You can e-mail Elder Winegar directly at jacob.winegar@missionary.org. Thank you for your love and support.
Oh my goodness I'm just delighted to be able to talk to you guys. You delightfully delightful people. I'm feeling rather peculiar today.
This week was long and yet a sweet release. We finally escaped the bands of our trio, so it's Elder Sal and I taking on the world. My love and appreciation for him grows daily. He has a deep faith and love for the Lord. And he's really funny. The perfect storm. Even though I'm supposed to be training him, he's teaching me so much.
I got to hang out with so many youngsters this week it was sick. There was a gentleman we were teaching with the cutest son who only spoke Spanish. We made silly faces to one another across the room while the adults had a lesson. Collette, another little lass who I am friends with in the ward, made some spectacular creations out of uncooked dough while her parents were finishing dinner. Twas a splendid time.
We had an interesting baptism with an interesting mother who had a lot to say and not much clue of when or how to say it. I'll just say some of her comments were quite amusing and certainly not appropriate for the setting.
A man who will soon lose his house expressed a lot of frustration to us in a rather hostile way. I wish I had more I could say or do to help this man. He clearly did not wish to speak with us so we anonymously dropped some brownies off to him. I hope he felt some peace knowing someone cared about him.
Another close friend of mine went home early.
It seems to me that more often than not our lives can seem like little more than a "veil of tears" that we are traveling through. A dreary wilderness full of confusion and sorrow. While our wilderness may not contain flying fiery serpents like those of old, we encounter the more subtle creatures of doubt, anxiety, fear, strife, self-loathing, and depression. I have stumbled across many myself, as I am sure many of you have, and often we can feel so lost that it seems easier to give up hope.
I plead with you, do not give up. Your Heavenly Father has promised you that,
"he will make [your] wilderness like Eden, and [your] desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein."
We may not be out of the woods yet, nor do I think that we will simply be delivered out of them. Rather, our Heavenly Father will help us see how beautiful they really are. As we push through the brambles, we will begin to see "the flowers of grace appear."
Remember that everything that is happening to you is ultimately for your good. You may not see it now but God has a Plan for you and he is shaping you into something even more magnificent than you are now. He truly, truly loves you.
And I do too. Never forget.
Tunes are too real sometimes
Grand Hoodoo--The Moss
Intuition--The Backseat Lovers
Bye,
Elder Winegar
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