Week 22

Three is a magic number*

*Three is a magic number: Featured on Schoolhouse Rock... I believe also covered by Blind Melon. Don't quote me on that though...

Four Generations of "Kajjansi-Born" Elders

Howdy Howdy!

The beach entrance in Ddewe

I am officially a Grandfather in the family tree of Uganda Kampala Missionaries. On Tuesday during Zone Conference, President Collings informed us that we would be receiving a third member of our companionship! He had just received word that Elder Mboya from Kenya would be joining our companionship. That's about all the information he had received concerning the matter, but he felt strongly that he needed to be here in Kajjansi with us! Elder Mboya was originally assigned to the Botswana mission, but due to visa errors, he served in Nairobi for twelve weeks and went to the Ghana MTC before getting reassigned here at the last minute. We love Elder Mboya! Also, my father Elder Brewer came in on the same flight as him, so we were able to take a sweet four generation photo!

Highlights this week: 

Some boats docked in Ddewe
(on the shore of lake victoria)

We finally made it back out to Ddewe, the village on Lake Victoria. It's been ages since we've been able to get there with all sorts of crazy circumstances stopping us... but it felt great to finally introduce Elder Bratsman (and Elder Mboya) to the gorgeous spectacle that is Ddewe! The members and investigators out there were much appreciative of our visit, as it is too expensive for them to get to Kajjansi with the poor fishing they've had recently (that's their main source of Income). 

On Monday we went to Kampala with the main purpose of going to Game (The African superstore owned by Walmart) so I could buy a new camera. We stopped at a nice burger joint owned by an american for lunch, and headed over to game. I finally chose the camera I liked, after making the guy open the box to let me try it without success, and he escorted me up to the front register. They scanned the camera as I dug into my pants for my card. I pulled it out and realized I brought the wrong card... at this point I look over at Elder Bratsman, whispering the words: "I brought the wrong card!", and he cracks up laughing! He still hasn't stopped!

Zone Conference

Zone Conference was great. We had pizza for lunch which was amazing! I haven't had pizza in like five months! It was a good meeting too. Afterword I was able to finally buy the camera I had chosen; so finally, after much anticipation, I have new pictures to send you!

Sunday we had a baptism for Mary: a sister who lives in a part member family we have recently been working with. what a great day for her! We also re-baptized Leonard who never showed up for his confirmation my first transfer, but has recently come back with the desire to do it right this time. I guess he wasn't quite ready the first time, but is now headed on the right path: for the right reasons this time!

Anyway, my time is running low, but I love you all and wish you each a wonderful week! I hope to hear from you next week! 

Baptism of Mary, and Re-Baptism of Leonard

Love,

Elder Winn

PS. I keep seeing more fireflies, so I am fairly certain it wasn't a side effect to the pot water... But thank you for your concern! I'm not sure if I mentioned it last week, but we also saw a really cool glow worm. I haven't seen any more of those, so maybe that one was a hallucination!

Chillin' at a member's store

Sleeping under mosquito nets.

Week 21

You would not believe your eyes...

...If ten million fireflies lit up the world as you walked back from kiwamurembe! (More on that later)

The Johannesburg MTC at night

Hey everybody!

It's been another week! A pretty good one at that!

We have too many good investigators to talk about in this short E-mail, but I'll just give you guys some Highlights:

Monday's "Dumb adventure with Elder Winn" (As termed by Elder Bratsman):

Monday night I was really thirsty while we were waiting for our Rolex's, so I decided to buy some water. The cheap bottles of water are 500 Shillings (as opposed to 1000), so I went around asking for the "water for 500". After about three tries everyone was sold out! (It's been really hot lately, and Kajjansi is drought stricken) I finally get to this shop that hand's me a brand I've never seen before. It's called "New Life". It was sealed and said purified and filtered on the label, so I accepted.

The Infamous Pot Water

I sit down and pop the bottle open. I take a great big drink. Suddenly, I'm like, "Whoah what's wrong with this water... It tastes weird". It was sealed and the water seemed fine otherwise. I had Elder Bratsman try it to see if he could figure it out... nope.

I further checked the bottle and read "Multi-Barrier Filtered", "Ozonated and UV Treated"... Everything seems normal so far! It just doesn't make sense! Then the full name of the water brand began to make sense: It was really called "New Life Pot Water"! Like real Pot! I read the fine print: "New Life Pot Water is purified and filtered with real African Smoke Taste with maximum hygiene and high quality water. Safe for drinking."

Real African Smoke Taste! Elder Bratsman and I start Dying Laughing! We couldn't believe it!

We were walking home from Kiwamurembe (A bit off our usual beaten path) late at night. The path goes through a swampy area where they make bricks. We heard a weird clattering sound that reminded us of clanking glass. We were trying to figure out what it was. We turned the corner and to our amazement we saw fireflies all around us! It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen. They were flying around flashing yellow streaks, we could not believe our eyes! That old Owl City song that everybody knows and loves (or despises) finally made sense! Probably one of the coolest sights of my life! On the way home we also saw a glowing caterpillar! 

Anyway, now that I've told the important stories, I am running out of time. The work is going well here in Kajjansi, and I love being a missionary! I look forward to hearing from you guys next week!

I know everything's chaotic these days, but stay strong and stay safe! I love yu guys!

-Elder Winn

Me with President and Sister Ashton.
For some reason I look a bit goofy
 in the picture... but I like it.

Excerpt from Elder Bratsman's Blog

Animal adventure:  We found another mouse.  Elder Winn saw it the night before, it was pilfering his suitcases.  Friday night, Elder Winn goes "AH" (kinda like I did) and the mouse races behind this one door.  Elder Winn  jumps up and grabs the broom, like an angry-mob-kind-of-dude with their pitchforks, except it's a broom.  He opens the door, the mouse is racing all over, by the table, Elder Winn smacks it around a few times, it runs between my legs, I run out of the way, it runs in our slides by the shower, Elder Winn pins it against the wall.  He pushed really hard on the broom, after a while he released the pressure, and the mouse was dead.  So we killed the first mouse with subtlety and traps and deceit, and the second one was straight up war.  It's war at this point - it's on.  Elder Winn is the champion of the humans, and we defeated the champion of the mice.  We haven't seen one since.  We struck fear in their little mouse hearts. :)

 Sister Ashton (The MTC President's Wife)
Loved giving me South African Kit-Kats.
 Apparently she really likes Bass voices.

Week 20

They call me the Working Man (I guess that's what I am)

Me with my 'Father' (Elder Brewer) on the right, and 'Son' (Elder Bratsman) on the left.

Howdy Y'all!

Elder Winn here, filling a chasm in your Inbox!

First off: I've learned that sending mail through the PO Box in Salt Lake is super slow! This

Relaxation

week I got a card from my Grandma that had passed through Salt Lake in November, so for those of you who still send mail: You've been warned! I have however, enjoyed the many kind cards I've recieved whether through the PO box or directly to our Mission Office (Much faster by the way). Thank You for your Support! I put my mailing address in the signature for those of you who have been asking.

Honestly... I don't have a lot to write about this week. It was mostly just full of usual teaching appointments. Not even an unusual number of bounced appointments! This is a good thing though, because it means there weren't any crazy Bag-Snatching Boda Men, or Card-eating ATM's. Man, the last couple weeks have been crazy. It actually feels good to have a nice fairly normal week!

We did have Stake Conference on Sunday which meant getting up early and riding to Kololo. Elder Joni L. Koch (the area president) attended and gave a wonderful talk. That was nice.

MTC Throwback: The traditional MTC 'Map Picture'

Soon we should have some more baptism pictures to share, so that will be fun! We have lots of great Investigators, and I'm exticed for the next few weeks! We are just working super hard, and things just happen to be pretty routine right now. But that's okay, I truly am loving the work I'm doing!

I don't have much else to say... Hopefully the week ahead will have at least a fun story about how I pranked Elder Bratsman twice with a dead Cockroach (oh wait, that was this week, haha. Not much of a story), or how I chased a mouse around the apartment with a broom and killed it without a trap (oh wait, last week...), maybe something interesting will happen!

Anyway, I hope all of you have a wonderful week! At very least, enjoy my pictures from before entering the field (still no camera... maybe in a couple weeks!)

Love,

Elder Winn 

Throwback: Rendezvous in Atlanta...
 All the American Missionaries headed to Johannesburg

 MTC Throwback: Us tall guys getting a taste of the
struggle we'd have for the next two years

 MTC Throwback: Believe it or not, the sign really was helpful...

Week 19

Sweet Sweet Victory!

Now we're Cruising above the Hori-i-i-zon!

Throwback picture from his plane ride to Africa.

This week was simply Victorious! Not neccesarily for us, but for those we have been working hard with this week. 

Brother Rogers Baptism

Firstly, Brother Rogers got Baptized this week! We met Rogers when I was first getting Elder Bratsman comfortable with Street Contacting. I pointed him out to Elder Bratsman and had him give it a shot. We set a return appointment to meet him at the church the next day, and he's been a rockstar ever since! Elder Bratsman had the opportunity to Baptize him, and everything went great. Rogers looked so happy to finally have made it to this point, and it has been a great pleasure helping him through his journey!

We also had eight solid investigators at church who are all on their own course towards Baptism. They loved church, and were so happy to be there. These investigators are already excited to bring others to know what they've felt, and be baptized themselves. I can't wait to see them all progress as well!

Yesterday evening after church we went to see Esther and her family, along with her neighbor Florence and her two boys. They all came to church, and were anxious to meet with us. Florence's two boys ran off to grab sodas for us, and came back with the sodas,

MTC Throwback: Elder Mathemera and I
 playing it Cool. Hashtag Roomies!

a loaf of bread, biscuit sticks, and a couple of lollipops for us. Our quick visit turned into a dinner appointment. While waiting for the boys to get back we learned that Esthers Father had been sick, and he wanted to come to church too, but didn't have the strength. We offered him a blessing and he gladly accepted. This little old man didn't understand the words we said, but he could obviously feel the power of our blessing. 

We sang some songs, prayed, and went on with the dinner. All was normal and dandy. Suddenly, the young man (named Precious) seated next to Mose Joseph (Esthers Father) began excitedly saying "Mose! Mose!, He's Eating!". It had just dawned on the group that Esthers father, who apparently hadn't eaten for three days had just eaten a couple of slices of bread, and was currently downing a Mountain Dew! Mose looked at us with love and gratitude for the blessing we gave him, and started speaking to us in his native language. With Esther Interpreting for us, we heard him say "Thank You, thank you. No matter what I will follow you, I know it's right". 

That night as we taught them about the priesthood, we truly saw the power we were testifying of in action! The family was so grateful for us and our visit to their humble home; not only for the miracles seen, but for the message we carried, and the love of the savior

MTC Throwback: The Johannesburg Temple

they could see through us.

I am truly loving the work here, and I can't believe the many simple miracles I see each and every day. The Lord truly does work through each and every one of us: we just have to follow him and seek those opportunities. I know that he is with us if we will only seek him.

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Elder Winn 

MTC Throwback: District 3 Chilling on the stairs eating candy.