Week 26

Same Old, Same Old Situation

Me going for a joyride!
(just kidding... It's just tradition for missionaries to take pictures on a Boda!)

Elder Bimpeh and I
(I don't have pictures without his tongue out...)

Last week I straight up lied to you all... Nothing super interesting happened this week, so thus my email isn't a whole lot more interesting as I previously promised! Nonetheless, I am eager to please: so stay tuned for this week's installment. I'll try to keep it interesting!

This week we did almost have some big progress. Emphasis on the "almost"... One of our investigators named Paul was having some struggles with work keeping him from attending church. After many prayers on both our side and his, he finally got permission from his boss to be able to attend! This was a major answer to our prayers. However, come Sunday morning he was called in to work anyway so this was a bit of a setback. Hopefully the door is still open for him to be able to attend in the future.

Our Beloved Sister Missionaries

Things are going very well despite the setbacks. I am loving the work and having a lot of fun in my new zone. The sad thing is I just don't have a lot to share that would be interesting to read... The thing I do have is some nice pics for this week! Especially number four. number four is probably a perfect expression of the craziness I have to deal with each and every day. (I have another with the aftermath where we all fell down but I couldn't include it with the email size...)

Anyway, I hope everything is going well in your various regions of the world! I love each and every one of you and hope to hear from you next week! Make it a good one!

Love, 

Elder Winn

These are from Brenda.  They were at a Branch Activity: 

 A Goat Roast followed by Sports.

P-day in Masaka Zone

Masaka Zone in it's current Craziness. (Denison and Goodrich are not pictured)

The aftermath pics... I just couldn't leave them out!

Week 25

Welcome to the Jungle...

Just a nice sky picture for good measure... 

I wasn't too diligent at taking pictures this week because 

I wasn't sure how the internet would be. but it seems pretty nice!

...More like the Paradise City!

Some nice goodbye pictures with Elder Bratsman and
Elder Mboya (both of which are staying in Kajjansi)

Greetings all you people who actually read the crazy letters I send! 

It's been a wonderful week! I can't believe after six months I am finally out of Kajjansi. I was a tiny bit apprehensive to come to Masaka as it is often referred to as a village with it being a four hour drive out of Kampala. However, upon arrival I was shocked to find that Masaka Town is actually pretty well developed! It is newer than Kampala so it is more thoroughly planned. In fact, they have a true four-lane highway with a median and street lights all through town. In the city center all of the buildings are around four stories high, it's even referred to as the next big city in Uganda. Our church building is also super nice compared to the one I'd previously been serving in, and the members are amazing. I think I'm gonna like it here in Masaka!

A little district tomfoolery

A little bit about the nature of the work here in Masaka: There are two branches. Between those two branches we have a zone of 12 missionaries, eight of which are serving in my branch. The district I am leading is comprised of myself and my companion Elder Bimpeh, as well as Sister Chimfwembe, and her trainee Sister Macanda (the C is a tongue click though, so that's gonna take some getting used to). 

I don't really have a lot to update you on. Right now we are just finding a lot of new investigators because Elder Bimpeh and his companion didn't do much finding at the end of last transfer; Not a huge deal, It just puts us off to a slower start. 

I almost forgot to mention a critical detail about Masaka... People say NO! In Kampala people would just pretend to be interested when they ended up being

Masaka... Where guys make outfits like this.
This guy was stoked to see a tall missionary.
 I think we're gonna be friends,
us tall bro's gotta stick together yo.

completely fake, but here people will actually tell us if they are not interested. So far it's saving so much time and trouble! I actually had someone angrily shut/lightly slam the door in my face! While we were teaching someone on their doorstep, their angry muslim landlord started yelling at us in luganda saying that the world doesn't need people like us. That was pretty fun!

I'm not really sure what else to say... I'm loving it here already. I can tell that we have a lot of great things to look forward to here in Masaka. There are so many people primped, primed and ready to receive the gospel. I am already seeing miracles each day as I go out and work. I can't wait to see what lies in store for the weeks ahead. Hopefully next weeks update will be a bit more interesting (and not in a bag-snatching boda man kind of way). 

By mandate of Elder Winn I also command that all of you have a wonderful week. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you every Monday!

Catch ya later!

-Elder Winn

Saying goodbye to Amim, the painter who is waiting to get Baptized. When we first met he had dred locks down to his shoulders and would cover them with giant knit hats in public. Once he decided to come to church though he surprised us and shaved them off! In between us he has a little jar where he would keep the pamphlets and things we'd give him in. Eventually he started filling it with little treats for us missionaries to eat.

Week 24

Beverly Hills! That's where I wanna be!

Something tells me that the property value here is a little less that that of the American Beverly Hills.
(Inspiration of this week's song title subject line)

A really quick snapshot of some houses
 near the Beverly Hills sign in Ddewe.

...But instead I'll be transferring to Masaka to be a District Leader! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Kajjansi, but I am glad to get a change in scenery and move on to a new area. I will miss the many friends I've made dearly! Masaka here I come!!

Last week I talked about Brother Amim. He was not baptized this week after all, but that's okay. He's one of the strongest people I know. As I said last week he was having some issues with his Muslim family. Though his life is not in jeopardy he/we felt it better that he at least gain the acceptance of his family before he makes this step. Thus we decided to give it a little time.

I am very proud of Amim, as well as many of our progressing investigators. I am proud of them. Though I won't be in Kajjansi to see them get Baptized I am just overwhelmed with love and joy over the changes they have made in their lives..

As a mission we have been challenged to follow the gospel and the mission rules with exactness. Just like the

Bishop Mukore and Brother Evander (Bishopric members)
being silly while taking a goodbye pic.

stripling warriors (Book of Mormon Reference. Young Men who showed great faith and were delivered in battle) we are truly confident that as we obey the miracles will come. Along with that we have a goal of 260 convert baptisms in the next six weeks. All in the area have been invited to join us and share their miracles. We have already seen so many miracles in our effort to seek them. 

I know that as we show the Lord our faith and trust in him, he shows us his miracles and manifests his power in our lives. I invite any of you who are interested to also follow the gospel with exactness and look for the miracles in your lives. It makes a difference. I know many of you have differing beliefs from many different outlooks of life; but I promise that as you more fully put your trust in God he will bless you. He loves all of his children dearly.

I Love you all and wish you a spectacular miracle filled week.

Love,

Elder Winn

from left to right. Brother Reuben, Me, Brother Kenneth, and Brother Odoch.
Evander's daughter Chloe joined us in front.

Week 23

Come Rain or Come Shine

The soccer pitch all covered in rain.
If you look closely between buildings you can see Lake Victoria.

This week has been a lot more rain than shine, but that sure won't stop me from emailing you all! (Unless it actually

When you want to do some late night studies,
 but the power is still out...

does start raining during our Internet cafe time in which case the power would likely go out). It has basically rained every day of march so far. Not just light sprinkling or a short yet sudden shower; I'm talking about torrential downpour lasting hours on end. It hasn't been easy but the work is definitely progressing come rain or come shine!

This week we have been busy getting more investigators ready for their baptisms. Specifically, Amim was supposed to have his baptism yesterday, but between rainstorms and letting him out of our sight for five minutes we were not able to get the interview done. It's a long story... He should be good to go for next week though. I'll tell you more about him and his story next week. He's amazing.

About half an hour before church this week we went to pick up an investigator, but she was not around. As we were walking back we saw a man we met a while back sitting on his porch. His name is Samson. The only reason we haven't been able to teach him anything yet is because he is almost constantly drunk. We asked his family, who pleaded with us telling us he needs help, when we could find him sober. They said "By Luck". Lucky enough for us, this morning he was [mostly] sober (maybe a bit hungover from when we saw him drinking it up the day before). So we grabbed him and brought him along to church. 

A massive snail I saw this morning.
About 6 inches long, maybe more!

As we walked through the soccer pitch we normally walk through towards the church, we saw a wall of rain coming straight for us. We had to run into it to take shelter in the shops. I felt like I was in some sort of action movie, like the matrix, slow motion running into a wall of straight water. It was a crazy feeling going from almost dry to soaking wet in an instant. That's UG. About 45 minutes later, about 20 minutes past our usual church start time, the rain let up enough to make the final stretch for the church. 

We arrived with maybe 10 people seated in the dark chapel. (No power either) Us three Elders had to fill the last three of the four seats at the sacrament table. I blessed the sacrament water ["the rains"] down here in Africa. (Youtube Africa by Toto if you haven't caught my drift already) Mission Goal Accomplished. By the end of the testimony meeting we had 22 people including two investigators and the two who were baptized last week (confirmed this week).

Leonard, who was re-baptized last week, got up and bore a super strong testimony. He talked about how this was a very big day for him, and he could not find words to express the happiness he felt after his confirmation. He was very grateful because as he went to leave for church the rain began. He was devastated because it was supposed to be the day he would finally be confirmed; as an answer to his prayers however, the rain stopped for just long enough for him to get there. 

Research shows that Smorking is very bad for you.
 Don't any of you be Smorking!

Leonard has truly changed in his conversion process. When we first baptized him he never showed up for his confirmation, and began to really struggle as his faith was tested. Just in the last month he has come back to us and expressed his desires to do it right this time. There is a visible change in his countenance, and in him as a person. Others have said the same. His faith is very strong, and he truly has an understanding of the gospel now! Go Leonard! 

This week's tiny sacrament meeting was probably one of the most powerful I've ever been in. Though the rain did it's best to stop us, it was so wonderful to hear the testimonies of the strong few who made the extra effort to get to church. What great faith they have! I wish I could say that I would do the same if put in their situation. What an example to all of us. 

Have a wonderful week, I can't wait to hear from you all next week!

Love,

Elder Winn

We got a fake Chinese copy of monopoly (complete with typos and mismatched property colors). if we don't have too many chores to do after we get home at night, we spend 20 minutes or so playing a long-running game. (Elder Mboya was crushing us all, but I recently made a comeback!) Here we are playing in the candle light. (the power was out due to rain)