Hey everybody!

Did you guys all have great weeks?! I hope so! My week here in Bolivia has been really nice, so I can't complain at all! Investigators wise, we had a great week, capped off with a baptism! The investigators I want to talk about are Liz, Veronica, and Brayan for this week. With Liz, she continues on without permisson to be baptized, but still continues strong in the church. She comes almost every Sunday to church and also participates in most of the Young Women's activities. This week, we helped her work on her Personal Progress, which was super fun! We hope that she continues like this so that she can one day be baptized :) With Veronica, a newish investigator (the daughter of an investigator we have had for a while who is also named Veronica), we taught a couple times this week and were able to extend the baptismal invitation, and she said yes :) She has come the past two Sundays to church and is very active in the Young Women activities, so we look forward to February 10th with her! Finally, Brayan. We have taught Brayan for this whole transfer (Elder Romero and I contacted him the last week of our transfer together) and I am happy to say that he was baptized this past Saturday. He is 18 years old and already has lots of friends in YSA (or JAS in Spanish :) so we are unbelievably excited for him and for his future here in the church. His baptism was this week, but his confirmation was not because we had a stake conference, but we look forward to next week in order to give him the Holy Ghost as well :) This Stake Conference was something really special, and I would love to focus my thought it. This conference was really special because it was presided by an Area Seventy, named Mathias Held, and there were many awesome messages. Not only did I get to play the piano (With my great friend Elder Estes. I played the right hand and he played the left hand. Yes, you should be jealous ;) for the stake choir number and the normal hymns, but I also got to hear messages from Elder Held, my mission president (Presiente Montoya), and the Cochabamba temple president, and they were all spectacular. Even with all these amazing messages, the thought that was the coolest to me came from the First Counselor in the Stake Presidency, and I would like to share it with you here. Talking of soccer, he asked who the greatest players right now were. After Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and a few others were mentioned, he followed by asking who the best players of all time were. People threw around legendary names such as Maradona and Pele. He then followed by asking why, if these legends were so great, they didn't have contracts to play anymore. People chimed," Because they're not as good as they once were." Now, relating this back to the Gospel, what is it that truly matters, who we once were, or who we are now? Many times we focus on the past, thinking of who we have been, but what we should really focus on is who we are now. That is what is really important to our Heavenly Father. So, I challenge all of you to evaluate for yourself if you are truly trying to be your best self and if you are trying to live your greatest moment now or just trying to find joy living your greatest moment of the past. Look to always be improving so that your best moments are ahead of you, not behind you. I love you guys so much and thank you as always for your amazing support! You are amazing! If you have any questions about my week, don't be afraid to ask! Thank you and I hope you all have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

P.S. Yes, I saved my transfer info for the end just to mess with you guys ;) It is rather simple: I am staying here and Elder Albarán is still my companion! I am super excited  to just continue on as normal and cannot wait to keep giving Avaroa II my all! Love you all!

The package!!!

My pensionista, Hermana Fanny :)

The amazing Brayan! :)

Love you!

Love,

Elder Wynn

The Joy of Mission Service

Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? How did this last week go for you? I hope you all are doing great and that you continue to enjoy the year 2018! This past week was, not going to lie, very normal, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't spectacular :) We knocked quite a few doors, met with lots of our investigators, and had some good fun along the way, so I'm not complaining at all :) With our investigators/converts, we were focusing on Brayan, the Limón Family, and Nayeli, just to name a few. Brayan is a really good investigator that we have had for just over a month now, and yesterday, he went to church for the third time, completing the requirement of church attendance and looks forward to being baptized this week. Brayan is amazing and we have absolutely LOVED teaching him :) High hopes for this Saturday for Brayan. With the Limón Family, they had their baptismal date set for this Saturday as well, but due to a couple of issues that surfaced this past week, we will have to extend their baptismal date. We're not worried because they are just amazing, but we are a little sad that the baptism was pushed back. We're going to keep working with them and keep hoping for the baptism to take place :) Finally, Nayeli. I just can't say enough about Nayeli. Right now, she is reading the Book of Mormon (almost through Mosiah), going to every ward activity (including New Beginnings and a Ward Camp activity that happened this week), and, this past Sunday, bore her testimony in church for the first time, and I want to talk about that for just a minute for today's thought. Yesterday, they invited a couple of the youth that went to the camp to share their testimonies as part of Sacrament meeting, and Nayeli was one that they chose. To see an investigator/convert that I literally saw from the first contact all the way through baptism and continued attendance bear their testimony is something that I really can't put into words. Hearing her say (in Spanish of course ;) that she knows the church is true and that the church has already been such an amazing change in her life brought me so much joy. I have to admit, I almost cried. No judging ;) I, as a missionary , have this amazing opportunity to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lives of those here in Bolivia, and as such, I get the amazing opportunity to see the change that I know this Gospel can bring. Yes, the mission brings lots of hardship and lots of struggles, but it is SO WORTH IT when you see someone you have taught and loved change with entrance of the truth. Now, for all of you, I have an invitation. Many of you are at an age where a mission is either possible or soon will be. Now, if you even have a sliver of a thought of serving a mission, I would invite you to consider it a little bit more. For those of you who want to serve: Great! You'll love it! Don't lose that desire. For those of you who are not sure: Pray about it and ask with all the sincerity you can muster if serving a mission is what is right for you. For those of you who don't feel interested in serving a mission right now: Become interested! Think about it and follow the same advice as the people that are not sure. The mission brings so much joy and so much happiness and I am inviting/challenging you to consider serving now. I get to taste of this joy now, and I know that all of you can feel it too, now go and ask your Father in Heaven if it is what you should do. I love you all and I want to thank you for your continued support and love! This is the last week of this transfer, and almost everyone is telling me that I will be leaving Avaroa. I sure hope not, but it is a strong possibility, but, like me, you'll have to wait until next week to find out! I love you all and thank you again for all that you do for me! As always, if you have any questions about my doings here, don't be afraid to ask! I hope you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Entering the Water

Hello everyone!

How have you been? Another week has just flown right by and it was honestly spectacular! With our area, progress is coming along really well! We are starting to get more and more help from the members as we continue to meet with them and build friendships, and the ward council will be starting up a wardly Family Home Evening according to our suggestion. We hope to continue working with them to get more references and we hope to use that Ward Family Home Evening to bring investigators so they can get to know other members. Specifically, the investigators that we have been working really hard with this week were Bryan, the Limón Family, and Rubén. Bryan, though his baptismal date fell through because he didn't attend church this week, is amazing and super receptive to the lessons. He wants to be baptized and already loves coming to ward activities. We don't have any worries about him :) With the Limón Family, is was really special! They accepted a baptismal date! We look forward to the planned date of January 27th and they continue to progress super well! We have been blessed with many investigators during this time in Avaroa, but the most important this week was Rubén, who, after quite a bit of time taking the lessons, was baptized this week. Not only was this an amazing experience for him, but also for me as I had the unbelievable opportunity to enter the font with him and perform the baptism. This is the first time in my mission that I have had this opportunity and I just loved it so much :) Rubén is amazing and we could not be more excited for him :) This week, I will focus my thought on this amazing experience that took place. I cannot describe the amazing feeling of entering the water and baptizing an investigator. The powerful spirit, the love of this person that we have taught, and the knowledge that we are personally opening the gate for someone to receive their salvation if they choose to continue. The scriptures tell us that we will receive great joy for bringing just one soul unto God, and right now I am definitely feeling at least a part of this joy. Now, my question for you: What are you doing each week, each day, each hour to bring souls unto God? I am in no way asking this question as if condemning you for not baptizing someone this week, merely trying to get you to think about your daily interactions. Usually, it is less complicated than teaching a lesson or bringing someone to church. How often do we smile at those we come in contact with? How often do we share our beliefs with those who seem interested? How often do we lend a helping hand to those in need? How often do we share our testimony or defend our faith when talking religion with others? How often do we let our light so shine before men? Because believe me, we have a light like nothing else. This week, I would like to invite you all to think about the things that you are doing every day to bring souls unto God. If you are up for the challenge, I would like to invite you to think of one person specifically right now that you could help along this week on the path to God. Again, it doesn't have to be so far as teaching a lesson, but I want to invite you all to share something with someone, and I can promise you that your heart will be full and your joy will be great :) I love all you guys and I thank you so much for your love and support here in Bolivia! I cannot express how much it means to me to know that I have so many amazing people sending their support to me here. If you have any questions for me, don't be afraid to ask! You are amazing and I hope that you all have fantastic weeks!

Elder Wynn

The Limón Family :) They attended Rubén's baptism and are doing amazing!

Rubén's baptism :)

Watching our Relif Society President (Maribel Muriel) hand make some baskets to sell! Super cool!

Love you so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

The Love of Thomas S. Monson

Hey everyone!

How have all of your weeks gone? I hope you are all enjoying the new year! Be honest, how many of you have accidentally written 2017 instead of 2018 already? ;) Well, this week for me has been rather normal. Just the normal mission work, the normal day to day work of the Lord, but in saying that, it's really not all that normal! It's so amazing! In this past week, we have worked really hard with our investigators, but, to be brief, our main focus was Rubén. Rubén is phenomenal and we have been teaching him for some time. His girlfriend is a member and because of that he began investigating the church. Now, after several weeks, he should be baptized this Saturday! He is awesome and we can't wait to see hime be baptized :) Other than Rubén, we've been working with lots of the same people (Like Liz, Daniel, the Limón Family, and Nayeli) and they continue to progress and do well, so we couldn't be happier. With my companion, we continue to do well! He is absolutely spectacular! I am learning so much and I feel like I am progressing especially well with him to teach me, so all is well there. Personally, I just love the mission :) I love the work, the people, the missionaries, just everything :) For my thought, I would just like to pay a small tribute to our beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Early one morning this week, I was doing my personal study when one of the members that lives in our house knocked on our door. We answered to receive the news that our Prophet had passes away. Though I cannot say I was completely shocked, I was definitely taken aback by the news. I love Thomas S. Monson. He was an amazing man, and even more importantly, an amazing servant of the Lord. For my thought, I just want to share a quote that, for me, sums up the ministry of our beloved Prophet. It goes: "Your Father in Heaven loves you. Each of you. That love never changes." Thomas S. Monson always spoke of love; the love God has for us and the love that we should have for those around us. I hope that you will always, always remember that in any moment, in any circumstance, that there is always someone who loves you. You will ALWAYS have, at the very least, God and Jesus Christ who love you and will help you through anything you may be going through. If anyone is an example of Christ-like love, it would have to be Thomas S. Monson. I hope you will all take a look at his example to remember to love a little more to those around you, to be the person to extend the hand when someone is down. Our beloved Prophet did that always, and more than once for me with his inspired messages and stories. Remember: 1- You will always have God and Jesus Christ to help you through any challenges, and 2- Love those around you and be that helping hand. Presdent Monson, I love you and I miss you :) I want you all to know that I love all of you! Thank you so much for your love and support for me while I am here in Bolivia. It means more to me than you'll ever know :) As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Love you all and I hope you have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

The Love of the Holidays

Hey Everyone!

Hopefully you all aren't TOO tired from your New Year's fun! I wish you all a HUGE Happy New Year!! I can't believe that we are already in 2018!! And the weirdest thing for me is to know that I will be in a foreign country for ALL of this year!! How crazy is that?! Well, this past week has been something special :) I have to start with last Monday with the amazing opportunity to talk with my family. I don't know how many of you have been able to Skype with a missionary (or Skype as a missionary), but it is such an amazing experience. I want all of you to know right now, if you didn't already, that I love my family! They are the best and I want you all to know it and be jealous! After Christmas passed this week, it was back to work as usual. We worked every day, did our best to enjoy every moment, and are doing SO good! We found some awesome new investigators, set some new baptismal dates, and, as the crowning moment, had a baptism. If you guys remember Nayeli (It is actually Majherly, but I've always said it as Nayeli, so I'm just going to go for it ;), she got baptized this Saturday! She is REALLY amazing, I have loved teaching her, and I have no doubt in my mind that she will continue strong in the Church. She is really special to me because I got to see every part of the work with her: The contact, every lesson, and then the baptism. Elder Albarán did the baptism and I did the confirmation, so we are super happy and excited for her :) Other than that, just work, work, WORK! But I won't go into super details on that to bore you all, just know that it was a really good week :) My thought that I wish to share centers on this wonderful holiday season that we are leaving right now. Christmas is gone and the New Year is locked in, but I hope that you all still have that holiday spirit in your hearts because I still do :) I want to talk about the amazing love and kindness that we feel during this season with the example of the amazing member that we live with, Mama Feli. For new year's night, since we didn't have anything really planned, I decided to get a head start on my laundry (because hand washing takes quite a long time). As I began, Mama Feli walked past and offered her help. I politely declined her offer and continued washing my clothes. She didn't accept my answer. 5 minutes later, she was by my side with her orange rubber gloves scrubbing away as well as teaching me the "proper" way to do it. We washed everything that I had MUCH faster than I could have done alone and even passed the New Year side by side washing my white shirts and chatting away. We finished, and to top off an amazing service, invited me for Té de Sanauria y pan (Carrot tea and bread. Don't judge, it's delicious. We ate, talked, and just enjoyed an amazing time together. This was an AMAZING act of service for me, and it is an amazing example of Holiday love. However, the thing that is even more amazing is that Mama Feli is always doing this sort of thing. Holidays or not, she is always looking to serve us. I want to use her example of Christ-like, holiday love as an example for all of you. This season, we have undoubtably seen much more kindeness, much more service, and much more love, but my question is: Why does it have to stop? I hope that you will all seek to follow the example of this amazing member and look to serve with holiday-like love for the whole year, not just the holiday season. I am looking to improve on that as well and promise you that if you do your best to preserve these feelings of love and service through the whole year, we can have Christmas, and, more importantly, Christ, in our hearts at all times. I love you all and hope that your holiday season has be amazing! Keep being the amazing people that you are and all will be great! If you have any questions about my doings here, don't hesitate to ask me! Love you guys!

Elder Wynn

Me with my Laundry from last night

Elder Albarán and me with Elder Estes dressed as Santa ;)

Nayeli, her mom, Elder Romero, Elder Albarán, and I at the baptism this Saturday