Testimony

Hey everyone!

How are you? I hope that this last week has treated you all very well and that this one can be even better :) As for us here, it has been a very good week. We were able to keep working with Sussel and the Paniagua Family and we are very pleased with their progress. This week, I would love to focus on Juan Gabriel and Miriam.

Juan Gabriel is Johnny Chavez's brother (Johnny is the man that was baptized with his whole family a couple weeks ago) and has been listening to us for a while with his wife, Miriam. From the beginning, they showed a lot of interest in the Church, but between the winter vacation and other things we had lost contact for a couple weeks. However, this week, we had the opportunity to once again teach them and it went really well. They had started reading the introduction of The Book of Mormon and we had the opportunity to finish reading it with them and explain some of the details. We loved the opportunity to teach these basic truths and also loved seeing them come to church for the first time. We are very excited to see their progress and look forward to upcoming visits :)

Well, I was thinking about what I could share for a thought today and then I realized that this will officially be the last group email that I send. How crazy is that?! When I realized this, I decided that I would just love to share a quick recap of my mission and a small testimony.

As I think about my mission, many experiences and feelings come to mind. Like the unbelievable excitement of opening my mission call letter. Or feeling uncapable as I began learning Spanish in the MTC and then realized that I hadn't learned nearly anything when I arrived here to Cochabamba. Also the strong sadness as people chose not to accept commitments, or others straight up rejected us. However, with all of these feelings, something that resonates is the amazing joy and Spirit that I have felt as I have traveled to cities like Quillacollo, Tupiza, Potosí, Sucre, Villazón, Uyuni, Cochabamba, Quiriza, and several others to preach this amazing Restored Gospel. I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ is the one and only true church upon the face of the Earth. I know that the Bible is the word of God and shares the communication that God had with his children in the Middle East and the other close-by areas. I know that The Book of Mormon is true and that it shows the same communication from the same Divine Being but in this American Continent. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration and that God used him as an instrument in His hands to bring to pass a marvelous work that stands and continues growing even in our days. I know that through modern day revelation, we once again have access to the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, which truly is God's plan for each and every one of His children. I know that we will be judged for our actions here on Earth. If we choose to follow the commandments and make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father, we will have the opportunity of being welcomed once again to His presence. I know these things are true. I have had the opportunity to testify of them for more than 23 months and would not have done such if I didn't have a certainty of their truthfulness. I look forward to testifying of these things for the rest of my life as a witness of the love of God in every moment and in every place. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your love and support during these last 2 years :) I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

Making Bolivian pasteles with api in the house of some amazing members

Our district in the last meeting for this transfer

The zone :)

Hey everyone!

How are you? Did you have a good week? Can you believe that we're in the middle of July?? It's unbelievable.

Well, this past week went really well! We are loving our work here in La Chimba and hope that things can keep going well :) It's been a while since I mentioned investigators, so today I would love to talk about the Paniagua Family and Sussel.

The Paniagua Family was passed to us as a reference from a member and is absolutely amazing. We have had 2 appointments up until now and they have both gone great! The mother of the family is rather quiet but is always very attent while we are teaching. The father is very outgoing and is always asking all kinds of questions. He has a very good knowledge of the Bible and his questions normally are about The Book of Mormon's place historically. He's very sincere and willing to experiment on what we teach. We're loving the opportunity to visit this family and look forward to future teaching visits :)

Sussel is a wonderful woman that we met this last week in quite a special way. Basically, she has been a member of another church her whole life but has never felt supported or helped being there. One day, she was walking in the center of Cochabamba and stumbled upon the institute building that our church has there. She saw that many people around here age were entering and decided to enter too. She loved the bible classes and the great supportive feeling there and asked for more information. That's when we got a text message from the institute secretary, passing us the reference to our area. Sussel has a ton of interest in the Church and mainly loves the way she feels while she is there. We look forward to helping her learn more about the Church :)

Well, thinking of a small thought for you all today, I began to think about time. Time is one of the most valuable things that we possess. We live each and every day with our set 24 hours and have the great blessing of choosing how to use them. Here in my mission, I have learned a little more about the value of our time. While serving a mission, there is a rather strict schedule that includes waking up at 6:30 AM, getting ready, studying, and planning all before 10:00 AM. Many would say,"What's the problem with getting up at 7:00 AM or later?" Well, if I get up at 7, I push the whole schedule back 30 minutes, meaning I get ready, study, and plan later than I normally would, leaving home well after 10 AM. What's the problem with that? That means I get to share this amazing Gospel with less people simply because I have less time. That is something that, as a missionary, I can't afford. This also applies to each and every on of you. If I plan to get up at 7 AM so that I can excercise, study the scriptures, and then go to my university class at 9 AM, but then get up late, I now have to cut something out of my schedule. If I cut my exercise, I put at risk my physical health. If I cut my scripture study, I lose that valuable time to feel the spirit and prepare myself for His guidance during the whole day. Laziness often causes us to lose valuable opportunities. We all need to learn how to manage our time in such a way that everything fits into our daily allowance of 24 hours. We do not have any time to waste. I invite each of you to think about how you use your time and set goals so that you can do everything you need spiritually, mentally, and physically. I promise that as you do so, you will find that there really is a time for everything (see Ecclesiastes 3).

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support! If it's not too much to ask, please pray for the Paniagua Family and Sussel. I would greatly appreciate it :) Have a great week!

Elder Wynn

Photo: Elder Rugel and I with our new black suits with aguayo inside :)

Thank You!

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I last wrote, but I hope that this email finds you all well :) I have about 3 minutes to write this, so it'll be short ;) I would just love to explain a couple of things that happened these past few weeks.

First off: Thank you so much for your birthday wishes! You are all amazing and I thank you for taking the time to write me if you had the chance. I got to celebrate a little here in the appointments we had during that day. I got my face smashed into a couple of cakes, I got serenaded by mexican mariachis, and really just had an amazing day in the marvelous work of the Lord :)

Second off: I just have to mention the amazing baptism of the Chavez Suca Family. We had taught this family for quite some time and on the 29th of June got married and then they were baptized. What an amazing day! I would love to ask for your prayers for this amazing family so that they can stay strong in the process of adjusting to this new and amazingly blessed life :)

Third off: I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you! You are all so amazing! I love you all so much and cannot thank you enough for all of the love and support that each of you gives me. Thank you!

I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

My face after a birthday cake smash!

The baptism of the Chavez Suca Family

A little birthday celebration with our ward mission leader and the ward missionaries :)

Preparation and Faithfulness

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Can you BELIEVE how fast June is flying by?! I guess we'll just have to take advantage of every moment :) Well, in these past two weeks, things have been going great here in La Chimba. We continue working with Johnny, Lidia, and their family and their progress is something amazing to see :) We also have a couple of other investigators that are progressing really well, one of which I would like to mention today: Eddie.

As I mentioned a while back, Johnny presented us ALL of his family that lives in the area, including one of his brothers that has two amazing kids that are listening to us. One of these kids is named Eddie and normally accompanies us during the appointments that we have with other members of his family. One time, when Eddie wasn't there, we tried to extend a baptismal date to the whole family, and they politely declined and asked for more time. When we returned for the next appointment, Eddie was there and we taught the family about baptism because they had a few questions. When we had finished, we decided not to extend a formal invitation again because the whole family had said no the time before. However, before we said the closing prayer, Eddie, raised his hand and asked a question: Do I set my own baptismal date or do you guys do that because I want to be baptized. This sincere question from a 16 year old teenager filled us with joy. We look forward to keeping on the work with Eddie and helping him in the process of arriving to the waters of baptism.

Well, as a small thought today, I want to talk a little bit about some of the events of the book of Alma in The Book of Mormon. There are many chapters in this book that talk about the wars that the Nephites had against the Lamanites. I find a couple of things interesting as I read about their wars that we can really apply to our every day lives.

1- Preparation. Every time that the Lamanites attack the Nephites, they are shocked to find that the Nephites have continued preparing themselves for war. The first time, they find that the Nephites came with armor while they did not. The second time, they come with armor but find that the Nephites have fortified their cities in such a way that it is now MUCH more difficult to battle against them. In the same way, when we are constantly preparing ourselves with the full armor of God, Satan will come with temptations and find that there is nothing that he can do to beat us.

2- Faithfulness. Even though the Nephites had armor and strongly fortified cities, they didn't stop relying on the Lord. They knew that they had to prepare themselves as much as they could, but they also understood that without the help of the Lord, they were nothing. Moroni is a great example as he leads the armies in great preparation and faithfulness to victory over the Lamanites. In the same way, we should do our best to prepare but always rely on the Lord because only through His strength we will be able to do all things.

I invite you all to study the war chapters of Alma and think about the preparation and faithfulness of the Nephite warriors. Do your best to apply what you learn about their example to your own life and you will see a grand change.

I love you all so much! I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

A Calling From the Lord

Hey everyone!

How are you? I hope that you're doing great and enjoying this beginning month of June :) As for us here, everything is going great! This past week was one of work, joy, and more work! :) I am loving my time here in La Chimba. It is a great ward with AMAZING members that love and support us so, so much :) We could not be more grateful for them :)

This week, investigators wise, went really well! Johnny and his family are progressing a TON and even made it to the stake conference that was held a little further away than normal. Leidy is progressing well and making the step by step journey of returning to the Church after many years. Along with them, we were able to find a few new investigators and I would love to mention a couple them today.

Rolando and Loyda are a couple that we found this past week that is absolutely amazing. Rolando is a construction worker and lives in the same, unfinished building that he is building. He lives there with his wife, Loyda, and 3 kids. We found them while we were contacting in the street and set up an appointment. To our surprise, when we arrived for the appointed time on the set day, they were seated in their house waiting for us, something which is very uncommon. We were able to talk about life and the difficulties that they face and then turn the conversation to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong in the lesson and it was amazing to see the smiles on their faces as they felt the love of God and learned that there is once again a Prophet upon the face of the Earth. We have our second appointment in these coming days and we really look forward to seeing how things turn out :)

Well, as a short thought, I would love to talk about callings. A few weeks ago, we received a new ward mission leader, Daniel (a returned missionary that got back about 6 months ago), and I just cannot say enough good things about him. As we have worked with the baptisms of Maxima, Alexander, Douglas, and Rodrigo in these past weeks, Daniel has helped us so much so that we could make these baptisms a special experience for these amazing people. As I see the example of Daniel, one who really strives to magnigy his calling, I think about the callings that each and every one of us has. For example, would the baptisms have turned out alright without the help of Daniel? Probably. However, with his help, the baptisms were not just "alright" but spectacular. Do people know all that he did to help us organize, plan, and execute everything for these people? No, but this doesn't matter to Daniel. He serves so that things can be spectacular, even though people will never know the part that he played. Now, almost all of you, I'm assuming, have a church calling. How much effort do you put into that calling that the Lord gave to you through His chosen servants? I don't want this question to seem judgy, but I really want you to think about it. Every calling that we receive is one that comes directly from our Lord. We are expected to treat it as such and magnify whatever calling that we have so that everything may be something spectacular, outside of ordinary. I hope that each of you can reflect on your callings and your efforts so that you can make the necessary adjustments so that you can help your ward or branch of the Lord's Church wherever you may be.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support of me here! I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Christ's Victory

Hey everyone!

How are you? I hope that you all had an amazing week of school, work, sports, or whatever other activities you may be involved in. As for us here in Bolivia, everything is going great! As I think I mentioned last week (I really can't remember... ;) we had two baptisms this past Saturday! Máxima and Rodrigo were baptized and it was an amazing experience :) Your prayers for them would be greatly appreciated as they continue down the path of enduring to the end :) This week, speaking of investigators, I would love to talk about Leidy.

If I remember right, I talked about Leidy a while ago. To review a little, Leidy is a wonderful woman that basically grew up in the Church from about 12 years of age, but, due to fear, was never baptized. Now, about 20 years have passed and she is now investigating the Church once again. Her father, a faithful member of the Church and her biggest source of support, passed away about one month ago. Now, after lots of visits from family, she is once again left alone with her 3 year old son. This past week, we had the amazing opportunity of meeting with her for the first time since the passing of her father. We talked an comforted her and then shared the Plan of Salvation. Leidy cried with a smile on her face as she learned of the Spirit World, the Sealing Power, and her opportunity to live with her family once again. Things will continue to be a struggle for her with these coming weeks, months, and years, but with the comfort of the Gospel, deaths sting can be swallowed up in the victory of Christ's resurrection. Leidy accepted a baptismal invitation and we look forward to continued visits :) Please pray for her if you can :)

As a thought for you all, I will be brief. Because of Him, physical death has no permanent power over us. Because of Him, our obedience to His commandments can give us power over spiritual death as well. Because of Him, we have unlimited clean slates and blank pages, unlimited restarts and new beginnings. Follow His invitation to leave our nets, the things that bind us to this world, and follow Him. Study His words. Obey His will. There is peace, and light, and hope as we follow Him.

I love you all so much! Please pray for these people if you can :) I would greatly appreciate it :) Have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Pictures:

The Baptism of Rodrigo and Máxima

Another of Elder Salinas, Máxima, and I

Making pizza with some amazing investigators, Juan Carlos and his family :)

The Precious Fruit

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Have you had an amazing week?? I sure hope so! As for us here in Bolivia, everything has been unbelievable this week :) As I mentioned this last week, we had a couple of baptisms programmed for this past week and I am happy to report that they happened! I cannot express with words the joy that is felt when somebody chooses to enter the fold of God. I love being a missionary to help others in that decision :) It is the greatest joy I have really ever felt :) We will now keep working with Alexander and Douglas so that they can continue strong in the Church. They truly are amazing :)

Well, as for investigators, we are really happy with the people we are teaching. Today I would love to mention the Chavez Mamani Family. Well, as I have mentioned in the past, we are teaching a family with the last names of Chavez Suca (Johnny and Lidia), and they are progressing very well, having come to church the last 3 weeks in a row, and the last 2 weeks with their 4 kids as well. This last week, Johnny presented us to his brother, Juan Carlos, along with his family, the Chavez Mamani Family. It was an amazing experience to be accompanied by Johnny and Lidia while we taught The Restoration to his brother with the whole family there. They loved the message and have promised to begin reading The Book of Mormon. Juan Carlos was there with his wife and his two oldest kids. It was an amazing experience and we really look forward to seeing the progress of Juan Carlos and his amazing family :)

Well, after having this amazing experience this past week, I have begun to think about the amazing actions of Johnny. When I think about what he did, I begin to think about Lehi in The Book of Mormon when he had his vision of The Tree of Life. He shares that he partook of the fruit and then desired that his own family could partake of the same fruit. As we well know, the Tree of Life in this vision represents the love of God. Now, relating it back to Johnny's story, I have realized that Johnny has really "tasted" the love of God, and now, he wishes that his whole family can partake of this same love. Not just his wife and kids, but his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and everyone else. Really and truly, this Gospel allows us to feel the true love of God. I have felt this more than ever as I have had the opportunity to preach this Gospel of our Savior for these past 21 months. I testify that as we accept the Gospel and the One who preached it that His love fills our life to the brim with happiness and joy. I also promise that as we make an effort to share these amazing feelings with family, friends, and even strangers, this happiness and joy not only arrives to the brim, but overflows so that all may see the light that we have and come unto Christ. I invite each and every one of you to think of at least one friend or family member that is either not a member or a less-active member and share the Gospel with them. The promises I have mentioned are valid for all who take this challenge to lift and serve those who are around them.

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your support of me here in Bolivia! I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Pictures:

A great visit from a convert in Tupiza :)

Eating Pique Macho with Elder Bone and Hermano Martin in the pension

The baptism of Douglas and Alexander this past Saturday :)