How are all of you doing? Well, finally, after all this time, I have actually made it to my mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia! How crazy is that!? Well, I don't exactly know where to start after almost two weeks of craziness, but here goes! So, I finished up my time in the MTC and said goodbye to my amazing teachers (Shoutout to Hermana Parks, Hermano Cahoon, and Hermano Jake! You are all amazing!) before heading out Monday morning (a week ago) at 3:30 AM. Then, I flew to Phoenix (Arizona), then Miami (Florida) with a 6 hour layover there, then flew over night to La Paz (Bolivia), then Santa Cruz (Bolivia) where we went through customs, before waiting another 6 hours to fly here! Cochabamba at last! So, after getting to Cochabamba around 3 PMon Tuesday, we went to the Mission President's house to take care of some quick business, we got pictures taken for our Bolivian ID cards, and then headed to the house of the Assistants to the President (APs) to sleep. The next day we went to a local chapel before getting briefed on the mission rules and receiving our first companions! My trainer's name is Elder Garcia and he is from (get excited Dad) Argentina! He speaks WAY fast and I can barely understand what he says, but he is awesome and I have enjoyed my time with him thus far. After receiving my trainer we took a taxi to our area, got settled, and then headed right out to contact and start working. Basically, besides general conference, this has been a lot of what we've been doing, going out contacting, meeting members, eating crazy good food, and having a really good time. We have taught a couple lessons with investigators that already had a few lessons before I got here, and we've also had the awesome opportunity to extend a baptismal invitation! She said yes! All in all, I'm loving Bolivia and all of its craziness, my companion is great, Conference was amazing, and life is good! If you have any questions about anything that I'm doing here, don't be afraid to send an email and I'll do my best to respond as soon as I can. The message that I want to share with you all this week is about patience. Here in Bolivia, I honestly know nothing. Zilch. Nada. I can barely communicate in Spanish, the culture is crazy different, and I can't understand much of what others say. Yes, this is incredibly frustrating, but it is coming, MUCH slower than I would like, but it is coming. I want to counsel all of you in whatever you're doing to have patience, especially with yourself. Whatever you are striving for will come, maybe not the way you would like, or at the speed you anticipated, but it will come if you keep working at it. I promise. Like a lot of the General authorities said in conference, especially President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland, it is not worth it to beat up on yourself. Have patience with yourself, keep working, and I promise it will come. I just want to let all of you know that I'm sending you my love from South America! You are all amazing examples to me in my life and I hope that all is going well with you. Until next week, I say farewell. Wish me luck!
Elder Wynn
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