doubt in my heart that it is the exact same Gospel when Jesus Christ was in the Earth. I am a proud representative of Him.

I love you family! Thank you for your undying support and love for me. I love you all SO much! See you in almost 13 months!! :) :) ADIOS !!!! Dios les bendiga!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana AubriAnna Winsor

This is Hermana Yañez Nishimura, miembro/menos-activa. I love this woman! Always kind and loving and she supports la obra misional 200%! She takes care of her incredibly sick husband, who has cancer and 2,390 other sicknesses...I love her spirit and her desire to learn and love the Lord. 

This is what happens when you finish planning with your companion and you are extremely tired. Enjoy. 

(Oh and mom, I bought the glasses for protection because I feel like I am becoming blind from the INCREDIBLY dusty wind here and we can't wear sunglasses. Don't worry. they were SUPER cheap, like everything else in Mexico. And they aren't for reading, so my eyes won't get tired. They are perfect!)

4 months DOWN!!!!!

Wow, who completed 4 MONTHS and has two thumbs? This hermana! Woo Woo!!! Only got sick 2 times this week, woo ...woo? hahaha! Oh my life in Mexico is hilarious.

After our lesson with Hermana Dolores WE HELPED HER MAKE PIÑATAS!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I do not have a single Mexican, creative bone IN me! But she told me I was doing well... bahahaha, I'm 100% sure she threw away mine and started a new one when we left, haha! But it was REALLY awesome and super fun! 

We also had the opportunity to help the daughter of Araceli, Aydé (she's a baker) make cupcakes and cookies!! And we also made something called, "Pedos de Monjas". Well, lemme translate this for you.

          Pedo = fart

          Monjas = Monks

So in English, the things we made are called, "Monk Farts"..... (You're welcome Danny.) And yes, when they taught me this word, I about died from laughter. Oh and Monk Farts are SUPER delicious too!! :) bahaha. I am still dying. Aydé would ask me, "Hermana Gringa, ¿que estamos haciendo?" I would answer, "Pedos....." bahaha. 

 

 Makin' PEDOS....or makin' FARTS

Eating PEDOS....eating FARTS  bahahahaha, it's still hilarious.

Cupcakes!!! HOME MADE!!!

We also had the chance to teach Martin and Miriam with their mom, Soledad. And WOW. We went at the right time because Soledad is going through some MAJOR depression. Being a single mom, the husband finally sent divorce papers and said, "I want nothing to do with you and our children." Soledad is playing the mom AND the dad. They live in a TEENY tiny home...and let's just say we came at the right time.

We taught about the Holy Ghost and she told us, "Sometimes I feel like my chest is going to explode and then I just cry. It's like a fire in my chest." And I testified, "Soledad, THAT is the Spirit. And never feel like it is bad to cry. When we cry, that is an open sign to our Father in Heaven that we need help! The Spirit is always here, to comfort us and to guide us. Never feel like you can't cry... always seek help. And we, as representatives of Jesus Christ, are here to help in whatever situation. We do this because we love you and we want to help." And she looked at me and started to cry, "Gracias, Hermana. He sido bendecido por medio de ustedes." It was incredibly powerful... and please pray for this family. Pray that they will soon be free from these trials. I know Father in Heaven know their trials, and they will have a great reward in the end.

Also, as I walked to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for bed one night, I walked past one of the curtains and in the corner of my eye I could see a huge black dot. I turned to look….. it. was. a. baby. turantula. And it was bigger than a 50 cent piece. Awe HECK no. I screamed, ran and jumped on my bed. My companion took care of it with ease... but after I definitely sprayed my bed with RAID. I'm not afraid of chemicals.... trust me. I am afraid of spider bites and spiders deciding to build their home in my EARS.

[Note from mom: It’s time I had “the talk” with my daughter … about the appropriate use of Exclamation Points, which are clearly her favorite punctuation. Did anyone else happen to notice the gaping LACK of Exclamation Points in the previous paragraph?!?]

We also had the opportunity as a zone to perform SERVICE! :) We went to a school and swept, pulled weeds, painted, and painted the trees! And I thought of Mom and Dad, "When one person is working, we should ALL be working." I had that thought in my head THE whole time! When I finished one job, I looked for another and, man, it was SO much fun working!! And when I saw the other missionaries standing around while we were working our tails off, I thought of all the times when Mom would be in the kitchen working her tail off and I would be in my room doing who-knows-what. I understand how you feel Mom... and I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry. It is not fair and I will never do that again after what I experienced. Service was INCREDIBLY fun and I loved every moment. I also wore my Paideia shirt and a lot of the Elder's asked about it. And well, I definitely bragged about you Dad and your school. :)

Servicio!!

Representin´my Paideia pride. :)

So the baptism dates for Martin and Giselle changed. Martin didn't go to church yesterday. And Giselle? I have no idea. She likes to hide. Please pray for them! Martin is SO SO SO ready, it is ridiculous how prepared his heart is. I mean, heck, he is going to institute and participating with the Single Adults!

Also pray for Manuel. We taught him everything of the Plan of Salvation and, wow, I asked him, "Do you believe that this is the Plan our Heavenly Father has made for us?" He thought and thought, "....yes." It was absolutely amazing. I am so grateful for how the Spirit works. We asked him "the question" and he said he would pray about it. Please pray that the Spirit will testify to him STRONGLY. He neeeeds every single blessing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught him yesterday also and he basically broke down and told us all that he was going through and how everytime we teach him, he feels happier in the end and he feels comfort. WOW. He TOTALLY knows this is true.

Familia, (tiempo para Español)...:)

Se que El Espíritu Santo es un maestro perfecto. Se que nunca recibiremos cosas malas por El Espíritu. Se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y Él conoce CADA de sus hijos. Él sabe Su Plan... es por que Dios envió Su Hijo Unigénito, Jesucristo. Y estoy MUY agradecida por mi Salvador, se que Él es mi hermano mayor y Él sufrió TODO para que podemos tener TODO. Se que puedo vivir con mi familia para siempre, y he orado por CADA persona en mi familia... cada de ustedes son MUY importante. Se que podemos hacer cosas difíciles. Hijole, tuve influenza y escalé una MINA después 5 días en mi cama....si, podemos hacer cosas difíciles. :) Mamá, Papá....gracias por todo. Les extraño muchisimo, en serio. Pero, estoy agradecida por el día cuando puedo verles un otra vez...con un abrazo :) Les amo MUCHISIMO! Adios, nos vemos, y Dios les bendiga :)

Con amor....y pedos .... bahaha,

Hermana Winsor

En el centro de Fresnillo.

MOM! I DEEP CLEANED our house!!!! I told my companion ,"Vamos a limpiar." And I literally "Mommy cleaned" our house!! I know you're proud of me :) I actually like cleaning now! :)

 La familia Alatorre, Araceli, Dana, Aydé, Fatima, Hma Moreno, Amela, y Axel

Nefi (son of a member in the stake) :)

The scripture for MARCH!

The last time with our district before transfers :(