Elder Paul Wynn- Bolivia, Cochabamba Mission: 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