First off though, can I say Mom that I LOVE your hair. I am not exaggerating when I say it is the best haircut I've seen on you. You look amazing! But of course, you are the most beautiful mother I know. And going to Seattle for 2 days? Dad, keep her on a tight leash.
And, Grandma, are you out there?! I didn't get an email from Grandma this week so I would just like to make sure she's okay.......maybe it's cause they're redoing the carpet upstairs? I sure hope so! Love you ga-ga!
1. One of the main reasons last week was not my favorite is because Sister B got sick. Poor thing. I felt so bad and there was nothing I could really do for her but pray and insist she take it easy, being the workaholic she is. She's feeling somewhat better but then......I got sick! Of course our companionship unity would go that far, we just can't help but share everything! So then I had to try not to be a hypocrite and take it easy myself......which was hard. Who wants to be in bed when you could be out preaching the gospel!? So one morning in the middle of this death, we looked at each other during companion study, completely exhausted and sick, and started laughing at how horrible we both looked (see #2 for evidence). But, we're both feeling a lot better and the Lord loves us so we'll be fine!
2. During my sickness on Saturday, we went to a baptism for the English ward and tons of missionaries were there and I had been so dead that morning that all I did was blow dry my hair......that's right, no makeup. Which I didn't think would make that much of a difference cause I only wear mascara and sometimes eyeliner. Well, I thought wrong. When we walked in the first elder that saw me, Elder Deony, immediately said, "Well hello no makeup!" Of course he tried to explain his way out of it and say, "No you don't even need makeup, I like the natural look better anyway." I just told him I was sick and that I wasn't here to turn heads anyway :) So then we sat down and in walks President and Sister Nelson. Of course, they would. And I had just painted my nails aquamarine (the mission rules changed and painting nails is okay......but who knows about aquamarine). And of course Sister Nelson would come sit right next to me. She realized I was sick and started finding drugs for me, she has a Marry Poppins bag, and then I apologized to President and told him I was sick and that I normally do get ready. So I sat there for a while wondering if they were worried I'd gone apostate. But President, knowing what Deony had said, turned to me during the baptism and said, "Sister Winfield, are you not wearing any makeup?" I just started laughing and Sister Nelson, not knowing the story, defended me and said, "Oh, she's so pretty she doesn't need makeup. Don't listen to him." After assuring President I had put on deodorant and brushed my teeth, the subject was dropped. I don't know why I just rambled on for this long about my personal hygiene, but in case anyone was wondering, I am wearing makeup today :)
3. The Mite baptism did not happen. Sad right? But we're hoping that they'll be ready by this Sunday or next. I love them so much and I just want them to be an eternal family!
4. We had a bunch of ward activities this last week. It's interesting cause growing up I never really saw the missionaries around but here in NYC, the church is still REALLY young and so the missionaries end up doing a lot of work with the wards. Which is fun, just different than I thought it would be. So we had Dia de Los paises.....aka Hispanic heritage day and everyone has been talking about this day for a long time......well, since last year's party. So people took off work to cook food from their country and we made hot dogs and cupcakes to rep USA. People laughed but our food was the first to go. There were some new investigators there and they really loved it so it was a hit! We also had the young women yearly personal progress thing and that was fun. Except for the girls and I had been practicing a song to sing and that was in the middle of my sickness so I could barely talk, let alone sing. Haha good times.
5. Last night something hilarious happened....but maybe you had to be there. I have these two moles on my shoulder/arm and Sister Mamon in her crazy Russian-ness asked me if she could cut them off. Uh, no thank you, I don't want you doing cosmetic surgery on me in our dirty, cockroach infested NY apartment. But she's been begging me for a while so I finally said yes last night. She told me to scream before she did it so I wouldn't cry as much. So she did the first one and it went fine..,.....the screaming did help. Then she did the second one but couldn't cut it all the way so she was trying to pull my skin off......so of course I'm laughing/screaming by this point. Then the phone rings and it's our district leader calling for this week's numbers. So I answer the phone as calmly as I can and walk to hand it to Sister B. But apparently he still heard some noise and told Sister B it sounded like we were having too much fun. And Sister B said, "Oh no, just Sister Winfield and Sister Mamon. They're doing surgery." Of course he asks what kind of surgery, and she tells him she's not allowed to tell or I'd hurt her. She should of just told him cause now he probably thinks we were doing liposuction with straws or something in our apartment. Gross. But, the spots have stopped bleeding and now I have 2 less moles on my shoulder :)
6. We have a mouse. Or maybe 2. The other night we're walking up the stairs and we open the apartment door and there is Mamon in the kitchen freaking out, spraying Raid on the microwave. The mouse was out running around and we tried for a while to catch it, including Mamon throwing a flashlight at it. Then it went into the stove and we turned the stove as high as it would go and waited in our study room by a hole I've seen it come out of behind the stove. It didn't come out and we finally gave up. But we all did get some good screams out of it and I had to pray kneeling in my chair that night.....just to be on the safe side.
7. You always hear missionaries say that there are some people that you were meant to meet on your mission and that it just feels like you were prepared to help them. That's how I feel about Hermana Pedraza (member in our ward) and her 28-yr old son Armand. They are SO amazing and I love them both so much. And we went and visited them last night and after we left Sister B and I were talking about how much Heavenly Father has helped us help them. I know they are one of the reasons I was called to NYC and I am so glad I can help them in whatever little way possible. There are so many good people here.
8. Yesterday we went and had lunch at a house where this one family lives and they make up about half the ward. The Mom, Hermana Rios, is about grandma's age and she has a daughter, two sons, and 1 daughter-in-law (divorced but still hangs with this fam) that live in the ward. Hermana Rios is the RS Pres, her daughter is the YW Pres, one son is in the Stake Presidency, and the other son just got called as the YM Pres I think. Anyway, I LOVE all of them and they all have kids and the house is crazy on Sundays. It felt like home and I loved being there. We had the best guacamole EVER and don't worry Dad, they told me they'd teach me how to make it.
9. Last Monday we went and played soccer with our zone. And I put on my Brenna attitude and went out on that field to win. You should have seen it, it was crazy. I headed a couple of balls and beat my district leader on a ball fight. I also got a ball kicked right in my eye, my legs, and my arms. And my district leader kicked me in the shins.......we got a little competitive. I think that's why they tell you to take it easy when playing games on the mission. But we won and I definitely held my own. We were going to play again today but some of the Elders were "busy" aka chickened out so some of us are going to graffiti park after emailing instead.....stay tuned next week for pictures.
10. Well ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the spiritual thought of the week. This week I thought about how I just wish I could be better and I was really focusing on all my weaknesses. So this morning I had a President Hinckley moment and thought, "Forget yourself and go to work!" Gosh, sometimes I'm so self-centered! And we all know that the best way to feel better is to stop being so selfish, so I thought about 3 ways I can work harder and stop being selfish. Here they are:
(1) Gratitude. This is SO important. Almost all bad days can be fixed by getting on our knees and thanking Heavenly Father for what we do have and not asking for what we don't. D&C 59:7 says "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things." A few things? Some things? Sometimes? Some days? ALL things. Everyday. My goal this week is to recognize what the Lord has blessed me with, because it is a lot, and stop worrying about what I don't have. President Monson is right, "We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues." It my testimony that we can and should fight against ingratitude. Choose to have an attitude of gratitude.
(2) Service. It's really hard to worry about yourself if you're thinking of others. Two Mondays ago I was having one of those self-centered moments. That night we went to a members house to have FHE with them and I was looking at fish in a fish tank with their little girl. She is so innocent and young and said, "Aren't the fish so fun?" As I knelt at this fish tank, I realized how many beautiful things there are in this life and how many times we miss them because we're too busy focusing on ourselves. The spirit really spoke to me in that moment and told me where true joy comes from--treating others as Jesus would treat them if He were here. Choose to be God's helping hands among His children.
(3) Share. For me, this came more with speaking to others about the gospel. I really only have such a short amount of time to be a set-apart servant of the Lord but we can share what we have with everyone around us. It may not be some big preaching in the grocery store for the rest of you, but it might be a simple and heart-felt hello to someone on the street, a nice-note to someone you don't usually pay attention to, a pray for someone you don't normally pray for. Heavenly Father has given me so much and sometimes I selfishly keep it all to myself. Choose to be more of a giver, and less of a taker.
I know the gospel of Jesus Christ will bring us back to our Heavenly Father if we will follow its precepts. We can be better today than we were yesterday. I echo President Eyring when he said, "Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart. Your circumstances may not be improved in all the ways which you desire. But you will have been given new strength to carry your burdens and new confidence that when your burdens become too heavy, the Lord, whom you have served, will carry what you cannot. He knows how. He prepared long ago. He suffered your infirmities and your sorrows when He was in the flesh so that He would know how to succor you."
I love my Savior and I know that He lives. My prayer is that you can all feel that truth more in your lives this next week.
Love the mish, be the mish
Hermana Winfield
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