Elder H. L. Winters: My first 4days

Dear Everybody,

So I am in Utah... It is awesome being here this go around. It really is a completely different feeling this time. I'll go ahead and take you through a day by day walk of everything that has happened since I've been here.

So on Thursday I slept pretty much the entire flight. The AP's picked me up at the airport and they were both very nice. I met with all of the senior office missionaries when I got to the office and then President Pitts, and then he told me I would be serving in the Payson Area with Elder Gandolph.

So then I met elder Gandolph and we drove back to our area to unpack. However, on the way home he took me to a restaurant that his uncle started in Provo called Gandalfos!! Yeah, the sandwich place! We got free sandwiches and his uncle, was pretty impressed that I had worked there. I got a Big Apple! mmmm... But yeah my trainer is awesome!

He is really good at training because he is really pushing me to reach my full potential. He had me teaching the majority of the first lesson on the first day, before I really even had a chance to study it. It was kinda nerve racking but I was definitely blessed with words in time of need.

Friday was even better than Thursday just because we went to see a lot of the people we taught on Thursday and it was just so easy to interact with them. We are teaching these two 9 year old twins named Brittney and Brianne and it gets me a little choked up every time we go over there because of how cute they are and how happy I am for them that they are taking this step in their lives. I am just so proud of them! It also really makes me smile because Brianne says the opening prayer almost every time and in her prayers she always includes "Please bless us to be ready to get ba-ba-pit-ized." It is very cute. We also had two baptism interviews on Friday, one for a 14 year old girl named Mckayla Jeffs, and one for a 11 year old boy named Dustin Beck.

Saturday was even better than Friday because we were able to go to the two baptisms of Mckayla and Dustin.

I was so proud of both of them, it was making me a little emotional at some points. I never thought I would have learned to love the people of Utah as quick as I have. Anyway at Mckayla's Baptism she had an 11 year old brother who sat in the back with me and my companion. He is a bit rowdy and we have been trying to get him to take the lessons but he has just been stubborn about it every time we have gone over there. So as my comp was doing some stuff for the baptism I was playing with this kid, whose name is Cordell and one of his friends. I told Cordell that i wanted to teach him the lessons but he was still refusing, and then while we were playing I told him that I would teach him the sleeper hold (aka rear naked choke) if he let me teach him the lessons... And he Agreed! So I taught him the first lesson right there! I gave him a book of Mormon and told him to read Moroni 10:4-5 and committed him to pray about it! When my comp got back we reviewed the lesson I went over and he was actually paying attention! So we set a Baptism date for him on May 22nd! It was awesome!!

Sunday was good too I guess... We went to semi-useless meetings in the morning and then went to 9, 10:30, and 1 o clock church. at the 10:30 one we were asked to bear our testimony's, and at the 1 o clock one we were scheduled to give a talk. We were given notice about this talk on Saturday morning. My talk was on member missionary work and it went really well! I took up about 12 minutes which is all I really needed to do because the bishop asked us to leave a few minutes for him in the end. After church we ate dinner at our place because our appointments canceled. After dinner we went out on splits... which was interesting considering I've only been serving for 4 days. They went well tho and after I went to all the appointments where I had to teach lessons I went to the back of my planner picked out a random name off the potential investigators list and went to his house. I really think I was guided by the lord because we went into their house and it was an 11 year old boy who said he was ready to start taking lessons. His parents said it was fine with them so now we have an appointment with him on Tuesday. His name is Caleb.

Anyways I should go cuz I still need to write President Pitts. Just some info before I go that I left out tho... My trainer is a district leader. Our apartment is a shack in someones attic. My head hits the ceiling every day.