July 28, 2014

All your work in the whole week seems like it comes down to your Sunday sometimes. I know its bad to think that but that's how I feel sometimes and this week I feel like all my work and effort payed off and we saw the fruits of our labors. The Lord was definitely blessing Elder Argyle and I. We had 6 investigators at church this week!!! What a great blessing. Right when you start to feel like there is little hope the Lord gives you strength when you need it the most.

Sundays are stressful too because you do everything you can so that your investigators have an uplifting experience and feel the spirit. this week I entertained two little boys so that their moms could pay attention to the speakers. I missed everything in sacrament but the women really, really loved it!! Elder Argyle said that the speakers talked on women hood and it was one of the best sacrament he has been to. I will glad make that sacrifices for our investigators to feel the spirit. All are investigators that we had were women so it was perfect meeting for them.
We also got the baptism program planned out for (Sadie)!! She is so ready and we are so excited!! I will be speaking at the baptism and Elder Argyle will preform the baptism! I'm so happy for both of them because (Sadie) has changed her life for the Lord and this Elder Argyle's first baptism. How great shall be your joy! D&C 18:15-16 She has been really welcomed into the ward. She has even been considered a member already. We are expecting a lot at her baptism!!
I'll let you know how it goes next week!!

Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle
Serving in Hurst
The Lord's Vineyard

 Elder Argyle with Elder Winterbottom

 When its 90 plus outside and your apartment is 60 it feels like its winter.

 got caught biking in a rain storm

 World Cup Shirts!!

Elder W in the Netherlands Jersey

Elder Argyle in the Portugal Jersey (P Man's loves it!)

 

 

 

July 21, 2014

Adversity is all around.
I would like to start off this email with the story of Joseph Smith in Liberty jail Missouri. D&C 121:1-4, 7-9
Joseph's plead:1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?
2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?
3 Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?
4 O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us.

The Lords answer to Joseph Smith:
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
The words, “if thou endure it well” are key words. It is not the adversity itself that defines us, it is how we respond to that adversity that makes the difference.
If we are not careful, we become our own worst enemy and allow adversity to bring us to defeat. We look down, away from God, and begin to wallow in our own misery. We forget that looking up is the key. We forget that “enduing it well” means to just stand back up after we take a bad fall, brush ourselves off and find our courage to smile again. We might be a bit bruised; maybe even broken, but if we stand back up, smile and look to God – that is when we begin to heal. That is how we begin to “endure it well.”
At times we will each have the opportunity to deal with adversity. That is just part of the plan. Adversity will come in many forms. It can come as physical sickness, disability or injury. It can come in the form of emotional pain, discouragement, disappointment or depression. These forms of adversity are often caused by the loss of loved ones, frustrated plans, lost hopes, accidents or the actions of others. The reality is that we cannot avoid adversity but we can control how we deal with it! And this week I dealt with one of those things, Sickness. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and some of Thursday It hit me and hit me hard. I didn't want to do anything and didn't want to go out. But Sister Ames famous quot in the mission is, "Fake it until you make it." and that's what I did. I had to keep telling myself that quot and What would the lord have me do. I went on an exchange with Elder Munoz and in one of the lessons he pulled out D&C 121 and read that experience to less active that is struggling. Elder Munoz meant it to be for the member but it also hit me. My sickness was just a little adversity compared to what the Saints were going through and I did not endure it as well as I could have. But I was great for it! I learned what I really could do with adversity.
On Sunday (Sadie) had her baptism interview and she passed with flying colors!! Her date is set for August 2nd and she is looking forward to it. She is a testimony builder to me that people are being prepared at this time (Alma 13:24) Honestly I had no part in her conversion because she was already there. She just needed someone to guide her. I'm so glad I got to see her find the church and she loves it! she hasn't missed a week since we found her. Everything we teach she accepts it and then wants more. she is participating in RS and has made lots of friends. She is in good hands and the lord has provided a way!! How Great is Your Calling!! My Missionary Commission

Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle

Serving in Hurst

The Lord's Vineyard

July 14, 2014

Mission life is always fantastic!
This week I was assigned to speak in sacrament on being a loyal
servant. It was really good and what a great opportunity I had to
speak to the ward on how we all are servants of the Lord and need to
magnify our calling as church members. It was a wonderful opportunity
to realize the magnitude that we all have as members and what role we
play in hastening the work. I forgot how much I love preparing and
giving talks. I realized from giving the talks that's its more for the
person speaking then for the people listening.

The biggest eye opener for me was the parable of the talents. When I first read this I
thought what a harsh judgement for a servant who tried to keep that one
talent. But I realized that the Lord expects a difference in our
callings and service. We will all have to stand before God and give an
accounting of our service. Have we been faithful and loyal servants?
The scriptures references I used: John 14:15 and 23, John 21:15-17,
Matthew 22: 36-40, and the parables of the talents Matthew 25:14-30
hymn #223 Have I done any good? and Mosiah 2:17

We also had 3 investigators attend this week as well! We also went to
President Ames's fireside he does every month to strengthen the recent
converts and less active members. It was really cool because he
focused on the questions of the soul and answered them. He truly cares
about all our investigators and members of the church. We had a less
active go to that and he loved it. They are always uplifting and very
spiritual.

The heat is finally here! I officially have to go home at lunch or
dinner and change my clothing and I am still working on my sweet
missionary tan...

Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle
Serving in Hurst
The Lord's Vineyard

July 7, 2014

Ill start of with transfer doctrine. Elder Argyle will be staying in Hurst with... Elder Winterbottom :) I'm so glad we are staying together. I have been blessed with Great companions and great areas.

The 4th of July.. What are holidays again? oh ya, there are days that make it hard for missionary work to move forward haha Its all good though. On the fourth we had a member come and take us out for lunch and then had 3 appointments cancel on us so no plans until dinner. So we walked and biked around getting a sweet sweat line from our bags and was just trying to talk to anyone that would listen. But no on wants to listen because they are with there families and I don't blame them. At dinner we went to the best family ever named the Jacksons. I love them so much! They are my family away from home. After that we did more biking and finally went to one of our investigators and he let us in. Then biked home and watched fireworks for the wall of our apartment complex. Hard but a fun day.

We meet this girl named (Sadie) and she is the most prepared person I have seen on my mission so far. She lived in Salt Lake City for 4 years then moved to Texas. She watched the byu channel and knows who Thomas S. Monson is and was going to start look for the missionaries to teach her. And we found her a week before she was going to contact the church. She is Freaking awesome!! she came to church this Sunday and there were a couple of confirmations that happened that day and at the end of them she turned to us and said "will you guys be up there with me when I do that?" she is so ready!! In the lessons we teach her she cries and says this is where I'm suppose to be! the lord has blessed her so much in her life!

I love the work and The people I get to serve. No better feeling then this! No greater work then this!!

Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle

Serving in Hurst

The Lord's Vineyard
 

 Next Car...? Maybe... Hopefully

 Elder and Sister Watt are going home... They were like my grandma and Grandpa. they did apartment inspections and it was never good when they came over haha I felt like I was a disappointment to them haha Going to miss them.

 We got tired of using our hands to read so Elder Argyle came up with this.. He will be a millionaire he says haha

 Moses?

June 30, 2014

Elder Winterbottom didn't send home a letter this week.  He just did a Q&A session with his mom!  Yes, Debbie got many of her questions finally answered. :0)  Josh is doing great, just trying to deal with the heat and the humidity.

June 23, 2014

Be Thou Humble

Last week was so great and Elder Argyle and I became a prideful of ourselves and our area and this week God had something to say to that. This week was honestly the hardest week on my mission! I knew that this is God's work and His glory but I really witnessed that first hand this week. We were talking about how good the week was going to be because of past weeks and we were comparing ourselves to others and became very prideful. Alma 31:25 Yea, and he also saw that their hearts were lifted up unto great boasting, in their pride. And God saw that!! The reason it was so hard was because we had EVERY appointment canceled on us Tuesday and Friday and I had no idea what to do. I felt like I was wasting the Lords time. Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. At dinner I was frustrated, angry, and disappointed and the only thing that kept coming into my head was to pray for forgiveness.  So I was brought to my knees and and literally cried to the Lord asking for forgiveness and pray for the understanding for this trial. Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble. James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. I have received a his grace and I now know that this is HIS work and NOT mine. We cannot do anything with out him and it took me this week to fully understand it. It was hard week but the humble are teachable.

Love
Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle

Serving in Hurst

The Lord's Vineyard

June 16, 2014

Memorable week

On Monday went to Cavanders (boot store) to possibly get cowboy boots. I walked into the store with all the intention in the world to get on and as soon as I walked in I changed my mind. Who was I kidding... I'm not a cow boy and not even close haha maybe by the end I'll be a cow boy and want boots. We also went to the mall in my area and realized that I don't know how to shop anymore... We walked around in a couple of the stores and I had no idea what I was doing there. The mission has defiantly effected me spiritually, physically and worldly.
On Tuesday I went on an exchange with the River Trail Elders and got in a pretty good biking crash!  There was a cable that out of the middle of the side walk to a telephone pole and I had looked back at a car and when I turned around the cable was right at my handle bars. Next thing I know I was flying through the air and then penguin sliding on the side walk. From that little accident my slacks ripped, cut up my hand and messed my thumb up ( its good now) permanently stained my shirt, and scratched up my name tag. But from that experience I learned that God has a plan for everything cause If I didn't crash we would have missed the other Elders bring the area phone back to us cause we forgot to hand it off at the beginning of the exchange. Plus It makes a cool and stupid story for me.

Wednesday was Interview with president Ames and those are always great! Its like talking to a dad out here. Everyone looks forward to the time they get to spend with him. Its great having him answer our questions of doctrine and how to help build and strength the area that you severe in. Interviews are one of the best days on the mission. He also gave us a new way to plan to better move the work forward. Everything begins with planning.  Thursday was planning and to put the new planning into action. It took us 4 hours to do it but by for the best weekly planning session I've had. Then and Friday on another exchange with the Zone Leaders and that was sweet. I learned to contact people in Spanish and ask simple little question to try and help the Spanish Elders in our area with referrals. So in Spanish I can say my testimony and contacting. 

Saturday went to the temple for a recent convert. President Ames a couple of months ago said that we need to be focusing past baptism so he allows us to go to the temple if its a recent converts first time. Saturday was great cause we went to the temple with the zone leaders and one of the ward missionaries and went early and did a endowment session and that was great doing work for someone on the other side plus I was reminded of the convents I have made. I challenge everyone to got temple to remember what your convents. Then went and did baptisms for the dead with the convert. It was so cool cause Elder Argyle and i got be be the witness for her and her family and with one of the best ward missionaries!! Then after went and had in and out!! That was a great day.

Sunday is always great because I get to renew all of my convents. Sundays are always great!! When we called in numbers I thought it was going to be bad for this week because of all the things we had this week but surprisingly it was the best week this transfer. We have a total of 8 baptism date and we made two of those this week. I am so blessed to be serving in this area at this time. I love the Mission!!!!! I couldn't ask to be in a better place then right here and right now.

Elder Winterbottom & Elder Argyle

Serving in Hurst

The Lord's Vineyard

 

Bike Crash Photos

 At the Dallas Temple doing baptisms for the dead

The after temple party

Tan line

His bag has had it!

Elder Argyle and Elder Winterbottom