Week 15 - Best Week Ever!!!

Buenos Dias Todos!

How are you all doing? I hope everything is going well for you. Happy Primavera (Spring) from here in Peru! I sure miss the beautiful Fall weather in Utah, but I hope you are all enjoying every moment! :)

So this week was super busy but super amazing! Hermano Giorgino was baptized on Saturday! Whoohoo!!! It was a great day and we felt the spirit so much. A lot of members came to support him. He was so happy and I know that Heavenly Father is even more happy for him. 

After the baptism, we got to watch the General Women's Conference! Thankfully, I got to watch it in English with Hermana Tharp and Hermana Freyre. I loved the story from President Uchtdorf about Eva and her aunt Rosa. I learned so much from the conference and felt my testimony grow.

We saw another big milagro (miracle) this week in a family we've been teaching. I think I might have mentioned something a long time ago about Horacio and Loren. They were the first people I had a lesson with here in Cañete. Well we've been teaching them a little here and there during this time, but Horacio had a problem with his leg and couldn't walk for a while, so they didn't come to church and it was hard to find a time to teach them both together. Well we taught them a couple weeks ago and were thinking about dropping them. Then we were busy with Giorgino and other things, so we didn't have time to visit them. On Thursday night, they called us and asked how we were doing and said they missed us. So we scheduled a lesson for Saturday morning. Honestly, that lesson was one of the most perfect lessons I have ever been a part of. They are so ready to change and to do whatever it takes to come unto Christ. They both came to the baptism of Giorgino on Saturday and Loren stayed for the Women's Conference! They also came to church on Sunday and stayed for the whole block. They are so excited and ready to be baptized. They have a date for October 31st, but it might be a little earlier than that! 

Well, there's some little snipits of my busy but amazing week! I hope you all have a wonderful week this week. Don't forget to watch conference this weekend and listen to what the Lord needs you to hear right now. D&C 1:38. I love you all soooooo much!!!

Love, Hermana Rachel Winward :)

P.S. Funny Story: Remember my teacher from the CCM, Hermano Vasquez? Well he came to visit Cañete this weekend! Here served here about a year ago and came to propose to his girlfriend on the beach in Cerro Azul! It was so great to see him at church on Sunday. He's awesome!!!

Week 14 Paciencia

Hello Everyone! 

How are you all doing? I hope life is great for you all! If not, do what you can to make it great! I have some exciting news...we have a baptism on Saturday for hermano Giorgino! (He told us it's pronounced Gee-or-gee-no, haha). I am really excited! He is so great. He's 19 years old and he's practically a member already. He goes to church every week, attends the YSA (JAS en espanol) activities, and he's even in a mission prep class for institute! He probably knows more than I do, haha. We have truly seen the power of the Atonement change his life. It is so amazing.

We had our patience tested a lot this week as we tried to have appointments with Giorgino. Almost every day we had lessons planned with him and he never showed up. Thursday was a really hard day, but we made it through and now all is well! We finally met with him on Friday, and now we'll be having lessons almost every day to finish teaching him before Saturday.

We have a crazy week ahead of us! Tomorrow we have a multi-zone meeting, then intercambios! Hermana Tuquerrez, the sister leader, is going to come here to San Vicente, so I get to lead the area for a day! Then we have Giorgino's baptism and women's conference on Saturday. Antonio, a 20 year old less active, will be ''rescued'' on Sunday. He has also changed so much and now wants to serve a mission! We just need to finish teaching him also. This week is going to be awesome!!!

I hope you all have an amazing week! Thank you for everything. I love you all so much!!!

Love, Hermana Winward :)

Mosiah 24:15-16

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

Pictures!!!

Week 10 - Just keep swimming!

Hola Everyone!!!

How are you this week? I can't believe school is going to start soon! Good luck this week with everything and all the new beginnings!!! You are all in my prayers!

So this week was just silly. Haha I wasn't allowed to walk most of the week. I was capable of it, but I needed to let my foot heal. So Hermana Guzman was able to go out and work with some of the members while I either stayed home with a member or stayed with Elder and Hermana Tharp (a senior missionary couple--they are the BEST!). It was kind of nice to have a little time to practice the language more and everything. I still have no idea what's happening part of the time, but oh well! 

Now my foot is almost completely better and I have been getting back to work. On Saturday, I was out and about again and we walked pretty much all day long! All of our appointments were falling through and things just weren't working out. In the night, we called up some recent converts to see if we could have a lesson with them because we just wanted to teach someone! It was a good lesson. 

I spoke in church yesterday for my first time in Spanish! Besides bearing my testimony my first Sunday. It was weird because I prepared for it a little bit but I wasn't really that worried about speaking. When I got up to speak, I wasn't nervous and just said what I could. Later, my companion and others told me when I spoke, it all flowed well and was fluent. I definitely have been blessed with the Gift of Tongues!

Last night, I had a really great experience. We were teaching our pensionista and her family. They are recent converts and just the best family every. Raul has such a strong testimony. He always tells me how good I'm doing at learning Spanish. Magaly is so fun and her food is amazing! Haha she is from Brazil so she speaks Portuguese. I hardly ever can understand her but we both just laugh and that's good enough communication for us! They have one son named Lucas and he's 10 or 11. So we wanted to help Magaly strenghthen her testimony because she said she was having some doubts. We watched the Restoration video and talked about Joseph Smith. We shared our thoughts and things afterwards and I was able to bear my testimony. It was one of the most sincere testimonies I have ever said. Of course, I was crying and so was Magaly. I just felt the Spirit so strongly in that moment. It was one of the first times so far that I really felt like my testimony and the little things I am able to say really do make a difference. It was absolutely amazing.

This week, as you all start a new school year or continue what you're doing, try to take advantage of every opportunity you have to share your testimony. You may not feel like it will make a difference, but I promise it does!!! I love you all so much! Tengan un gran semana! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Winward

P.S. Elder Bednar is coming in TWO DAYS!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll let you know how it goes next week! :)

Week 9 - Life is CRAZY!

Hola Everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for the new school year coming up! I can't believe that summer is already over for you all. I can't wait for winter to be over here...Haha I never liked being cold! 

So this week was absolutely crazy--basically a spiritual, emotional, physical roller coaster! There are so many unexpected things that happen here on the mission. Some are an immediate blessing and with others, you have to search for it, but I promise it's there! For example, this week my foot was basically a giant red balloon and I had to go to a doctor in Lima yesterday. I'm still looking for the blessing in this experience, haha. But I know it's there! On Tuesday, I got bit by some kind of bug, but I didn't think much of it. The next day it was kind of swollen and red. Then every day kept getting worse, so we called the missionary over health stuff, and he told us to come up to Lima to go to the doctor. So we did! They prescribed an antibiotic so we'll see how it all goes. It's already a lot better!

I also had a lot of spiritual/emotional ups and downs this week. I tried to do all I could to focus on what I have to do and I put all my trust in the Lord. In return, He blessed me with more confidence, with more peace, and will a determination to keep moving forward. I know that He is looking out for me and for each and every one of us. Just reach out to Him and He is always there!!! 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your faithful examples! Have an amazing week!!!

Love, Hermana Rachel Winward :)