Week 12 Cambios! and Week 13 Finding with Faith

Hola Everyone!

How are you all doing?! I hope school and work and everything else in your lives is going well. I think about you all so much, and I'm sorry I don't always have time to write to each of you individually. This hour goes by so fast...But I do love reading all your emails and hearing how you are doing. Also, congratulations to my favorite little brother Blake! I am so proud of you and so happy that you chose to be baptized. I told almost everyone I saw ''Mi hermanito va a bautisarse hoy dia!'' which means ''My little brother is getting baptized today!'' I am so happy for you Blake and I love you so much!

So this week was Cambios (transfers) and that's why I'm emailing today and not yesterday! But nothing changed for us. I am with Hermana Guzman for one for cambio and we are staying here in San Vicente, Cañete. This is Hna Guzman's last transfer, so we are going to make the best of it! 

Funny story: I got another bug bite on my OTHER foot that made it swell up like a big red balloon again. This time it hurt more than the first time. On Wednesday, I stayed at Elder and Hermana Tharp's casa while Hermana Guzman went to lessons with a member. On Thursday, we called the office again and they told me to try my best to walk on it that day and see what happens. So I gave it 110% percent, and it was super painful at first, but by the end of the day, I couldn't really feel the pain that much. We walked a lot that day, but we also met a lot of the goals we had. It was awesome! The Lord truly does bless his servants with strength and miracles.

Another miracle from this week is that we finally have a true progressing investigator! His name is Georgino and he is about 20 years old. Hna Guzman taught him while I was at the Tharps on Wednesday night and invited him to be baptized. He said yes! We taught him on Saturday night, and he had this paper of notes he had taken on the things he learned from the scripture she left him to read. It was so great! We both can see that he is ready to change his life and follow Christ. 

I am really excited to be staying here in San Vicente and to work as hard as I can. I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn with the language and how to be a better missionary. Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. Your loving support helps me get through each and every day and week. Thank you for you examples and wonderful testimonies! I love you all soooooooooooo much! Have an amazing week!!! 

Love, Hermana Winward

P.S. Helaman 12:15 Always remember that no matter how crazy this world gets, Heavenly Father will always be constant. We need to obey Him and Trust in Him always!!! 

Sept. 14, 2015

Buenos Dias to all my lovely family and friends!

How are you all doing? I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Things are going GREAT here in Peru! I still can't speak Spanish that great, but it's coming! I feel like I can understand people a lot better than before, so that's good. I kind of forgot how to pray in English, so there's that. Haha. I know I have the Gift of Tongues and I am so grateful! 

So this transfer, Hermana Guzman and I have made a goal to focus on developing one Christlike Attribute. We both decided on Diligence. We have been trying to work diligently to find new investigators and just work hard in all that we do. Well our faith and hard work definitely paid off. On Thursday, we received a wonderful miracle. We were able to find four new investigators that day! It was so great. In one lesson, we felt the spirit so strongly as we shared about the First Vision. I know that Heavenly Father will bless us in whatever we need as long as we work faithfully and diligently for it.

Last night, we were in a combi to get to an appointment. A combi is a bus with a bunch of seats squished in there. Hermana Guzman and I were sitting in the front with the driver and she asked him if she could put a picture of Jesus on the dashboard. He said yes so she placed it up on the dashboard. It was funny because every time we hit a bump or something, it would fall over and the driver would reach over and put it back. Then this guy sitting behind us tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he could have one too. So I gave him one and we invited him to go to church! It was just something little, but it was fun to share those little pass along cards in a different way!

There's a little bit of my week! I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Remember that the little things you do can and do make a difference!!! I love you all so much! Thank you for everything!!!

Love, Hermana Winward :)

P.S. D&C 6:36-37 

Week 11 - Elder David Bednar

Hola Familia!

How are you all doing?! How was the first week of school? I hope everything went well and that you like your teachers and classmates and everything. I can't believe Emily's in high school and Nicki's in middle school...It's crazy!!!

So this week I had the best experience EVER! On Wednesday, a special visitor came to speak to Mision Lima Sur, Mision Lima Oeste, Mision Central, and the missionaries in el CCM. Elder David A. Bednar, his wife and Elder Waddel from the Seventy and his wife came to speak to us. We traveled to Lima and went to this Stake Center next door to the CCM and the place was full of hundreds of missionaries. I sat in the second row and was able to see them really well. We were able to ask questions and comment on the things we had learned from talks we read before. It was so fun and so so so spiritual. I felt the Spirit so strongly that whole day. It was an experience I'll never forget. 

After that, Hermana Guzman and I stayed in Lima overnight because she had an interview with the mission president on Thursday. We were in the mission office pretty much all day long on Thursday and didn't get back to Cañete until about 7 in the evening. So we've had a lot of work to do and a lot of amazing things to apply since hearing from Elder Bednar!

I want to leave you with one last important thing I learned on Wednesday that you can all apply in your lives now and always. He shared with us the importance of always being steadfast in all we do. He gave an example of how sometimes when a temple is announced, the people who live around that area get really excited and start doing the things they should always be doing with more enthusiasm and excitement. They drive past the site of the temple everyday to see how it's coming. Once the temple is finished, they attend every week. But then they get bored and visit the temple less and less, and their lives get too busy to do those things they should consistently be doing. The best thing we can now and throughout our lives is be consistently steadfast. When he was sharing this, I thought of the Iron Rod--we always need to hold to the rod with firmness! Instead of getting really excited about something, we can just slowly but surely make the changes we need to every day to be better. Always remember to be steadfast and immovable!!!

I hope you all have an amazing week and keep trying a little harder to be a little better. I love you all with all my heart!!! :)

Love, Hermana Rachel Winward :)

1 Nephi 8 and Mosiah 5:15