WOW...LOVE the support!

Well hello everyone! Once again, I feel SO loved and supported and I LOVE everyone's emails and letters. This weeks top ten will have to include some business items that need to be taken care of.

1. Em, I LOVE you. I will be writing you a long letter because you definitely deserve it. And it is normal to feel the way you've been feeling spiritually right now. But, until you get my letter, please read your scriptures EVERY day and pray before and after reading, on your knees. I love you so much Emmie, you can do it! You are my little twin so I know how you're feeling......it'll be okay! Please read the talk Believing in Christ (Mom can help you find it....Mom, it's the one with the parable of the bicycle). Also, way to keep those boys off of you.......goodness we've got too much hotness in that house to handle!

2. Nancy! Disculpeme pero no se como hacer los acentos con esta computadora, entonces, voy a tratar pero.......si :) Pues, sus preguntas. Me dijo mi madre que ya recibio los photos, espero que si. Lo siento de sus sentimientos rotos, escribire una carta para ti. Puedo hablar mas de nuestra apartamento, tal vez en esta carta, y no, desgracia, no tengo una mesita cerca de mi cama. Pero, voy a cambiar las camas y dormire en la otra......entonces puedo guardar mi alarma en el suelo. Tienes mas preguntas?

3. I LOVED the pictures of em and beth! I have the best sisters ever! Beth way to wear a modest dress.......hands down you were the most beautiful one there!

4. Bug......a mormon teacher! Lucky! And I am sure your solo was amazing! What song did you sing!? And getting asked out twice.......Dad, how are you handling all of this!? Everyone's going to have bf when I get home (I sure hope not).

5. Mom, your questions. Yes, I watched the broadcast. It was awesome! I LOVED all the talks, but I do have to say that President Monson took the cake. We don't even realize how much other people are struggling, and gosh darnit, they're doing the best they can! So we need to stop judging! But I agree, I don't know if I could be as good as Sister Monson......I would want my husband home! We had it in English and I would have watched it in Spanish but there was some complications with headsets.....but it was awesome.

Yes, Claudia is married......not a big fan of her husband cause he's not that supportive. It's interesting, Unga and I were talking the other day about how most of our ward is made up of strong women and there aren't many men. Or if there are men, the women were the converts and the husbands were alcoholics and abusive or such. It's super sad and it makes me a little apprehensive about marriage, not gonna lie. Thank goodness I don't have to think about that for 2 years! But when the men do stop drinking and get baptized, they are REALLY good. We have two amazing men in our ward that I love and their wives are amazing as well.

Conference. So excited. It's like the Superbowl for missionaries. So yes, I've been making my bracket of who will be speaking in what order. I'm definitely going to win. We get to watch all 4 sessions. Boom baby! Also, congrats to sister mechim and whoa baby to ramona. Loves it!

6. Wow we interrupt this email for a special announcement. I was just sitting here in the internet cafe and we heard a thud. I look out and a bird just flew into the window and is spazing out dying on the ground. I think I'm going to cry.......it's breaking my heart.

7. I have the best parents in the world. Dad for fixing that car and being so super uplifting and spiritual and Mom for just being the amazing bomb.com that she is. Wow. I seriously wish I could tell both of you how thankful I am for you and how awesome of parents you are. Girls, give them lots of hugs for me!

8. Crazyness this week.....don't even know where to start. Transfers are tomorrow and Unga is leaving. It shocked everyone, first of all me and Unga. Apparently this never happens to Spanish......they usually stay with their trainers for longer. So I'm sad she's leaving and I am scared to death to be the "experienced" one in this area.....I have no idea what I'm doing! But I'm sure my new companion will be awesome! Pray for me.......I am seriously scared to death. Wow.

Me and Sister Unga!

9. Mom, you can just take this out if it's inappropriate but send it on to Steve and Cheryl. This is the baby mama drama. Apparently this 50 year old guy in our ward fell in love with me. I didn't even do anything! We visited him because he's a recent convert.....but I was only missionary-ish the whole time! So it's caused a BUNCH of ward drama and President said we couldn't talk to him anymore, but then he found out that we found out and got all mad at us (long story), and now he won't come to church. Ugh! So if any of us was leaving, Unga and I for sure thought I would be the one getting transferred out. Haha life/President/the Lord is funny like that.

10. Okay, this is the missionary soap box for a moment, so excuse me but it's important. I can't even explain how important it is that we read our scriptures every day and pray every day. Any problem, concern, or sadness can be healed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We access this wonderful gift and learn more about it through prayer and the scriptures. It is SO important. If I could only get every person in New York to understand one thing, it would be that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that we do have a plan. There is a God and He did send His son to sacrifice for us so that we can be clean in this life and return to live in His presence forever. So, everyone PLEASE listen to all of general conference and don't sleep during it. Nothing else is more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ and the prophet of God will be speaking in his behalf this weekend. Be there!

Shout outs this week go to: Brenna (I haven't gotten your letter yet but mom says its on its way!), Grandma (aka highlight of my week every week), Aunt Di (I'll be writing you this week hopefully.....I LOVE the family updates), Ginger (miss your face too girl!), and everyone else that is reading this.....LOVE you all!

Love the mish. Be the mish.

Hermana Winfield

Great Week!

Wow, amazing week!

But first off, GRANDMA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! You are my favorite person lately, I just LOVE your letters every week. I hope your birthday is amazing and I'm glad you partied it up on Sunday. Go out and eat a Burgerville milkshake or something for me!

Talia! Yay baby Lucille is here! Tell her I said hello and I love her of course! And give my cute little Lily a hug!

Mom, don't you EVER send an email to the mission office again! Oh my goodness! No, I did not receive it and now President probably thinks you're crazy......whew! I love you for trying, but next time just don't worry about it......it wasn't that important. But of course from my amazing mother I shouldn't have expected any less. Haha I almost peed my pants laughing when I read your email......emailing the mission.....you would. And sadly, I have not seen Fred again yet.

Okay enough of this, top ten!

1. This week I have included pictures, and we will first talk about my ghetto alarm clock situation. This week I got tired of the alarm clock falling off my bed every night and now some of the buttons don't even work so I went ghetto style and just taped it onto my bed frame. Unga was laughing at me.....but now I don't have any alarm clock problems so look who's lauughing now!

2. We had zone conference and President and the APs taught and it was amazing! We also had costco chicken bakes and it made me think of home lol. But yeah, zone conference was amazing and I asked President that if we were good at the end if we could watch a clip from District 2 about the law of chastity (word on the street is that it's hilarious). Anyway, President loves me so of course we watched it at the end and it was SO funny. They're teaching the guy the law of chastity and talking about Corianton and the Elder says, "So he broke the law of chastity. Yeah......he just..........broke it." Man we were rolling. Apparently the kid didn't understand because the next time they met with him he told them, "Yeah, I've really been trying to keep the law of chastity and I saw this friend of mine and normally I would have asked her out on a date but I tried really hard and I didn't even talk to her." AHAHAHA he thought you couldnt date. Good times.

3. I learned how to make tortillas this week......like legit homemade ones. And homemade enchiladas......prepare yourself accordingly fam.....it will change your life.

4. It's so sad because people here just don't go to church. They get upset by something that someone says and then they just stop going. For years. It seriously breaks my heart. And another thing is that sometimes commandments that are hard for some are easier for others. For example, we came downstairs to the Priesthood room yesterday after church to talk to the Elders and the Priesthood were all eating pizza......fresh pizza that the Primary had brought for the kids. What? How can you teach your children to keep the Sabbath day holy doing that!? Blew my mind in the beginning but now I'm just used to seeing it. But, everyone learns at different rates and all these people are trying SO hard. I love them all.

5. Well, the water is murky from the tap and I guess I didn't really realize it til the other day that I've been drinking that lol (laugh out loud Grandma). I usually just wait for it to all settle and then guzzle it down! Yum yum yum!

6. The train (aka metro) goes below ground like everyone thinks of when they think of NYC but it also goes above the streets. And the other day we were sitting on one of the above-the-street platforms waiting for the tren. And then the platform started to shake. No, nothing out of the usual. It shakes all the time. Just thought I would mention that the next big natural disaster here is going to kill the metro......it's barely making it as it is. So we just sway on the platform above the busy street. No big deal.

7. Best pick up line from this week: "God bless your mothers for giving birth to you, both of them." Unga and I got this on our way to an appointment after church yesterday. It's really nice to see some people still believe in God and motherhood. Thanks Mom for birthing me!

8. I gave a talk on Sunday. It was a little rough but a lady in the ward looked over my talk for me before and I was only missing a "few things"....aka my Spanish is horrible. Haha no biggie, people afterwards told me they understood what I was saying and that's all that matters. I talked on charity and used the talk "The great commandment".....I think that's what it's called in Enlgish. It's by Elder Wirthlin from 2007. Good stuff. Elder Burk spoke too and he was amazing.

9. The tornado. Wow, made me super happy. Prayers are answered! Mom, where were we? Muahah outside of course! We were with Elder Yancuba and Westover (english elders) walking to grab them some pizza (needy little boys) and seriously it came out of nowhere. One minute Westover says, "Wow look at the sky, it's super green. That's how the sky looks before a tornado." And the no joke about 30 seconds later it goes crazy outside! Rain, wind, you name it. We ran inside Alfie's pizza and on the tv in there was a tornado warning on the news and told everyone to get inside. But Unga will not be stopped by a tornado. So we walked to our next appointment. It stopped after a while but millions of trees were pulled out from their roots and cars were lifted off the ground, the metro and buses all stopped, and windows were shattered. But, the Lord's work went on!

10. The baptism. Dang I'm out of time but the baptism was AMAZING! The spirit was so strong and they're both doing great! I made cupcakes and but them on the cupcake holder I made (see picture). It was amazing. The church is true. Wow, everyone go read your scriptures right now!

Shout outs this week go to: Matt and Lee (I already mailed a reply letter this morning!), Maggie & Mal (I'll be writing both of you today), Uncle Don (tell everyone hello!), Grandma, Aunt Di, Dad, Mom!

Love the mish. Be the mish.

Hermana Winfield

Life is Great!

Hello from Hermana Winfield and Unga!

Hermana Unga says "Hola". We're splitting the hour between the two of us today cause her card isn't working. And this man just told me my typing is annoying......I'm going to give him a pass along card.

1. Claudia is still getting baptized on Saturday and now.......her 9 year old daughter Karen is too! We're super excited and they're both getting baptized together. Which reminds me, Mom will you dearelder me the recipe for the bran muffins cause im going to make them for the baptism.

2. When on exchanges with Barchi this week because Unga had training with president on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. It was super fun cause Barchi is in Jamaica.....partay!

3. Also went to Manhattan with Barchi this week cause she had an appointment. It was weird cause I didn't think of the hussle and bussle I normally think of.......I just saw how sad and kinda of robotically everyone is living their life. It made me sad......they just don't look very happy.

4. We played bingo with retirement home people this week which was also a blast and kind of funny/annoying when I caught the elders watching Maury and Jerry Springer n the tv.

5. I've been SO tired every morning and a few nights ago I prayed that I could have more energy to wake up. And that next morning, and every morning since then, I have woken up on my own 3-5 minutes before the alarms go off, with total energy. Christmas miracle.....the Lord loves me.

6. We went to Target to buy me a new suitcase because one of the wheels on my is broken and it won't even roll. So hence the charge on my card mom. Anyway, it's so New York-y cause they're all in high buildings and Target is off the escalator right next ot Best Buy.

7. We had CapriSuns today. The church is true.

8. We also saw a portable US mail office. My life is complete. I gave a moment of silence for you Dad.

9. The subway line was out of service on one side and so we had to switch on to another one and I thought the world would probably end and the aliens had taken over the metro. Nothings happened yet.,......but it always comes when you least expect it.

10. One recent convert won't answer his phone so I left him a message the other night, "Francisco, this is Sister Winfield. I just want to talk to you about your life and your doubts and your problems. Please.....please....call me when you get this message". It was a lot funnier in spanish and Sister Unga was laughing at me while I left it........he still hasn't called us back.

Shout outs this week to: Grandma, Aunt Di, Dad, Mom, and Laura and Jackson Baker! THANK YOU. I just printed out the emails so unga can use my time but ill read them asap and im sure theyre great!

I LOVE you all. Have a great week! The church is true!

Love the mish. Be this mish.
Hermana Winfield

Pray for the storm.....um, I mean the will of the Lord

Hola!
As Mom didn't have any questions this week, we'll just start right off with the top 10! (I found an Internet cafe that was open today.....it only took a little hunting)

1. The Hurricane. I don't know if anyone on that side of the country heard about it, but there was a huge hurricane, Hurricane Earl, that was supposed to hit NYC this last friday. It was pretty likely to hit and immediately we all thought of all the movies about the world ending and how it starts in NY. The Day After Tomorrow, some movie with Tom Cruise, and tons of others.....you know what I mean. And some of the missionaries were being evacuated. Of course I wasn't evacuated cause President knows I can take it like a man. But we were told to go buy more canned food and water.

So we started discussing how the hurricane is exactly what we need.....all the missionaries were talking about how after the earthquake in Chile tons of people got baptized and how natural disasters and trials have a way of humbling people.....like in 3rd nephi. So Hermana Unga and I started praying for the hurricane to hit so people would be humbled and we could find more to teach. Not in a bad way, we didn't want anyone to die, just enough to scare them a little bit.

Friday morning, I woke up and went to take a shower and there were WAY more cockroaches in the bathroom than there normally are. So I spent a while killing them so I could shower in peace (thanks ginger, i didn't know that about killing the babies.....I'll be more careful not to spread the eggs lol). But do you know what that means? Animals always have this sense when something bad is going to happen.....and they run for shelter. And the bathroom is probably one of the safest places in our apartment cause it's in the middle and there aren't any windows. So logically the hurricane was coming and the sweet little cockroaches were warning us. But alas, the will of the Lord prevailed as it always does and the will of the Lord seemed to not want the hurricane to hit......it only got a little windy and a little rainy. Sad day.

2. I got on the bus the other day and was still walking to the back when the driver said "Can I ask you a question?" He was this intimidating big black guy and I didn't know who he was talking to but when he repeated it again I said "Are you talking to me?" and he said "Of course I'm talking to you. Can I ask you a question?" I wish I could adequately portray the thug language he was using but unfortunately I can't.
So I walked up to the front while he was driving and he said, "Are you one of the mormons?"
And I said, "Yes I'm a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"
and then he said "Well then how come you never say hi to me? What's wrong with you? Us bus drivers are nice people and you never say hi". Wow. First off I do say hi, but it's usually as I leave because it's always crowded getting on. But nevertheless he gave me a lecture my whole bus ride and told me I'd better spread the word cause he didn't want to see another missionary not say hi to him. Whew. I asked his name and said, "Fred, I will never again not say hi. I'll see you soon Fred!" Word to the wise......don't make a big black man angry......and gosh darn, just be friendly!

3. Sunday I was asked to lead the music in sacrament meeting while Unga played the piano. Well, lets just say it was a disaster and I totally butchered the first hymn. I figured it out by the closing but I had already ruined my reputation. How do I know this? Yesterday we went and visited members after church and they all told me how funny and horrible it was that I messed up the music. One lady even started reenacting how I had led. Yeah, I was humiliated. But next Sunday I will come in as if I'm leading the Mo-Tab. They won't know what hit them.

4. We went to visit a sister in our ward and her 20-something year old son was over visiting her and he's just starting to come back to church. He collects rare Nike shoes and showed us over 30 pairs he had in her closet......and he has even more at his place. He even had back-to-school shoes that looked like Elmer's glue. So yes, we're pretty much best friends now and he'll be coming to church on Sunday.

5. Claudia update- she came to a baptism another district had on Friday night and she brought the girls too (she has 4 daughters). It was actually horribly organized and I wanted to hurt the Elders for it but it didn't ruin her too much cause she came to church yesterday......I think she's gonna make it!

6. I got on the bus the other day (fun stuff always happen on public transportation here :) And as I was standing and holding on to the bar the man sitting down by me said "Hey! How are you!" as if he knew me. But he speaking english aka not from our ward so I was totally confused. He then is like "Hey don't you remember me? We sat by each other on the bus a week ago right over there" Wow creeper. I then remembered he was one that asked for my number AFTER he found out I was a missionary.....weirdo. So we talked for a while and I invited him to come to the english branch with the elders any time and he invited me to come eat dinner with him at his restaurant down the street. I told him no thanks and gave him the "It's not you, it's me.........you need to repent and come to church and recognize that living the gospel of jesus christ is the most important thing you can do in your life.....far better than hitting on someone dressed like a nun". You know, the usual line. I don't want you to think I'm prideful.....everyone gets hit on here, I'm not special at all. The only requirement is to be a woman under 45ish.

7. Yesterday was fast sunday and no one in our ward fasts.....it's actually really funny. So after church 2 different people invited us over to share a message and they both ended up feeding us.......one lasagna and one spaghetti. I think they were trying to make us feel at home cause we're american but I really just wanted some latin food lol. Oh and side note: Bishop wore tennis shoes with his suit to church yesterday.....and the stake president visited our ward. I LOVE it here.

8. We went bowling last week for a district activity on preparation day. It was fun and I broke 50 so the elders gave me a high five......I was pretty happy about that myself. They wanted to go again today but we boycotted.

9. Glenda and Walter. Glenda is inactive and Walter, her husband, is a nonmember and has a problem with drinking. But we've been trying to work with them and this week we tried something new......I gave them a homework assignment. Not just some reading assignment......something better! President assigns us homework every week that includes reading, answering questions, and using a process of praying, reading, praying etc. So I translated it into spanish (scary thought) and handed it to Glenda and Walter......and told them I would be reminding them during the week before our next meeting. So pray that they do it!

10. We did a street sweep Saturday and it was really fun. It was our whole zone (so 16 or so of us) and we hit the street in Jamaica. My favorite excuses this week "Oh, I'm Catholic" which is always a winner and "No i don't have time" In my mind my response is "Oh I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You poor thing. I'll just worry about your salvation another day when I have more time." Boom! In your face! Okay ahaha jk I'm not rude like that but actually my favorite approach is to ask them, in spanish, if they speak spanish. They look at me like "yeah of course. i'm latin" and then I pretend to get all excited and say "Oh, I'm learning spanish!" and then they give you a little more attention because they want to see how dumb you sound in spanish. Works like a charm muhahaha

11. It's actually safer here than you would think. I reazlied the other day that I haven't really worried about much since I've been here. We even have our little friends that we know. Like Alfie that owns Alfie's pizza across the street from us. He always asks if we want to go to the beach with him........he's like 60 and has a walker. And the guy who owns the store below our apartment. He always asks us how much we'd charge him to do his laundry. Or like the crazy man that dances on the corner around our house......he's actually a pretty good dancer. Life is good.

12. Last but certainly not least, are the Mamon stories for the week. I LOVE her. We're gonna ask President to do a zebra and open up East NY for us (zebra is putting an english and spanish sister together).

Today we ran to the bakery next to the laundry place while we were washing our clothes so we could grab a crossiant. There was a lady cop in there and of course Mamon can't help but say to her, "So, how's the cop stuff going?" And she said, "Oh it's pretty good, just like normal." and goes on for a minute. And then Mamon spends the next 2 minutes trying to convince the cop to join the swat team. In the end the cop has convinced Mamon to join the swat. Good times.

Then, while we're drying our clothes, Mamon tells me she made up a quote and it's really good. It happens to be a paraphrasing of a scripture and she really had no idea. So i was peeing my pants laughing. But then Unga tells me Mamon actually had a really good original quote one day. Apparently they were asking Mamon if she was going to date her ex-boyfriend again after the mish and she said, "When I throw my trash into a garbage can I don't go back to the garbage can to dig it out and pick it up." LOVE HER.

Well, I think that's its for this week. #11 and 12 were to make up for the 2 I missed last week.

Shout outs: Ginger (love you! come soon!), Mom of course, Dad what happend to your email?, Grandma got your letter and LOVED LOVED LOVED it, Aunt Di (THANK YOU! Good luck with school stuff and BOM and sem!)

Mom- I got your letter on the 3rd. I am glad the truth has finally been brought to light.....curse you brenna :)

Uncle Ross- Pres. Nelson said he got a letter from you and that you said hi or something. Hi back! I forgot to tell him you were my uncle and that President said "Yeah, don't worry, I wouldn't claim him either" He's hilarious! I claimed you :)

Steve and Cheryl- I've got some HUGE baby mama drama for you.....expect a letter in the next few weeks

Love the Mish. Be the Mish.
Hermana Winfield