Venga lo que Venga, Disfrutalo.: "Keep calm & burn Satan books"

May 19, 2014

I know what you are ALL thinkin'...."SATAN BOOKS?!" Yep. Lemme explain...

On Friday we visited William, less active, who wants to serve a mission...but he NEVER goes to church. And he always says, "I always work...it is more complicated than you think." HAH. You obviously haven't been on a mission.... hahaha. Finally we asked him, "Look William, why won't you tell us WHY you won't go to church? You tell us you want to go on a mission, you're 24 years old.... you got to STOP wasting time. We are not going to judge you!" He paused, "Ok, I will tell you.... wait a few moments." He leaves the room and comes back, with a black book. Not just any book, a black bible...Satan's bible. The Holy Ghost FLEW out of the room and my heart dropped. I was TERRIFIED!

Luckily William can understand English, so we told him that if he REALLY thinks this book is going to help him - he is DEAD wrong. "Hermanas, I don't believe in it!" "Well, have you read this book?" "Well...yes." "Whether you don't read it or not, it's STILL not going to help you." We found out his dad (who is in jail for killing someone) gave his FAMILY this book, to "help them with their trials"...bunch a BULL HONKEY to me.

We told William that whether he likes it or not, we would be passing by his house on Sunday to go to church (and he came to church!) After, I felt prompted to ask if he had any more of these books..."Yes." Aw crap. He grabbed not ONE, but 5 more Satan books. We told him that we would be taking ALL the books, and we would be burning them. As we testified of the power of Christ and the Atonement, he looked like he was going to cry... but not like "I feel the Spirit..." type of cry... but like he didn't WANT us to take the books. He literally is NUMB to the Spirit and it is SO sad.

We left the house with 6 Satan books (and we know he has more) to burn, and we did NOT have the Spirit with us until we returned to the house, turned on MoTab and started to rip up/burn the books.... it was nuts. When we returned home in the night, I felt terrified to sleep...I prayed HARD HARD! Never in my LIFE would I have thought that, I, AubriAnna Winsor, would come across Satan Books. Never EVER do I want to come across this kind of material again. I told my district leader, Elder Ouderkirk, about what happened. "Hermana Winsor, yes, the power of Satan is real. And I am sorry to tell you, but you will come across experiences like that in the mission.... but it's through YOU to be scared, or to fight back with Christ and the Spirit." Aw crap, well, if this is what my Heavenly Father wants me to do...so be it!

ANYWHO, Tuesday night & all of Wednesday I had Intercambios (splits) with another sister missionary, Hermana Azuara (from Mexico City). I learned A LOT!! When we had companionship study, she had me go into the bathroom and on the mirror she taped 2 questions, "What does Christ see in you?" and, "What are you doing to reach your divine potential?" and there was a picture of Christ and my English scriptures opened to 1 Samuel 16:7...

"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

She told me to take my time so that I could really ponder. And as I sat there looking at myself in the mirror, I know Christ knows that I am trying all I can here. He knows I am worthy and I want to do my best. I loved this exercise and I truly learned a lot about myself. I gained back A LOT of confidence.

AND we taught 10 lessons! TEN LESSONS!!!!! It was amazing.

We taught all 10 BEFORE 7pm - it felt SUPER awesome :)

Soooo...Cesar doesn't want to be baptized. On Sunday, we went to church with Hermana Dolores (Woo hoo!!! SHE came to CHURCH!!!) and we are sitting there waiting for church to start. We see the mission leader come in, (and we gave him the assignment that EVERY Sunday before Cesar's baptism for Hmo. Avila to drive Cesar to church, since he is SUPER old and can't walk) and he walks in WITHOUT Cesar. I panic, "Is he not at his house? Did he not want to come?"

After Sacrament, I go up to Hmo. Avila asking if Cesar wasn't at his house....and Hmo. Avila replies, "Was I supposed to pass for him?" WHAT. I have never felt SO much rage on my mission, I was so angry!!! I just looked at him like, "You have got to be kidding me....." I reply, "Hermano, we have told you that since you live closer to him and he can't walk...you have to pass by for him."

"You didn't tell me!" I just walked away....We tell him every time we see him, and we saw him about 3 times this week and EVERY time we told him "Hermano, please pass by for Cesar!" "Hermanas, don't worry! I will do it." Nope. He didn't. And when we went to Cesar's house to apologize, he looked at us and bluntly says, "Look, I don't want to be baptized. My wife and daughters said if I change religions, they will kick me out of the house. And besides, I don't even like the church."

We are going to have to drop him... and that stinks MAJOR time. We returned to the house just silent, nothing to say..but EVERYTHING to think about. I don't know when I am going to have my first baptism...but really, I think Father in Heaven doesn't really care if I get a baptism on my mission....he just needs me to plant seeds!

Hermana Dolores' dog had puppies...and we thought this was hilarious...
just look at the color of the dog's hair and color of our skin...
and don't worry, it is not racist, just super true and hilarious how this picture worked out. haha!

We visited another less active, Evangelina. We found her in front of a Beer Deposit, incredibly drunk. She sees us with a BIG smile and greets us. She goes to give Hermana Fa'asa a hug, and totally chucks her cigarette behind Hermana Fa'asa's back. Then she hugs me and waves her hand behind my back to get rid of the smell of smoke. bahaha. And looking back at the other times we visited her, she ALWAYS complained about her health. Well, now we know WHY.

Family and Friends, don't smoke...don't drink. And if you are going to do it, I will not judge you. If you start complaining about your health, yeah, I will judge ya a bit....with LOTS of love. hahaha. But we walked back to her house with her, she held my hand as I tried keeping her from falling.... gosh dang it.

This week Hermana Fa'asa and I taught 32 lessons and contacted 20 people!! And we have 4 new investigators! A WEEK OF MIRACLES!

HEAR YE HEAR YE! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

Here is your assignment: Have a day FULL of positivity. When you get negative, write 10 things that you are grateful for and go tell someone you are grateful for them! You can do it! I love being positive because you truly have the Spirit with you and you just feel HAPPY!

"I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course.

“What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears.

“When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: “Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve" Do you feel gloomy? Lift your eyes. Stand on your feet. Say a few words of appreciation and love to the Lord. Be positive. Think of what great things are occurring as the Lord brings to pass His eternal purposes." -Gordon B Hinckley

JUST BE HAPPY! Don't worry, don't stress....you can enjoy this life! I am enjoying not only this life....but this MISSION! :) I reached my 200th day on Sunday and I canNOT believe how fast time is FLYING!!! I love you all. I have less than a year left....I can't believe it. I love this mission and I am grateful for my desicion (is that how you spell that word? English is hard) to go out here!

LOVE YOU ALL! Dios les bendiga! Les amo MUCHO! Til next time... PAZ!

Con amor, Hermana Winsor (or Hermana Weezy, as Hermana Fa'asa calls me)