Last Prep-Day in the MTC

Hi Mom and Family!

I love learning so much here! It’s amazing. I’ve been learning so much while I’ve been here it’s unreal, my scriptures are bursting with notes and inserts and tabs from all my bookmarking. The only thing i wish I had was a bunch of different colored flags so I could color code scriptures for quick recall!

I’ve decided that I am going to write you a real letter and tell you as much as I can remember but idk if I will get to it, I really don’t have a lot of time here and I have been so focused on my studies.

Oh a note to remember - never pray for more chances for your district to exercise their priesthood righteously? Oh well, no spell check :) Anyway, yeah I did that and my entire district got sick! Plenty of blessings going around!Its right up there with praying to be humble, the Lord won’t just make you humble; he will send you trials to help humble you!

I got a great care package from Grandma Carolyn! Tell her that I said thanks and that the cookies were wonderful! I miss her!

I’m glad to hear that the visit to Seattle went well. I know that the Lord will continue to bless our family and bless you as you continue to be diligent in your attempts to treat your condition, live the gospel, and persist in your efforts to make every day the best you can! I love you and I know the Lord will take care of you.

That's exciting that C invited his friend to church, I wrote him about. She is one of the elect. Ask the missionaries to help here; don’t just bring her to church. They are CALLED to do it. They have been prepared by our Heavenly Father to teach her and she has been prepared to receive it. Just have faith, and fast for it. Talk to the missionaries about it this Sunday. Make sure that you guys are there to answer any of her questions she may have. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Also! Tell C’s friend that I am so excited that she is getting baptized!! That’s AMAZING!!! It’s so wonderful to hear!!!

I love you and I miss you guys!

Elder Britton Perkins Winterrose

Week 2

Hey Mom and Family!

Thanks for the package! The brownies were awesome! They made my day and I shared them with my district and they all said that they were awesome! Thanks Dain!!! I'm saving the cookie for when I get hit by the midnight hunger tonight and tomorrow. But seriously, there is so much junk food floating around our dorms, everyone just keeps getting packages of crazy food hahah!

As you can see by the exclamation point, I am on a good computer today so that is excellent! I miss you all, and I think it is awesome that C. is playing lacrosse! He’s a stud!

I hope M. and D. keep doing well in school and sports! I miss you guys tons. I would write more letters but its super busy here and I never have time to write you guys ‘cause my handwriting is so slow hahah!

I wasn't able to get my nose fixed, ‘cause the doctor couldn’t find where it was bleeding from. That didn’t give me much confidence in him.. .haha. It’s ok though. I just got a priesthood blessing for the sick from my district and I am confident that it will make me better. I am gonna buy some saline moisture spray today from the book store and it should help during the day and I’ll keep doing the Vaseline at night. I think I’ll be all right and if not I’ll just have to go when I get to the mission field and go to an ENT there. I just keep having that scripture mastery going thru my head "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs something haha. (3:5)

Tell D. that my companion is nice and he’s kinda quiet but he’s getting better at speaking up each day!

Now to answer your questions!! Tell M. that the food here isn't that bad but it’s not great. It’s bearable. But today we went to the temple and ate REAL FOOD and it reminded me how amazing normal food is!!!

I have 3 roommates and they are all going to Alaska and one of them is my companion. His name is Elder Wiegand and he’s a pretty cool dude and he’s gonna be my comp for the entire time I’m here at the mtc!

I’ve met tons of Elders going to Alaska, there’s got to be at least 14 or 16 of them here right now, all heading out at the same time. I met Elder Williams! The one from facebook! He’s a way cool guy! I like him a lot!

There are 8 people in my district! That’s the people you saw in the 2 pics in front of the temple! We don’t have any sisters in my district but we do have a few in my zone! They just got here so they may take some time to warm up to our zone!

I have had a devotional - EPIC and a AWESOME fireside! The fireside was cool! I got to sit right on the front row! It was so amazing to hear all the missionaries singing behind me! I just got overtaken by the spirit and started crying (I know, I know), I couldn’t even sing. The speaker was good! He talked about missionary work and how it changes lives and had a bunch of missionaries who were recent converts come up and talk! It was awesome! I got to hear an apostle speak at the devotional! I don’t have enough time to tell you about it here though! So I’ll just have to write it to you in a real letter!!

I can email the brothers but I would love it if they would just send me dear elder letters because I love hearing from them!

I have class in one room and then we leave it to go do workshops and teaching assignments during the day!

Keep sending me dear elder letters!!! I love them! And I love knowing what to write you about!!

I love you guys and and miss you dearly!! Talk (or write, I guess) to you soon!! Look forward to some Mormon messages!! haha

Love Elder Winterrose!!!!

MTC update

Hey Mom!

So, first off, I really miss you! And Dad, and Chan, Mo and Dain! Well, you should be proud of me! I have been called as the district leader for my district so I'm in charge of my group that I do EVERYTHING with (haha). My experience of living on my own has really payed off. I taught my entire district how to do laundry; they didn't know about stain treating, dividing whites and darks, and some didn't even know how to use the washer! Thank goodness I was here to teach 'em how!

Everything is going great, the days are really long though. So long, in fact, that it seems possible to have a good day and a bad day all in the same day! I am becoming acutely aware every time the spirit ebbs after a strong spiritual high from teaching, or working, or studying and then it slowly begins to fade into a quieter still small voice. At first, it was making me really bummed each time it happened, but I am starting to love the still small voice that remains after the spirit teaches. But I have been praying for charity to take over and keep helping me love the people I am serving, whether it's investigators, my district, or the people around me. I love my district, but don't want them to get too comfortable and start slacking in some areas. They are still way better than most districts though, and are very focused on learning. It's still difficult to adjust to calling everyone Elder, I catch myself all the time. : )

Today was awesome though, I had so many meetings. I had meetings all morning. It was really uplifting, but I was still struggling to feel the spirit really strongly. So, as I went about my day, I just kept praying and finally I got the answer to my prayer when I went to devotional.

My companion and I went early so we could get front row seats, an entire hour early! So I was just sitting and studying Preach My Gospel. On page 3, it talked about praying for the spirit, so I went to D&C 42 and just read. When I was reading, I just said a small prayer. Then they had the most amazing prelude music. The second song we sang was a modified version of Bring the World His Truth, the Primary song. It was so amazing. There was 1,700 missionaries singing it all standing behind me. It was so powerful and so moving! I was doing great until I got to the modified verse, "We have been called in these latter days, to build the kingdom in righteous ways," and then it says, "We are now the Lord's missionaries, we have been taught and we understand that we must do as the Lord commands." So I started to weep when I read, "Now the Lord's missionaries." I was completely overwhelmed by the spirit. It was so great! Then we sang Praise to the Man, and it made me cry as well. I did my best to sing. Dang you, and your cursing me with this boohooing spiritual gift (haha)!

Well I do love you guys. Every time I read about Joseph and Hyrum it makes me think about and miss the brothers. Tell them I love 'em. I can't wait to hear all the ways that the family has been blessed by my faithful service. I haven't been able to check my email yet and I haven't gotten another letter from you, so I'm thinking I may not remember your email address. Send me a dearelder.com letter when you get this so I know for sure and don't keep worrying. : )

I really do miss you guys when I have time to. But I'm working so hard that I don't have much time to. I also don't have time to write each day, I'm super busy. Everything is going great though. Just pray for me, have everyone you know pray for me and my district and all of the missionaries. I'm gonna keep working hard. It's late though, and I need rest so I can be in tune with the spirit, but wanted to write you and Dad and tell you that I love you.

I love you, Ma, Pa and brothers! Stay true to the faith!

Love,

Britton

P.S.
Photos included

P.S.S.
Every time you feel prompted to send me an uplifting letter, do it! I probably need it!

P.S.S.S.
I was adjusting to the schedule change really well, but then daylight savings hit us. I hate daylight savings.

P.S.S.S.S
If this letter doesn't make any sense, it's because I'm a scatter brain because it's so late.

P.S.S.S.S.S.
I've seen Sam a few times. I always love stopping and talking to him.

First (rushed) Letter Home

Hey Mom,

… (computer problems). I'm just gonna have to write this quick - I saw Sam! It was so funny 'cause I yelled, “Sam!” At the top of my lungs and he was like, “Huh?” and then he saw it was me and I was like, “Oh, Hi Elder Turner.” This computer won't let me capitalize or punctuate, but since it takes 6 minutes every time I log on, I might as well send it to you anyway.

They made me district leader. It's awesome! I get to serve all my fellow missionaries and help inspire and set a good example for them. I've been working on helping them realize that they have a limitless potential as missionaries and they will be able to do anything as long as their faith is strong enough. I've been working on teaching them Alma 17: 3, 9&10 and Mosiah Chapter 28 to help them realize the power of working with the spirit. Well I love you.

It's snowing hard here, so I'm way glad I have this heavy wool coat to keep me warm! My suit from Grandpa is beautiful, I love it! I have yet to force myself to wear the other one, but I really need to (hahah)! Day 4 is soo busy, I only have half a p-day today so I didn‟t have time to write you a real letter, but I will be writing one to you and the brothers on Sunday and mailing it out on Monday. My companion is cool too. He's from Arizona and has never seen snow fall before, so it was a pretty magical day for him!
I'll write you more later if I'm able to get back to a good computer tonight, but for now, I need to go make sure my district makes it to dinner and then to class on time.

I love you mom. I know that this mission is going to bring enormous blessings to our family, and I am happy to be letting go of my old-self and letting the Lord shape me into who he needs me to become to amplify my service for him - now and through the rest of eternity.

Normally our p days are on Friday, so if you're on then, we can shoot emails back and forth throughout the day, so I can answer your questions and stuff (hahah).

And I found out that I can print-out emails, so if you send me long ones I'll be able to print them out, but only on my P-day. And because I've been in here too long, I probably won't be able to email you back tonight.

I hope you got my address, but I'll include it in the letter I'll write. Tell the brothers I love them, and ask them to pray for me that I can be an awesome leader and be a great missionary like the sons of Mosiah.

I love you. I love dad too. Tell him I miss him. I would be way bummed about missing you guys, but I‟m so stinkin' busy (hahah). I love serving my fellow missionaries and I've learned so much. Learning with the spirit when I'm this close to the spirit is amazing. Anyways, I love you guys and be safe.

Read much,

Your Elder Winterrose

Off to the MTC!

He's off. Elder Winterrose left for Salt Lake City this afternoon, where he'll be picked up by Grandpa Winterrose. He'll stay with Grandma and Grandpa tonight, pick up another suit tomorrow, go to the SLC Temple, say goodbye to cousins, and report to the MTC by 1:15 on Wednesday.




He'll stay at the MTC till March 31st, learning, building his testimony and making friendships that will last beyond this lifetime. Then he flies to Anchorage and learns where he'll be assigned.

One last shot

Back from the airport... We just sent Britt off on his mission. I did OK, only a few tears - till I started walking to the car and realized the picture I'd just taken of the boys may be the last one I'll take of them all together for many, many years. But, even with that, I'm so excited for Britt! This will be an amazing adventure.

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Back from the airport... We just sent Britt off on his mission. I did OK, only a few tears - till I started walking to the car and realized the picture I'd just taken of the boys may be the last one I'll take of them all together for many, many years. But, even with that, I'm so excited for Britt! This will be an amazing adventure.