Dog Sledding, Fresh from the MTC, and A New Samoan Ward

I think it’s awesome that M. fits into that suit. And that he’s way slim. That is pretty sweet. Now he just needs to work out and fill out with muscle!

It has been so warm here this week. We have had some crazy Chinook winds and it got all the way up to 50 degrees out. It feels like spring because all the snow, which wasn't a whole ton to begin with, is melting.

SO the crazy news for today is that I am having a boy. Having a boy, as in my companion and I will be training a new missionary beginning tonight! He is coming in before the transfer because his cycle at the MTC is ending early. We just found out yesterday from Pres. ALSO, the stake went and split our ward and the other Samoan ward into 3 Samoan wards. We really have no clue what will happen as far as people we have on date or whatnot, but we should continue teaching all of the people that were in our old boundaries until transfers when they will split up our threesome and have 3 pairs of Samoan speaking Elders in our mission. It probably, HOPEFULLY, means that I will continue to be Samoan speaking although I may or may not continue serving in the Northern Lights Ward. But we will see and I will know more on Sunday after we see how it all goes down. Yep. That’s pretty much the most exciting news.

OH but wait! I am off my crutches! Yep! It’s a good deal. I saw the doc on wed and he gave me permission to get off of them and so far it has been well.

We have been working hard these last few weeks. Last year they only had 9 baptisms in our ward during the whole year. We currently have 5 people on date and hope to have 8 on date by the end of the week. M., age 10, is supposed to be baptized this Thurs. so we are hurrying to set that up and we will try to make it as special a day as possible.

It is crazy. I have never been this busy. We aren’t able to go out and find much through tracting because my ankle isn't 100% just yet but we have been very blessed by the Lord with people to teach and work to do.

All in all, it was a pretty crazy week. But we are hopping out of the frying pan and into to the fire tonight. So we shall see how it all goes down.

I am all finished with the ankle business though. It is still a little swollen but it should go down. I am supposed to come back in a month from the visit if it is still swollen, and in a few more weeks I will be cleared to start playing sports again.

I’m so happy that C. is working on being able to begin his papers. Just stay away from girls until after your mission. Trust me. They are nothing but trouble.

Those dancing games look like a blast. I really want to try one out. The x-box one is way cool because you don’t even have to hold a controller. It just follows your body. Sweetness.

This new camera works fantastic. I will be sending the old one home shortly.

OH and guess what I got to do as service on Friday!?! I got to work as a trail guard for these dog sled races! It was awesome. We got to ride around on snow machines on the dog sled trails. We basically just stood there and waited at critical points along the track in case a rider wrecked and we would have to stop their dogs... Ha-ha. Well I didn't see anyone wreck hard but there were a few minor crashes... nothing major. It was pretty cool.

I can’t imagine having to care for 14 or 15 dogs all at one time. I mean, can you imagine that much poop? Dang. I would be cool with like 3 or 4, max. Even then I would need like a huge yard... Anyways I am including some pictures that I took while I was there with the new Camera so you can check them out!

We didn't end up getting to ride, but these one people that Elder M. talked to said that they would call us next time they were down at the track and give us a ride. I can't wait! It should be a lot of fun!

Well, that is pretty much it for the week. Everything seems to be going pretty well. I will definitely keep you updated on how everything is going on Monday.

It’s Crazy that M. is a Priest. He can Baptize now. That is CRAZY. Awesome ha-ha! He is even older than M*'*! Ha-ha. Maybe M. should start to talk to his friends a little more. I kept having the thought that Z. and his family should meet the missionaries.

Oh and have the missionaries visit Mr. S. That would be good.

Well that is all for this week. I love you guys and hope that you are all doing well. Much love!

Elder Britton Winterrose

Well, it's Monday again. Sweet, sweet Monday. It's been a pretty good week, actually the week was pretty lame. No, Just kidding. It wasn't lame. I just remembered all the great things I learned this week. We had zone conference on Wed. and it was nice. The best part was that at the end I received this big envelope full of letters from people I love! It almost made my week! But the peak of my week was stolen by M's baptism last night. We ended up doing it on Sunday because people were busy all day Saturday fixing food for the wedding that was going on, like seriously the most food I've ever seen in my entire life. It's insane. I wish now that I had taken pictures of it. So yeah... We ended up doing it on Sunday. But M's dad had to work Sun. and we really wanted his whole family to be able to come, so we asked the Bishop and Mission Pres. if we could do it at 9 and we were able to do it at 8:30 PM!! It was weird because it was so late. But the turnout was still really good. I hate the lay out of our building though, they have the font open up in a hallway... and we held the services in the Chapel out of necessity because we had so many people. So when it actually came time to watch the baptism people were packed in the 8 foot wide hallway like sardines. It was nuts. Hahahah. But it will be a great memory.

Yesterday was just a crazy day. Our dinner wasn't able to have us over so they made us dinner and dropped it off to us, and it was like 5 lbs. of king crab legs. IT WAS SO GOOD. Anyways back to the baptism, M's friend, J., Baptized him. It was so cool to see them. Like every time I saw them I nearly burst into tears. Now I would love to baptize every person I teach because I love sharing that experience with them; there is nothing else like it.  I know I will have many opportunities to baptize people, but I think it benefits the investigator and the member more, especially if it's a young adult. I have been able to share this time with M. and J., yet someday I will be gone, and I won't see them often. Because of this experience, they have a friendship now that could last through ages. I think any missionary who takes away the opportunity from someone who could be forging a bond of eternal friendship out of their own desires to perform the baptism is committing a terrible sin of pride and selfishness. That being said, it's ultimately the decision of the investigator; I would always encourage young men to share that experience between each other because it would be their first missionary baptism. Last night, seeing M. and J. dressed in their white jumpsuits; it was awesome. I am truly thankful that the Lord has brought me to this place and allowed me to partake in this wondrous work.

Now a quick note on the morale of missionaries. Missionaries are always happier when they are finding, teaching, and baptizing. When any of those steps are frustrated then often missionaries become frustrated. Missionaries are excellent at the second two steps but the first step, finding investigators, is a step that has always been pressed upon members. Going out and tracting is a terrible way for missionaries to spend their time. It's fruitful sometimes but missionaries should be teaching. So brothers and sisters - put your shoulder to the wheel, help the good work move along, and find people for the missionaries to teach. It really is as simple as opening your mouth. Have faith, and then exercise that faith by opening your mouth and talking to your friends, coworkers and everyone else!! If you don't know where to start, invite the missionaries over and ask them to review upcoming opportunities to share the gospel.

M. and J. invited so many people to the baptism last night. We were able to meet most of them and even taught the first lesson to two people while involving as many of the people's friends and any other members who were willing to participate. Now this included 6 YOUTH BETWEEN THE AGES OF 15 - 18. I handed out two Books of Mormon and we were able to set up a lesson for Tuesday. It should never be that there is a baptism and then the work stops. One Baptism should always blossom to more baptisms.

Dang, they're going to close the computer lab in 10 minutes because of the weather... Stink. Well on the subject of Thanksgiving, I will probably die of a hemorrhaged stomach. I will spend a lot of time with the ward.

I love you all. And I miss you. Sorry for the short email. I am so grateful for all of the kind words of encouragement that you shared with me in your letters.  I doubt that I will find time to write most of you back individually but I am so grateful for all of your letters!

OH and things I want for Christmas:
1. A Helicopter.
2. A Digital Voice recorder. (So I can record talks, blessings, lessons, silly conversations, door approaches, and funny instances and transcribe them with detailed accuracy).
3. The Gift of Tongues.
4. Perhaps a new Camera, I am not really that impressed with the ability of my current one to point and shoot. And since it is most often used to take pictures of me by inexperienced people it must be user friendly.

This list is not complete, but I must go.

Love ya,

Elder Winterrose.

I Love This Ward!

Hello everyone!

Well to get to the gist of it, the Samoan Ward is awesome! I had dinner twice a night 3 times this week! We passed around our dinner calender and it was filled before it got past the first 2 rows of chairs in the combined meeting. Our ward is pretty big. Like 400 active members. We didn't understand anything in sacrament. Like at all.. Hahah, it was so funny. As far as the language goes, I know how to pronounce all of the letters and vowels, and I am slowly getting better at pronouncing most words. The trickiest part is knowing where to put the emphasis. But it's slowly, slowly, coming along. It's good to sit through church and only understand one or two words. It's cool though because I could still feel the spirit when people would like be testifying and stuff. We have had a wonderful week though.

We've been playing basketball almost every day this week. And I am beginning to get a little bit better. It's awesome.  There are so many young men in situations not too much unlike my own before serving a mission, young men who are just struggling to get out!  And they are all way cool. We play ball with them all the time.

This ward is amazing with how many activities they have. We went to a Court of Honor after dinner on Wednesday and then they fed us and we played volleyball after. Then Friday there was a  ward dance, and the whole ward was there. It was awesome; we met lots of potential investigators.  They fed us and made us get up in front of everyone and dance with the bishop and his second councilor. IT WAS A BLAST. The members are so eager to help us and they are always trying to feed us. I seriously love this place.  We will see how it all goes. Just keep my language learning in your prayers.

I love this ward. Its like being back in Hawaii! Awesome.

I don't have a whole lot of time today because we have a mission choir practice at 1:00, so we got to bounce here soon. There is a general authority coming up but I don't know who yet. It's pretty exciting. I guess that's the benefits of being in Anchorage. Hahah. Oh and I get to go to the temple next week, I'm super excited for that because it will be the first time in like 8 months....   I love this ward though, seriously. It is awesome. Like the greatest thing ever.

I love you all, and I miss you. Continue to search (actively seeking) for people to share the gospel with.  Take care, I miss you all.

Love, Elder Winterrose.

Oh and my new companion's name is Elder O. and he's a good guy.  In order to make sure that packages don't get jacked, either write on the box HOLD IN OFFICE or make them signature-only pickup, I can swing down to the office to pick up a package if I need to.

Farewell to Elder L.! Hello Anchorage!

Just a quick note since today isn't my p-day, but I will be traveling all day tomorrow...

I got my transfer calls this morning! I am getting transferred to the Samoan Northern Lights Ward in Anchorage. I'm super psyched - learning Tongan AND Samoan on my mission. It's amazing to see how the Lord has shaped my life through attending BYU-Hawaii in so many different ways. I miss you guys, tell the brothers and mom that I miss them. And thank you so much for sending me this email! Love ya!