Living in the Moment

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? I hope you all were able to enjoy this past week! As for me, I have to say that it was a normal week for a missionary. We worked, searched for new investigators, visited members, and all in all had limited success finding new people, but the investigators that we have are progressing nicely. I would like to focus on Emerson, Martha Choque, and Liz. Well, Emerson is a 15 year old investigator that we recieved as a reference from on of his friends. He is a really amazing person and we love the opportunity to teach him. He has a baptismal date for the 10th of March, so we hope that things will continue to go well with him :) Martha Choque is somebody really special for us. She is a Cholita (meaning she dresses in the traditional Bolivian style) and cannot read, but is an absolutely wonderful person. Yesterday, she attended church for the third time and we were unbelievably happy for her :) We hope to extend a baptismal invitation this week with her and we look forward to continuing to work with and teach her :) Finally, Liz, who I have mentioned quite a few times, but not for some time. She is 15 years old and has been taught by the missionaries for quite a long time. She REALLY wants to be baptized, but doesn't have parental permission. We have continued visiting with her and are unbelievably impressed with her. Liz is attending seminary at 6 AM every day, she is attending church every Sunday, and is just a radiating example of joy everywhere she goes. It is an absolute blessing to work with her here, and though I am quite saddened by the fact that she cannot be baptized just yet, I have hope for the future and know that it will happen, even if she has to wait until she's 18. Well, I don't really have much to explain in regards to this week, and I don't want to bore you with the day in, day out work, so I'm going to jump into my thought. So, this week it has been brought up to me MANY times that transfers are only two weeks away. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but EVERYONE is convinced that I will be leaving Avaroa this transfer. As everyone has been telling me this, I have caught myself looking forward to transfers curiously, wondering what is going to happen. However, in doing this, I also find myself missing out a little bit on the beautiful things that are happening EVERY DAY here in Avaroa. So, I have made the goal to forget about transfers and just keep my mind here in the moment of now. I feel like this is not just something that affects missionaries, but something that applies to all of us. Maybe we are looking forward to the day when college is over and we're working in our career. Maybe we're looking forward to the day when our next vacation will come. Whatever the case, I would encourage you to think a little bit more about the now. There are beautiful, amazing things that happen every day, but we might miss them if our mind is not in the moment. I have no idea what will happen these next transfers, but whatever happens, I look forward to enjoying these next two weeks the best that I can, and I encourage you all to do the same, whatever your case may be. Live in the moment, and enjoy it like there is nothing more to come :) Well, I love all you guys and thank you for your support! If you ever have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! You are all amazing and I hope that you have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

Enjoying Salteñas with Elder Albarán! Probably my favorite Bolivian food!

Chilling in the cabin of an AMAZING member with other missionaries! Thank you Hermano Denis!

What the inside of a Salteña looks like. It's basically like eating a delicious soup inside of an amazing dough right in the comfort of your hand!!

I love you so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Hitting Milestones

Hey everyone!

How are you doing? Did your Valentine's Day include that special someone?? Or was it spent eating icecream in the darkness of your basement while watching a movie?? Alone?? ;) Well, however your week went, I wish you a happy Monday and hope that this week will be even better! :) As for me, this week was full of really cool experiences, but first, the investigators :) This week, let's talk about Verito (or Veronica ;), Emerson, and the Limón Family. Verito got baptized this week! It was an amazing experience and it has been such a blessing to be able to teach her. We have high hopes for her to continue active in the church :) With Emerson (whom I doubt I have mentioned before... but I'm not sure... ;), he is an amazing teenager that we have taught for about 2 weeks now. He went to church for the second time yesterday and accepted a baptismal date for March 3rd, so we're super pumped for him! With the Limón Family, they are doing great! We were able to meet with the whole family last night and extend a new baptismal date invitation. They accepted the date of March 10th and we are confident that they will be able to meet that goal. I am in LOVE with the Limón Family and it has been super hard to watch them through their struggles they have experienced, but things are turning for the better for them and we couldn't be happier to be able to teach them :) With all of our investigators, if you could keep them in your prayers, that would be greatly appreciated :) Now, the cool experiences. First off, we were not able to leave our house this week Monday night and all of Tuesday because of Carnaval. However, I did get to see a little bit of it Tuesday in the afternoon and I just have to comment on how cool it was! It was amazing to see a little bit of a culture that I have never experienced. It was really cool :) Also, I had the opportunity to confirm Verito a member of the church and give her the Holy Ghost. There are not words to describe how amazing that is, but just know that it is unbelievable :) One more, though there were countless cool experiences, and this one was a mission milestone, and I would like to focus my thought on this milestone. Maybe some of you already know, but every 16th of every month is the anniversary of me entering the mission. This week, I had my 6th of these anniversaries, completing 6 months in my mission. I am just blown away by how fast this is already going! I have already learned so much and I cannot believe that I only get to be here for 18 more months. You better believe I am going to enjoy them :) I just wanted to take advantage of this great opportunity to bear my testimony with you guys. I want you all to know that I know that this Church, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días, is the one and only true church upon the face of the earth. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head and directs the church now through our beloved Prophet, Russell M. Nelson. I know that the church was restored through a true Prophet, Joseph Smith, and I know that the book that was brought to light through him, The Book of Mormon, is the word of God and a true book of scripture. I love this Gospel and I love the opportunity to go out and preach it every day, so that I can help others to come unto Christ and show them the path that leads to everlasting happiness. I am so unbelievably blessed to be able to be here in Bolivia and I cannot wait to be here for 18 more months. I hope that you all know that I know that this is true, that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and that through Him, I can return back to the presence of my Heavenly Father. All these things I seal in writing in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I love you guys so much and I can't wait to see what these next 18 months will hold because the first 6 have already been lifechanging. If you ever have any questions about what I am doing here in Bolivia, don't be afraid to ask! Love you guys and I hope that you all have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

It truly was wonderful :) I hope you keep having fun with the Bishops!! I have not had the opportunity to use the scrubber-bag-thing, but I definitely will!! This will also serve as my pictures email because I'm running out of time!

Verito's baptism

Drinking Mate with Elder Albarán inside of a pineapple

An AMAZING photo that Elder Albarán took!!!

I love you so much and hope that you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Tiquipaya

Hey everybody!

How have you all been? Can you believe it's already February 12th?! How fast the time seems to be flying! Well, this week was really, really, cool with many different experiences, but first off, the investigators. I will focus on Veronica, the Limón Family, and Martha Choque. With Veronica, though we were hoping for her baptism this week, he Grandmother fell very ill in La Paz, so she had to travel over the weekend. We send our love to her and look forward without worries to her baptism this following week. With the Limón Family, we actually hadn't been able to run into the whole family together for quite some time because Rosy Limón was traveling (the mom of the family), but we were able to meet with them all this week and hope to be able to talk about baptism with them again during the following week. They're honestly amazing and I have loved the opportunity to teach and spend time with them. With Martha Choque, she sadly didn't come to church this Sunday, so we still have to wait a couple weeks before she can be baptized, but she is SUPER excited to be baptized, so we are not worried a bit :) There are a couple of other really good investigators that we're working with at the moment, but these are really the principal investigators for the time being. Now, the awesome experiences ;) First off, we were able to go to the Temple for the second time in my mission. I can't say enough about how amazing it was to enter the Temple again and feel the wonderful spirit of the House of God :) The second experience was something that I will never forget, and I would love to focus my thought on it. As a few of you may know, there has been LOTS of rain here in Bolivia. I mean, LOTS. Because of this, there has been some minor flooding all throughout the past few weeks. However, this past week, a city called Tiquipaya was devastatingly flooded, the result of a river overflowing, filled almost 3 stories higher than its normal volume. With the terrible flooding that has happened, many people have flooded to Tiquipaya to help out. This past Friday, we received the news that our stake, Quillacollo, would be going and that President Montoya gave the green light for the missionaries to go as well. So, a few days ago, I had the opportunity to serve in the flooded area. Hearing all about it from investigators, members, and other people made it seem terrible, but seeing it with my own eyes was a whole different story. Some houses leveled, others filled with mud, cars scattered in all directions by the water that blasted them aside, etc. It was devastating. While working in a home, trying to clear out some of the mud, I began a conversation with a man working alongside me and quickly learned that he was the owner of the house we were working in. It broke my heart to hear him say "This used to be my home." I will never forget the opportunity that it was to serve in Tiquipaya. Now, for all of you, I invite you to think about these events. With all the technology and equipment we have as the human race, we need to remember who is really in charge and appreciate the things we have, because we never know how long we will really have them. These poor people have lost everything. Absolutely everything. We are so blessed, even if we don't have every luxury that this life has to offer, we are SO blessed. This week, I invite you to look at the life you live and find a way to be a little more grateful for it. Whether it be your home, your family, your many things you have that make your life that much easier, there is always more room for thankfulness. I love you all and hope that you have amazing weeks! If you ever have questions about what in the world I'm doing here in Bolivia, don't be afraid to ask me about it! Until next week, ¡Kaya kama! (#TryingToLearnQuechua ;)

Elder Wynn

Me after the service in Tiquipaya

Me and mi Compañero at the Cochabamba Temple

Enjoying the beautiful, Bolivian landscape. I love Bolivia :)

I love you so, so much and hope you enjoy the photos!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Friendship Power

Hey Everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope you are all doing AMAZING and that you all have had awesome weeks! As for me, this week was very normal, but just because something is normal doesn't mean that it wasn't SPECTACULAR! The past few weeks, we have dedicated ourselves to build more friendships with members (first off because they are amazing people, and second off so they can help us in the mission work :) and this week we really saw the fruit of our labors. The ward family home evening that we started had an all time high of 40 people, and we received a couple really good references from members, so we cannot complain at all. I am loving working with the members here in Avaroa and I hope that things continue to go well :) As for our investigators, I will focus on Brayan, Martha Choque, and Veronica. With Brayan, as you know, he was baptized a week ago, but we had the wonderful opportunity to do his confirmation yesterday in church. I had the opportunity to perform the ordinance (which is ALWAYS a wonderful experience :) and we are just really happy for Brayan :) Now, Martha Choque. Martha is an amazing investigator that we have had for quite a while and she has accepted a baptismal date for not this Saturday, but the next. She is what is called a Cholita here, which is a term that refers to the traditional people of Bolivia. She is not able to read, so we have been very creative with teaching her the missionary lessons (using all the pictures we can find) and we teach her a little bit more every lesson about letters and how to read. We are in LOVE with Martha and hope that she continues to progress :) With Veronica, she is the daughter of a long time investigator (also named Veronica. It's quite confusing when we're teaching them both at the same time ;) and is scheduled to be baptized this Saturday! We have loved teaching her and look forward with hope and excitement to this Saturday :) One of the amazing things that we have seen with Veronica is the way that she has been fellowshipped in the church. Working with Noemi (the Young Women's President), we have gotten her to many activities and she is already really close friends with a lot of the young women in the ward. The coolest thing to see is who her new best friend is. She lives right across the street and is named Nayeli (technically Majherly ;), our recent convert that we just baptized. Nayeli has continued unbelievably strong in the church and has been a principal force in the conversion of Veronica. Whenever we walk down the street of those two (Called the Rieles), we almost definitely will see those two walking, talking, and laughing together, and that makes me unbelievably happy :) Now, my thought for you guys: I don't think we realize how powerful a good friend can be in helping us get/stay on the right path. It doesn't matter if you have your whole life in the church or less than a month (like Nayeli), you can be a force for good in the lives of those around you. My challenge for you this week is to find somebody in school, in your family, or in your ward that is either less-active or not a member and try your best to build a good friendship with them. I promise that you will be blessed spiritually and you will be an "instrument in God's hands" to the bringing back of one of the lost sheep into the fold. I have had the wonderful opportunity to see this process with Nayeli and Veronica, and I know that you all can do the same :) Well, I love you all and I thank you so much for your support while I am here in Bolivia. If you ever have any questions about what I am doing here in Bolivia, don't be afraid to ask! You guys are the best and I hope that you all have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

Brayan's Baptism!

Nayeli's younger sister Nicole and I :)

Playing around with an AWESOME mask an investigator owns! :)

Love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn