Week 13

Feliz Navidad! (Ugandan Style)

The "Big God Missionary Team" Holding their "Jesus is Coming Soon" Christmas concert! It looked like a lot of fun. As we passed by passed by they started yelling "Yes! Men of God! Hallelujah". That was certainly a new experience.

Dinner at our High Councilors house!
 He had a Christmas Tree too!
For some reason this guy
reminds me of my Grandpa Cal!

It's been such a good week!

I don't even know where to start with so little time to E-mail tonight! First off: Merry Christmas! Being able to celebrate here in Uganda while spreading the gospel has really made for one of the most gratifying Christmases of my life! I have been loving every moment!

My trainee is doing very Well! His name is Elder Bratsman from California. I'll tell more about him next week for sake of time, but he is a powerful guy!

We have been working super hard this week especially with finding new investigators. We have probably walked at least 50 miles this week, like no joke! We have found so many people who truly seem to have been prepared to receive our message. I have truly felt the love of Christ as I have put all my effort into serving him this Christmas Season!I am out of time, but I love you all!

Merry Christmas!

Until Next Time!

Love,

Elder Winn

Brother Joseph has a Christmas Tree!
He was kind enough
to invite us over for Breakfast this morning!

 I cooked some Pork and Pilau!
I'm turning into a real Ugandan!

Sunrise: Beautiful as ever! I love living here!

Week 12

It's the circle of life

The Sunrise this morning

The street banners advertising all kinds
of Christmas festivities.

Hello again!

I don't have a whole lot of time this week so I'll keep it short! Hopefully it will still be just as sweet.

The work is going well, as usual. Even with the distraction of the impending transfer news we were awaiting most of last week. On Saturday morning there was still no word from the Zone Leaders... Turns out: President and the AP's were still re-doing the whole list, and nobody was safe. Basically anybody could go anywhere. We were at their apartment when they got the news, and it was very exciting. Elder Brewer is actually on a Bus for Gulu (think of Lion King) Right now, and I am with another Elder in our District who lost his companion two days ago. I am awaiting the arrival of my trainee! Yes, I will be training this coming transfer! I can't believe I'm going to be a "Father". Exciting stuff!

Elder Winn will be training Elder Bratsman. 
2nd from the right

Anyway: I've got to go soon, but I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas! Until next time!

Love,

Elder Winn

The sweet sandals I had made! The sole is made out of
 a tire, and I had them emboss a W on the top.

Trying them on.

 Clouds

Week 11

I'm Dreamin' of a White Christmas

Christmas party with the other Branch

They went all out with Decorations!

Hey Everybody!

Christmas is on it's way, and it's coming fast!

I've had many ask me what Christmas is like in Uganda, but I really don't know a whole lot yet! Let me tell you what I do know: Christmas is very simple here. I have seen a few Christmas Trees in public places here in the city. Christmas is a big commercial boost here in Uganda. The weeks leading up to Christmas is when everybody comes into town to make purchases. Children generally get new clothes on Christmas. For the most part, the holiday is about coming together as a family. People often go back to their home villages for the holiday and enjoy time and meals together. (as far as I know there aren't any special traditional foods for Christmas... just the normal local food I have showed you before.)

It really doesn't feel like Christmas here. It is warm and sunny! I feel the Christmas spirit whenever we are invited to a members, or sing Christmas songs in church, but it's just not the same. I never thought I'd say this, but in a way I almost miss the frigid white stuff I quite enjoy singing about. I almost miss being cold simply for the feeling of warming up. It made me feel at home when we had a cold rainy morning this week. It kind of felt like Christmas!

Cooking for the party

I work in the Kajjansi 1 Ward, but the Kajjansi 2 Branch invited our ward (and us specifically) to join in their Christmas festivities! Us full time missionaries were asked to share a talent/do some sort of a skit. We couldn't come up with anything, so after explaining that missionaries really don't have that many talents; Elder Brewer started us off with his animal noises. He is actually really good at mimicking Animal Noises. The audience loved it! I then led into my classic rendition of 'White Christmas' with a dramatic story about how far away from home I am, and how Christmas just isn't Christmas without snow. They laughed so hard when I started singing! They took it exactly how I hoped they would! The sisters then did a little skit of their own. One guy told me I sounded like a country singer, and how it was his dream to visit Nashville! They filled the night with fun skits, music, dancing, and some really good food! I'm telling you: Africans know how to party! I hope our Ward Party is anywhere near that fun!

Things here are really pretty normal. Time is passing quickly: I have hardly noticed Christmas creeping up so quickly it's scary. We are keeping busy and working hard. I seriously love being a Missionary in the best mission in the world: #UgandaKampalaMission! Thank you all for your kind words of support. They make it bearable to be so far away! I hope you all enjoy the next week as we prepare for the holiday! Make it a memorable one!

Best Wishes,

-Elder Winn

I asked Brother Evander what how they celebrate Christmas in Uganda.  This was his reply...

Christmas here, people flock the churches for prayers ,Christmas songs are played on the streets ,after church people go home and prepare a different meal from what they eat every day ,they eat, after they flock pubs those who drink ,or entertainment centres for enjoying

Week 10

Nothing lasts forever, even cold November Rain!

Central and South Zone Conference

 Baptism this Sunday.
I Baptized Maureen who is standing next to me.

Hey guys!

November is done, and with it went the cold November Rain. However, December is here, and the rain is still coming! It was cold and rainy for our Baptism on Sunday. Of course, dry season is on it’s way because the rain has let up a lot. The mangos are getting nice and sweet.

I don’t have a whole lot of time to email today because we have an early appointment this evening, and we just got back from our zone activity. Speaking of our activity: We cooked cat! The Zone Leaders invited us all down to Entebbe for a culinary adventure. Elder Anim (from Ghana) knew the routine we needed to follow to do it safely, and Sister Otoo (also from Ghana) was pro at cooking it. It looked and tasted like chicken! I attached a picture!

Sister Otoo Cooking the "Chicken"
for us this morning.

This week was very busy as we were getting the four in the picture above ready to be baptized this week, as well as one more for next week. I can't tell you how much it makes a difference when members give us referrals and are willing to help us out.

This week we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Anim came and stayed with me in our area of Kajjansi. I think it was a test to see if I have learned my way around the area, either way I passed! I learned a lot from him as we taught a whole bunch of our Investigators. When I asked him how I could Improve he shook his head and said no, nothing. He told me that I was doing amazing for being in my second transfer, and that I'd only get better with age. That really meant a lot coming from him.

I don't really have any crazy or powerful teaching stories this week. All of our lessons this week have just been simple. The spirit has definitely been strong in our lessons, but again, I don't really have any fun stories to share. We did have a run-in with some stubborn Born-Again Preachers on the

Me holding my cat leg this morning.
See, Chicken!

street. We were just trying to be kind to them but they chose only to be nasty back. Even though they were not so nice to us, I was completely overcome by a feeling of how much Christ loved those two men. It broke my heart that they chose to act that way. It is like Christ taught: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you". My challenge to all y'all is to just be kinder than necessary. It makes a difference in how happy you are!

Anyway, I love you all. I hope you are enjoying the Holiday season. Have a great week. I look forward to hearing from you guys every Monday!

Cheers until Next time!

-Elder Winn

Another one of Central and South Zone Conference

At the Mission Home

Week 9

I'm forgetting all my song titles...! I'll try again next week

A Pretty Flower

Baptism this week!
Joseph is the one standing next to me.
Leonard is next to Elder Brewer

Hey hey hey! It's me again!

Another one of the baptism.

This week has been a busy week! We were making final preparations for Joseph and Leonard to be Baptized this week, as well as getting five others ready to go for next week! In the picture below you can see us at the Baptismal service yesterday. It was so awesome. I baptized Joseph (standing next to me). He's a great young man who was introduced to us by a friend. Leonard (standing next to Elder Brewer) cooks pork at the pub across the street from the church. His story is actually pretty interesting. He liked us and our message at first, but seemed to be lacking enthusiasm. By some kind of miracle we found him a Book of Mormon in his native tongue of French and his whole vibe changed. We see miracles so much in the mission field, I can't even explain it!

I have been pretty grateful for everything this week as back in the USA it was Black Friday! Er, I mean: Thanksgiving! I am super grateful for all of the blessings I see in my life as a missionary. We live really well here, and though it's nothing like life in America, Life is really good here.Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in Uganda, but Elder Brewer and I were still able to pull of a little bit of a celebration! Pictured below you see our feast of Cube Steaks with Biscuits and Gravy. I made Biscuits, and using the fat from the meat Elder Brewer fried up I made some gravy as well. We put it all together into a very nice Thanksgiving feast! It doesn't look like much, but we were stuffed afterword. I think it's because we don't eat that much meat here, so cooking up a half kilo of hamburger between us seemed like a ton!

Thanksgiving Dinner!
 Cube steaks with biscuits and gravy.
Elder Brewer made the Cube Steaks and
 I made Biscuits and Gravy!

For the most part the teaching this week has been pretty normal. However, there was one notable lesson worth telling you guys about! It all started with a nice lady named Passy. Passy invited us in and sent her daughter off to grab us a couple of Coke's. We talked happily until she got back with the drinks. When we asked the daughter if she would like to stay she kind of got a look of fear in her eyes and graciously declined. We thought that was funny. We got into the discussion and realized why....

 Our Scotty's (Security Guards) looking especially intimidating.
 We knocked on the compound gate and the one on the left answered
with his home-brew bow and arrow in hand and ready for action!

Passy (being a preacher herself...Baptist I think?) was pretty much just interested in arguing and proving to us that she had already found what was right for her. We couldn't hardly get a word in so after about an hour of getting roasted by Passy we kindly ended the appointment and got out of there. I can't even rightfully describe how this appointment went, so I'll let that suffice. It was an interesting and fun one though. Great learning experience.

Anyway, I am loving my adventures here in Uganda and I hope you all are enjoying life as much as I am. Have a wonderful week!

-Elder Winn

Foggy day.

Week 8

Whoa-oa-oa! Listen to the music. (All the Time!)

Kids fetching water way out in the bush

Hey everybody!

A guy buying Grasshoppers to eat

I am so happy to say that the internet is actually working half decent this week! I seriously love being in Uganda, it is such a great place to serve! I got to eat Grasshoppers this week! They taste kind of like potato chips!

I think I've briefly mentioned this before, but something I have found surprising about Uganda (at least Kampala and the surrounding areas) is the constant blaring music! Almost every little street stand has a great big speaker system complete with some booming sub-woofers. About 60% of it is American Pop/Hip-Hop (Justin Bieber is Huge here), and the other 40% is a very interesting Ugandan local music I will describe later, with the occasional exception of a local American Country Music station weaving through the air. 

You would think that this would be heaven for a music-lover like me, but the sad thing is that I have never been a fan of the very stuff people adore here! I am learning to tolerate it though. I'll admit that hearing Justin Bieber sing Despacito for the millionth time almost made me happy for a minute! Boy am I going to appreciate my Record Collection when I get back! If I am really lucky I'll hear one of my old favorites, not very often though. Rock is really rare here.

A Boda loaded up with Jackfruits. 

Now as for that special Ugandan breed of music:

There is really no description... It is like a strange mix of Reggae/island music, Hip-Hop, and Dubstep. Sometimes it is rapping/singing in the local language of Luganda. Now they like to throw in weird elements of other music at random. I even heard some Pedal Steel guitar thrown in one! It's weird.

Eating pork with brother Evander

The work out here is pretty routine. I see so many miracles every day, I could never fit them all into an email each week. One highlight for me this week (while we are on the fitting topic of music) was as follows:

There is a little shop across the street from our compound. As we headed out the other morning I saw a guy sitting on the bench in front of it playing a guitar. He was the brother of the shop owner, and he gladly let me play it for a minute. I grabbed a used Air-Tel Airtime card off the ground to use as a guitar pick. It made me super happy to just take a minute and strum away. The guy was amazed, he acted like he had never heard the blues! (He probably hadn't)

Anyway, It's been a really good week for me. Time is flying by so fast! I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving! I am truly grateful for all the blessings I have both here in Uganda, and at home in the US. I am especially grateful for the relationships I have with all of you. 

Have a spectacular week!

Week 7

The internet here is fake!

 Hey guys,

I've got to keep it short this week!

The internet failed on us yesterday so I have just a short time to give you all an update. Why does the internet have to be so fake on Mondays?

To make you guys miss me less I attached a photo of me next to the cow in front of our apartment! There is also a fun one of a Boda carrying one of those massive steel cabinets!

Anyway, I don't have a lot to say... It's great out here! I'll be back next week with some entertaining stories. take care, I love you all!

With Love,

Elder Preston Ray Winn

Uganda Kampala Mission

Yes! the Grasshoppers are nice!!!
That is what Elder Winn had to say about
these delicious??? insects.  I hear they are sweet.

Sunday Dinner.

Sunday Dinner.

Week 6

Celebrate good times! (Come on!)

Half a Jackfruit. Have I mentioned that this stuff is just amazing? maybe I will send you guys a better
 picture of me eating some sometime. It is really entertaining to watch.

This week has been very celebratory!

Just yesterday I hit my Two Month mark, and my first transfer is ending. 1 down, 17 to go! It's been a good two months. I'm excited to see what the next transfer brings!

Boda loaded up with wood

One thing I've learned this week is that when time comes to celebrate, Africans really know how to party! We were invited over to a Birthday feast for someone's daughter. The cake was good, but the food was better. They had some nice fried chicken, and strangely enough my favorite was the cabbage. There was music blasting, but that is normal all over Kajjansi. Yesterday after church, a little girl in our compound was having a birthday party. There was music (of course), a huge bouquet of pink balloons, and a bunch of pink tables. She brought us some cake, Yum!

Here is the fun story for this week:

We have had a mouse that we keep seeing run through our apartment. Unfortunately, each time we tried shooing it out, we narrowly miss. On Wednesday, however, we'd had it. We couldn't take it anymore. I saw it peek it's head out from behind the stove while I was studying, and World War 3 commenced. We ran into the kitchen, and searched everywhere to figure out where it could be hiding. We figured the only logical place was inside the stove, so we turned it on it's side (throwing all the crumbs and crap on the floor) and searched for it to no avail. We knew it had to be in there though, so we put it right side up, and cranked the propane oven to high in hopes that it would come scurrying out. 

Brother Evander's Picture of the week.

Sure enough it did... Just as soon as we let our guard down. This time, it's hiding place was the pantry. Even after tearing the pantry apart, and Elder Brewer breaking the broom trying to smack it, it still made it's escape under the kitchen door. We bought a trap that night, and found it the next morning. All it took was us buying a stinking trap. Figures.

This did give us an excuse to thoroughly clean the kitchen (as stove particles were everywhere). We gave everything a good scrub-down, and enjoyed the result, so we completely cleaned and re-arranged the whole apartment. It feels way good now!

I don't really have a lot to say this week. I hope my funny story was at least funny to you, and that you at least got a little entertainment from this weeks email. As far as Missionary work goes, I am working hard and learning lots. If I gave you the details of all that you'd just get bored though. That reminds me: We taught the drunk guy from last week! He was actually really fun to teach, and who knows; Maybe he will give up the Alcohol and get baptized!

Anyway, I love you guys. I am always so happy to hear from you all each week. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

With Love,

Elder Preston Ray Winn

Uganda Kampala Mission

The rain this morning after playing Basketball

Every time I check the weather in Uganda, it shows thunderstorms.  I asked Preston if it rained every day.  This is what he said:

The thunderstorms are pretty scattered. It is rainy season, so there has been lots lately. Maybe a trickle every day, but thunderstorms seem to be two or three times a week. They tend to be big and last through the night.

Jeri B.  This is what Elder Winn answered in response to your question about knocking on doors:

You can tell Jeri B that we do knock on doors. They are just doors inside large compound gates. We have to knock loud for it to carry into the house. 

Week 5

Runnin' on Empty

A sweet panorama from the shore of Lake Victoria

Hey everybody!

It's been a fun week with a few surprise twists and turns!

Jackson Browne's Lyrics grace our Subject Line today because we had some fun water issues this week! We got a call from the District Leaders asking us to take a couple of our Gerry Cans full of water down to the sister's apartment because their water was out. They don't live super far away, but it still sucked carrying them all that way! We arrived home and proceeded to fill up our water bottles. The water lasted just long enough to fill them as the stream gently slowed to a drip.... So here we are with like one Gerry can full of water and we just hauled our other ones away! We gave our Leaders a call, and word got around to the Sister's who apparently felt bad enough to give a call straight to President Collings! The Zone Leaders were on our doorstep with four more Gerry Cans the next morning.

 In case you were wondering what
 $14 looks like in Ugandan Money

It is also the end of the month, so we are low on money. I have plenty, but it is just sad seeing that you only have one 50,000 Shilling bill left to last you the rest of the month. (that is about $14.00, and it was plenty to last me, but seeing everything you have in one bill is scary!)

Zone Conference with Elder Palmer

This week we had Zone Conference, and Elder Palmer of the quorum of the seventy came to participate. I got to say the opening prayer for the conference. The Zone Leader laughed when he called to give me the assignment to give the prayer in front of a General Authority! It was fun though, a very inspiring meeting. Elder Palmer is truly an amazing guy! He gave a talk in the May General Conference if you want to see what I mean.

The making of Pilau

This week Brother Evander taught us how to make Pilau (Really good Ugandan Rice). We are hoping to learn how to make lots of local food. I don't really know what else to talk about... If there is anything specific that you would like to know about Uganda, or interesting questions you have, please ask me! I would love to give you guys a better feel for what it's like out here!

Have a Spectacular week! I love you all! Stay safe my friends!

-Elder Winn

Eating Pillau

A cheezy selfie I took just for kicks and variety

Some awesome potatoes and eggs
 I made to prove I know how to cook