March 16, 2015

 

 

This Week has been a week of lots a prayers and long nights just staying up and thinking about things. President called us at 10:30 last Monday night and told me that my time in Fort Worth is over and that the Lord needs me in Arlington. He told me that I need to ponder about the things that we had talked about and to pray and council with what the Lord would have me do. That night I stayed up until two just laying in bed thinking about what I was about to do and how I can best serve the Lord. The Lord has trusted me with lots of things but this is a big one. I am super bummed that I am leaving Fort Worth already!! I was only here for one Transfer. I feel like i just am starting to get the hang of this ward and now I'm off. It was a big surprise for both Elder McAninch and I. I love that kid and going to miss him. But what is funny is that Elder McAninch's last companion is now my companion. His name is Elder Mansuray. But I'll give you more information about him next week.

I am going to miss this area a ton and all the youth I am working with. We just set a baptism date with 9 of the boys and Gaspar and George just got the priesthood this Sunday. Their was also a boy who we had never seen who is 17 and said that he wants the missionaries to start teaching him. I have been bless to serve in this great area! It was so amazing to see Gaspar get the priesthood and be ordained to the office of priest and then was able to stand in for George's blessing. They are the sharpest boys I know! Cool thing about Jenevieve is that her daughter who lives up in Colorado has been meeting with the missionaries and has a baptism date for March 29th. Jenevieve has been a HUGE beacon for her family and there is wonderful thing happening with them. It is a huge testimony builder for me to see how strong and converted she is to the gospel even with a language barrier.She is one of the strongest converts I know. Every time we go over there to teach she has someone new from their family over and Jenevieve want them to hear the Gospel.
This ward is doing great in their missionary work. I will be keeping close tabs on this ward after I leave!

I know the Lord has a plan of all of us. And even though my time has been short here in Fort Worth, there have been so many people that have been a huge testimony builder for me and have really effected my life. I grateful for them time have have severed here in Fort Worth.

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving in Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard

March 9, 2015

Weathering opposition.

Last week trying to make Gaspar and George's baptism happen was super stressful because of the snow and ice. Well this week we dealt with daylight savings time... We went over Saturday evening to go and talk to them about the feelings they had at their baptism and talk about the Gift that they will be receiving at church the next day. They were super excited and so was I.  And we reminded them that the clocks would be fast forward an hour. Well church came around and no Gaspar George and the Grandmother at church.... Then they called us and said that their ride never picked them up.... We totally spaced to check up on their ride to see if he remembered it was day light savings time.... He felt so bad but picked them up as fast has he could. half way through the first talk they walk in and they look sad knowing that they wouldn't receive the holy Ghost... After that talk was over the bishop stood up and said we are missing on of the most important events this sacrament meeting. Then said could Gaspar and George come up. The smiles on their faces were priceless! I was able to bless Gaspar and Elder McAninch blessed George. Satan was working really hard for these boys not to join so they must have a bright future ahead of them!

This week I had the best study and the most fun doing it in preparation for a lesson. Now this lesson isn't your typical lesson because it was for a church meeting. The young mens Presidency is all medical students and this week is spring break for Texas. So they asked me in advance to teach a lesson for them because they would be out of town. I agreed and it was a great decision! I had fun studying it, teaching it and seeing the boys reactions as I taught them about what it means to repent. Come follow me is a great course for the youth and is great tool to use even as missionaries. I love this area because I get to work with the youth a. Most of the people we teach are youth. I think this is why I have been called to this area!

I'm also preparing to give a talk next week with a stake high council men.. That should be fun! Its about being one. One with God, One in unity, One in faith, and one in purpose. So those talks I have prepared last week aren't going to do me any good. I have grown to love speaking at church and teaching lessons. So I am excited to talk but nerves to speak with a high Council men. Wish me luck!

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving in Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard

March 2, 2015

Winters in Texas are crazy!!! Thanks to the wonderful weather that Texas has been having I was able to see 4 seasons in less then 24 hours! And when winter hits here no one knows how to do anything. The whole city of Fort Worth was shut down and we got a call from the zone leaders telling us to stay in our apartments until the roads and weather conditions clear up. We only went out and preached the gospel for 2 days this week!! I was bored out of my mind this week!! I was able to catch up on my Book of Mormon reading, I wrote 3 sacrament talks just in case, held a weekly planning for pretty much the whole month, watched the District videos, and the Bible videos..... I was so ready to get out of our apartment.

The weather was bad Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and cleared up Thursday and started to get bad on Friday, Saturday was bad and then kind of cleared up Sunday. Thanks to the weather, it made planning the baptism super stressful!!  In the end we had to cancelled it for Saturday because we weren't going to put people's safety at risk. So we had to call a lot of the members and tell them that we were going to do it Sunday instead. Then Saturday night we got a call from our bishop telling us that church was cancelled. But we had permission to take the sacrament within our home. That was a cool experience. So no church Sunday but the baptism was still on! When it was time for the baptism we had over 40 people come and support and the weather cleared up. That was a miracle in itself!! The family will be getting the Gift of the Holy Ghost next week at church. Kabange couldn't get off work so we are going to be talking to him this week and try and figure out when is the next time we can set a baptism day with him. At the baptism, the grandmother gave the closing pray in Swahili and you could just feel the spirit in how she prayed and the love that she has for her Grandsons.

When I was on an exchange with the 6th ward I was able to do my first interview with someone who is preparing for baptism.  The guy was super nervous at first but as we talked the spirit was there. We were able to share experiences on how the church has blessed us and miracles that we have seen. It is such a great experience and the feelings were indescribable. The love that people have to follow the Savior is amazing and the opportunity that I had to see, hear, and feel them express that love and their desire is incredible. 

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving in Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard

Crazy snow storm!!

That's the 6th ward elders. We were exchanging back when this snow storm hit. The ride takes about 15 minutes to get there and since the snow hit it took over an hour. I saw so many car slide off the road!

Us at the Baptism!!!

Lady in the Blue is the Grandmother.

And the Picture with the youth are all non members! the One kneeling on the ground is their Grandpa and he is a member and is bring all of those kids to church. Those kids will be our next baptism!!! They are great

Guy in the Jacket is Brother Kelly, he is the young Mens leader.

Brother Smith is one of his assistants and he baptized Gaspar.

February 24, 2015

Week of trial an error but it was a good trial of error. So for trying to pass out copies Books of Mormon we got together with the YSA Elders and put together a walking Book Of Mormon. It took a while to make the box but it looked great after we were finished! Then we went to Down town Fort Worth and TCU campus and walked around trying to place copies Books Of Mormon. The hard thing about placing them is we cant make the initial contact but both those places are privet property. So they have to talk to us first and then we can talk to them about the church. But like I said it was a trial and error run because we were just seeing if it would work. Well.... It didn't. We didn't even place one. People took a lot of pictures of us and a lot of looks but we weren't able to pass any out. But it was fun and out side of the box (or inside for Elder Lee)

Interviews went great with President Ames and we really talked a lot about moving forward with this Mission, the Zone, and the District. He put the Mission goal into prospective and how realistic it is and how we we can achieve more then 854. And then we talked about planning and the importance planning plays in all our efforts! If we want to see the mission move forward, It all starts with planning. And I am so excited to plan because I have see the effects of planning. Then President came out with us to the investigators, who have the baptism dates. It was a great lesson because there was a boy there who is holding back on being baptized. there is 5 people in the house. The Grandmother who was just baptized, Gaspar the oldest boy who has a baptism date, George the youngest who has a baptism date, Kabange the uncle who has a baptism date and Silas the middle and he does not have a baptism date. We were talking to Silas and he said he isn't ready yet and then his brother asked what is holding you back from being baptized. By the way this is all in Swahili so the oldest boy is translating for us to the Family. So we can't understand whats happening. And then the whole family starts to talk back and forth between themselves. Then the Grandmother who just got Baptized start to teach the Great apostasy (in Swahili) to him. We just sat back and watched this great Learning situation happen between the family and it was amazing to feel the spirit! we couldn't understand but we could feel the peace that was there while they were teaching! Then Silas said the closing pray and said he felt the spirit but he needs to pray more about it.

Afterwards we talked about it to President and he said that was a perfect lesson! spirit directed and we didn't need to do anything. They are already and President is excited to see that family be baptized!

Yesterday was a rough day! We couldn't do anything because of the Ice and we had to stay inside all day long!! So for our Preparation day we planned, read the Book of Mormon, and cleaned the apartment. What was so bad we couldn't even go out and teach! It was along day!!

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving In Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard 

February 17, 2015

This is my city!

I want to start off by talking about the mission and a little bit of its history. In 2010 this mission baptized 702 people and since then the yearly baptisms and confirmations have gone down every year. we have a goal to baptized 854 souls and if we baptize 854 souls this year we will not only break a declining trend but set a mission record. However, to do this we must honestly ask ourselves what we, as a mission, can do differently so we can reach this goal. If we always do what we’ve always done, we will always get what we’ve always gotten. So the question is, “is it really possible to baptize 854 souls?” The answer is no, not if we continue to do the same things we have been doing. But if we rise up and act beyond the the obvious and have faith in God, we will reach this goal. First we must have a firm belief that we will baptize and then we must reach higher and be more committed than ever to the principles found in Preach My Gospel and to those things God reveals to us. This will be an uphill climb but it will definitely be worth the efforts. We need to work like everything depends on us and pray as though everything depends on the Lord. Work+Faith= Miracles

With that being said, Fort Worth is a place where Miracles are happening. This past week we were able to see 11 of our investigators attend church and 4 of them have baptism dates. We aren't teaching a lot of people but the ones we are teaching have big families and they are starting to invite more friends and family to learn. We have a baptism date set for the February 28th and  that has 3 people set for that day and then we have one for march 21st.

Something really cool what this mission is doing is we are doing is a challenge that President Ames has set for the whole mission. Its called 10,000 hearts and homes. We are expected to read to Book of Mormon in 65 days and in the process hand out 10,000 copies of the book of Mormon. this is a miracle we are seeking and to uplift this mission to higher grounds. I'm so excited to do this and the blessing of applying the book of Mormon on my life is amazing. And this is why it is called 10,000 hearts and homes. Because if we can place the books with the heart and the faith that it will changes lives, It Will. I know this challenge was from God through President Ames and I'm grateful to be apart of it.

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving In Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard

February 9, 2015

I love this new area!! Down town Fort Worth is so cool! There is so many thing to do, see, and so many people to talk to! I love it and it is totally different then what I have previously been. The Ward is super small but the area we cove is huge and that means I'm back in a car. It feels good to be back in a car haha this area use to be very apostate because of all the thing that you could do in down town Fort Worth and previous missionaries have forgotten their purpose here. but the past like 6 transfer there have been very obedient missionaries here and they have gotten this area back in line. I have been blessed with the opportunity to reap their efforts. I came into the ward at a good time and I'm grateful for all the work other missionaries have put into the ward. Last week they had 12 investigators at church and 4 baptism dates. Elder McAninch and I are hoping to expound the baptism dates to 8. This area is super blessed! Most of the people we are teaching came from people who have recently been baptized and then invited their friends and family to lean more. Little background about Elder MnAninch. He is from O.C. California. He graduated the same year i did and is very active in sports. We get along very well. I think at heart I'm a Cali. boy cause I have loved all my companions who were from California. I'll keep you updated next week. Sorry i havent taken any pictures yet becuase I'm trying to get to know all the members and ward council members so i haven't had any time to take pictures.

Elder Winterbottom & Elder McAninch

Serving In Fort Worth

The Lord's Vineyard

February 2, 2015

Transfer update..... I am now going to be in down town Fort Worth! My new companion is Elder McAninch. He came out with Elder Hassinger so he just hit his 6th month mark.  I'm excited for this upcoming transfer. I've always wanted to serve in Fort Worth. The Area I'm being transferred into is doing really well too! they had 12 people at church this past week and 4 baptism dates. I'm a blessed that I get to be serving in that wonderful area.

The past week we have seen lots of miracles happen within Flower Mound.

Jess- we finally came in contact with her and we were able to teach her twice this past week and we rescheduled her baptism date. Her date is set for April 18th. Its a little ways away but that day has meaning to her.

While I was on an exchange with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Hassinger stayed in our area and worked with two other missionaries. And he got a prompting to go and visit a lady named Trina. She has been investigating off and on and stopped coming to church because she felt the pressure to stop smoking and couldn't. Well on this exchange he meet with her and talked about how much God has blessed her and she feels like she needs to give back now and committed to another baptism date. She is set for March 7th. She was super happy and is so close to quit smoking.

Dan- we were unable to meet with Dan this week. He is currently in California helping a friend she just suffered a death in the family. We are texting him and seeing how he is doing but we still have a lot of faith that he will be baptized.