23rd - 29th February 2016

NO OFFICIAL EMAIL THIS WEEK


Bozo is a stud such a legend l am so in awe of his dedication and example, learn from him and keep doing what you are doing it is exactly what your meant to.  Bozo just got his patriarchal blessing which was really cool! i wasn't in there at all but he said it was the most spiritual experience he has ever had. He will be moving here to Zadar so he doesn't have to drive 2 hours to get to church, so he is leaving his job and his family, he is giving up so much! wow.
Right now we are working with an inactive old lady and her grandson who will turn 8 in about 3 weeks so we are going through all the lessons with him, she hasn't came to church in a couple of weeks but I hope she does. 
It was a pretty average week, just a lot of street contacting and started to do some tracting which sucks in these areas, missionary work here isn't the most exciting thing on the planet but someone has to do it!

I have 6 more weeks left in this transfer, to be honest it's pretty hard, I would suggest my comp has a decent amount of mental problems which can make it hard to get a long with him. But its okay I'm just trying to continue to push on and just work on the language and focus on the people. Investigator wise this week we found a lady who was just in tears because her son had cancer and said she couldn't work or afford to pay for anything ect... she said she "just needed warm words" so we are hoping we can meet with her this week and teach her the Plan Of Salvation, she cancelled on us on Saturday though which sucked.

I'm still not that big! I want to try and be around 90 - 95kg when I get back then in the summer I'll shred down with fitness to around 85ish... hopfully!

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

16th - 22nd February 2016

Well this week was pretty quick in the end! We had Zone conference which took out a whole day but it was a good refresher and good to see all my mates like always!

So I just looked back in my planner to see what I did and I realized it was literally all street contacting and meetings which took up the week, so I'm surprised it went by pretty quick. Maybe instead of saying things that I did during the week I'll just give you an update on whats going on and how I'm going in general.

So I'm still here in Zadar which in fact got voted the #1 tourist destination in Europe which everyone here seems to be pretty proud of and tell us pretty much everyday although I'm not here for a holiday I'm here for the lords work! So it doesn't really effect me at all but I would love to return here for a holiday after my mission.

We have a teaching pool of about 2 people which is one better then when I first got here so that's nice, we had a first lesson with an investigator who has been coming to church for the last few weeks but said to the Sisters who were previously here that he didn't want lessons, so last Sunday I thought I would ask and he said yes so we did, it went pretty well he said he wants to take it slow and just keep coming every week, I just want to make sure he knows the basics because he is just diving right into the deep end by going into the Sunday School class with all the others.

​We also had our Zone Conference in Zagreb which is a 4 hour bus ride from Zadar then a 45 minute tram, so that was fun, President called me up to recite the first vision in Croatian in front of everyone, I'm so lucky I practiced it or I would of looked like a spud!! 

I have now been out on the actual mission for 4 and a bit months and on Sunday i was listening to one of the ladies who had a talk and I realised I could understand 90% of what she was saying without having to wreck my brain, it was a good feeling. I still know very little of this language but its enough to get me around, im making sure i study everyday so I can get it down. 

Sorry for the short email, I guess there isn't anything too exciting happening this week! Maybe next week will be better!​

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

9th - 15th February 2016

Well this week was pretty crazy! On Tuesday my new companion arrived and we moved into our apartment which was actually pretty clean (thanks to the senior couple the Devers).  We then unpacked a little and got straight into planning.

Wednesday was a pretty long day we had some meetings and then we had to go to the MUP which is the police station to get Elder Bolan (My new comp) started on his visa work and I also had to tell them I was changing address which they got angry about :/

Thursday was nice we had a decent amount of time to work, and we ended up finding one guy who had been given a Book Of Mormon 5 years ago but hadn't read it, he lives in the mountains by Osijek which is a good 4 hour drive away and sometimes comes to Zadar so we ended up having a good hour conversation about to religion and said he would come to church, unfortunately he didn't but it was still good being about to talk to him despite the pouring down rain in the background.

Friday was a pretty rough day, a lot of rain, not many people so we literately passed 2 people within 60 minutes of walking! It was rough, we went through the area book to see if we could find anyone we could possibly call and we have a bit of a list going to I'm looking forward to see if we can find some people that way. 

Saturday was actually a bit nicer so we had some people and we ended up finding someone to talk to on the streets and taught the restoration as a street lesson, he was a young guy and didn't seem 100% interested as he was into his catholic faith but said he would read about the Book Of Mormon and pray about it although he didn't want to give his number so we could meet up again. We also ended up having a lesson with a less active and she lives with her grandson who is 7 and he is nearly old enough to be baptised and the grandma wants him to make the decision for himself, we went through the Plan Of Salvation and got him to teach it back to us, he did very well and understood a lot more then I thought he would, we also gave him a Book Of Mormon Stories book which he was really happy about as the scriptures are very hard to understand especially in this language even for the natives.

Sunday was great! we had a good turn out of 24 instead of like 9 which has what it has been the last few weeks with a sickness going around, 6 of them being investigators which was really cool to see. We then had dinner at the senior couples house which is something i always look forward to!

So this week we have Zone Conference in Zagreb which I always look forward to as I get to see all my mates! Although I don't look forward to it at the same time because President Grant always makes people go up in front of everyone for role plays... But its okay I know the language enough to get by and not embarrass myself!

A little bit about my new companion! His name is Elder Bolan, he loves to hunt and read books and loves history so I have had a few lectures already, he is from Alaska which is not Utah so I break the Utah streak of 4 companions in a row! 

Apart from that its just the same things going on over here in the Balkans! Just always finding and looking for that person who is ready, they could be anywhere! 

Have a good week, Love Elder Winfield

sorry this is the only one, this is our new district 

On the left you have Elder Matthews who was my companion in the MTC

On the right you have Elder Hillock who was my last companion and was in my MTC group

In the middle you have Elder Bolan who is my companion :)

-- 

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

2nd - 8th February 2016

Well this week was pretty crazy, we found out transfers, went to split, went to one of the islands and had a little fun while we were at it too.

So first of all I can say that I'm staying here in Zadar! woo. But I still have to pack up and move :( I'm taking over the sisters area and apartment, meaning I have pack up and set up again and get adjusted to a new area, I may as well of moved to another city :( It is okay though I now have McDonalds in my area so I should be good!

So first off we had p day which was amazing, we went to one of the islands called Preko, it was a beautiful sunny winters day! I have dodged the winter, everywhere else in the mission it is snowing but I get sun and 15 Degrees! anyways we hiked up to the very top, took us about 30 minutes and it was well worth it once I got up there! the view was amazing! We then had to hike back down to catch our ferry home, it was a lot of walking that day but i enjoyed it. 

The next day was pretty normal, we had english class which was fun and district meeting, we then just contacted for the rest of the day, it was nothing to special, this week was pretty rough we didn't find any new people.

Wednesday was pretty normal, except once we got home we got a call from president and he told us what was happening with transfers a day before everyone else found out! what a party pooper, we also had a lesson with one of our eternal investigators, we are currently going through the book of mormon with him and trying to help him gain a stronger testimony of it, I think it is working and I reckon that he could get baptised next transfer.

Thursday was busy, we went to see where everyone else was going for transfers and then went to the MUP which is the police station where I had to go and tell them that I was changing address, they were pretty angry :/ We also then had lunch at the Devers as one of the sister missionaries was about to leave back home to america! After that we had english class and then contacted the rest of the night, very busy days!

Friday we had planned to go to Split so we could visit a recent convert and it was a 3 hour bus ride, it was all worth it though, I really enjoyed going over there and teaching the Plan Of Salvation, he was also so excited to have us over, he has given up so much to be a member of this church, his family kicked him out of his home, he now has to live on his own ect.. but he still comes to church every Sunday and is just so faithful, such a great example for me!

Saturday I had to pack a bit, do some planning and get everything ready for this movie night where we were playing 17 miracles with Croatian subtitles, it went really well we had about 12 people there and a decent amount of investigators, unfortunately a lot of people are sick at the moment but I was happy with it all, we also had one of the sisters investigators who will now be mine who has a baptismal date come but unfortunately he couldn't come to church the next day because of work and then bailed on the lesson last night, still hasn't been answering our calls or texts.... it's always really disappointing when something like that happens :(

Sunday we had church which was great, seeing as the sisters left we don't have a piano player so I had to play, using the tap function where as long as you keep the beat you will be fine, and it has no intro so you have to play the first verse through first then sing when the second one starts, but for some reason everyone started singing when I was about half way done playing the intro.... from there it was never going to be the way it was meant to. So that was interesting, apart from that though it was just a normal day at church here in zadar, I then went and dropped one of my bags off at the apartment which ill be in next transfer, you know you have to claim the good bed and desk before your comp arrives ;) I actually don't fit on one of the beds and my comp is very short so that works well anyway.

Now I'm here :) I have my new transfer ahead, I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope that I can achieve my goals. Hope everyone had a great week all the best.

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission 

26th January - 1st February 2016

Well this week was pretty long but it was good, we ended up finding one person on Pday while we were trying to buy something called a "Tunja" which is some hand fishing thing made out of some hard Styrofoam which a lot of people use here. Then the store owner asked us whether we were Jehovah Witnesses and then we said no, he then kept asking questions so we then just taught him the first lesson right there, it was pretty cool, we then met up with him the next day and taught him the plan of salvation, we then soft committed him to baptism so that was really cool, unfortunately he didn't come to church but he said we will meet up this week which is cool. 

Apart from that it was just a normal week, a lot of contacting and just normal stuff, we had a mid transfer transfer so we lost a sister and got one who is going home next week, I was with her in Beograd, it is weird how time flies! My 6 month mark is in a couple of days, it has not felt like that at all though.

Today we are going to one of the islands so I'm looking forward to that, It will be my 2nd last p day of the transfer, we will be finding out what is going on this Thursday so m looking forward to that! My guess is I will be staying here in Zadar which is what I want, I'm really enjoying it here :)

Sorry for the short email I don't have much time today as we are going to the island, next weeks email will be great so get pumped for that, hope everyone had a great week, all the best :)

--

Elder Winfield

Starješina Winfield

Старешина Винфилд 

Adriatic North Mission