Elder Daniel Winters - March 23 & 26, 2012

Hello hello hello everybody.  Welcome to the special Friday edition of my email because we went to the temple this morning.  Really a beautiful temple, I recommend you all go there sometime.  

As far as California news goes, shockingly enough it's been a little chilly and rainy as of late.  Still, life goes on and I stay dry in the car that we drive.  Sometimes I feel that I'll never be a true missionary if I never get the opportunity to ride a bike.

In food news (sorry if you get tired of this, but food really never ceases to fascinate me), Elder Kim and myself recently went to the Asian market to buy our groceries (rice and kimchi).  I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud when we passed by the frozen food section.  From this, I discovered that Koreans are really the Native Americans of Asia, as they don't let any part of any animal ever go to waste. This is what I saw, in order, and wrote down for you all:

Pork Loin

Pork Ear

Pork Ear Slice

Lamb Shoulder Butt

Frog Leg

Beef Tongue

Beef Blood

Pork Blood

Pock Hock (ankles)

Pork Feet

Pork Chin Bone

Pork Neck Bone

Pork Loin Chop

Pork Mini Loin Chop

Black Goat Stew

Pork Belly

Frozen Beef Bones

Beef Tendon

Assorted Tripe

Beef Large Intestine (Elder Kim: "They're really good")

Ox Feet

Ox Tail

I'm afraid if I'm offered some of these items at a members' house I may have to improvise.  Aside from our usual groceries, I also bought a weird looking fruit whose label said "CACTUS PEAR."  As it turns out, it was about as tasty as you would imagine a cactus being.  The fruit had a ton of seeds in it, which I ate just because I wasn't sure if I wasn't supposed to.  If I wasn't supposed to, I really hope that hundreds of cacti aren't growing in my stomach right now.  

Investigator news - we have a baptism tomorrow!  Really exciting stuff, especially as she was the first person I ever taught (we found her on my first full day).  When we taught her about the Plan of Salvation, I asked her to pray about it, and she said, "that's okay, I already believe it."  There truly are incredibly prepared people out there.  

Recently I've been studying about God's hopes and expectations for us all.  You've probably heard this before, but the only thing we can give to God that He doesn't have already is our wills.  In order to do that, we've got to make the right choices, plan out the right future, set the right goals, then act in all diligence while relying on Him as He shows us our weaknesses and makes them become strengths.  When we do all of that, we will be truly happy because He is truly happy for what we are doing, the people we are helping, and the people we are becoming.  

Have an awesome weekend, everybody.

Elder Daniel Winters

March 26th:

Hey everybody, long time, no typing.  Not really.  This will be pretty short, sorry, but there's really not too much to report after a weekend.  The baptism went without a hitch and the baptizee gave a wonderful testimony.   It's really fun to see how the Spirit works in people.  

In other news, I saw a ten-year-old kid who could play the slacks off me at the piano.  Those Chinese really know the secrets of unlocking their kids' musical talents.  Too bad I never discovered them.  Actually, the answer is probably "practice," but that's a story too long for me to get into.

Spiritual news, I recently read Elder Bednar's talk about grace and the Atonement from this month's Ensign.  I testify of its truthfulness as we all really need the Atonement for redemption, resurrection, healing, and strength.  God, through the Atonement, can turn us into the people He wants us to become as we humbly come unto Him.  

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Elder Daniel Winters

Picture from Saturday's baptismal service: