Hey everyone!

It's July 9th! How crazy is that?? Well, I hope that all of you had an amazing week and that this next week is even better than the last :) This past week has been a great one for me, but before I talk about my week, I want to give a HUGE shoutout to my big brother Keaton who got married this past Friday! Keaton and Tiana, I love you both so much and wish you the best in all that you do! :) Well, now that I've let myself be slightly trunky for a second, I'll talk about my week ;) Investigators wise, I would like to talk about Evelyn, Diego, and Marcela. Evelyn is an investigator that we have had for a while, but until recently, she wasn't showing much interest in progressing. However, in these past couple weeks, she has made some really important steps. She is in chapter 6 of 1 Nephi and accepted a baptismal invitation for the beginning of August. On top of that, she came to Church for the first time yesterday and even brought two of her cousins with her. She is doing amazing things and we are really happy with the progress that she is choosing to make :) With Diego, some of you may remember him, we are very happy. We have been working with Diego here since I was with Elder Ordoñez and I am happy to say that he has his baptism planned for this following Saturday. Diego is the Branch President's grandson and we have always been impressed with his knowledge of the Church. We can never truly say we have a baptism until it happens, but we are truly happy with Diego and look forward to this special week with him :) Finally Marcela :) Just like with Diego, I am happy to say that she has her baptism planned for this following week. She wants to be baptized on her mother's birthday, so the plan is for this Wednesday, and we couldn't be more excited for her :) Well, if it's not too much to ask, I would love to ask for your prayers this week for these three investigators. They are amazing and could use all of the support that they can get :) Thank you so much and I love all of you guys :)

Well, this week for a thought, I would like to steal something from my mission president who had a conference in my branch yesterday. He talked about Matthew 5 and the things that Jesus taught to the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. He talked of the Pharisees (I think I spelled that right... there's no spell check here and the scriptures I have are in Spanish... ;) and their strictness to a group of rules. They treated the rules that Moses had given them as rules, nothing more. It didn't matter if they were jerks to other people, the rule only said you couldn't kill them. They lived according to the rules very well, but they didn't truly understand the purpose behind the rules. Jesus explains very well in Matthew 5 that we need not only restrain ourselves from killing others, but also not to hate anyone. He explains that we should never seek revenge, but that if somebody does us wrong, that we forgive them. The rules that the Pharisees were living were very, very good, but their purpose was a little bit deeper. These rules were supposed to work for their perfection, making them more and more like their Heavenly Father, but the way that they were living the rules made them hard, mean, and very un-Christlike, which is the opposite of their intention. So, my invitation for you is to think of the way that you are living the rules of the gospel. Are you living them to become a better, more loving, Christlike person, or are you living them to feel better than others? Why do you do the things you do? Think about these questions and strive for improvement, because that is truly all that we can do. Jesus invited us to be PERFECT, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect, but that is not an overnight process. Think of these things and do your best so that you can one day be the truly amazing Saints that Jesus has invited you to be. It will never be easy, but it has always been possible :)

Well, I love you guys so much and I hope that you all have amazing weeks! This next Sunday is transfers and you will know the next time I write you if I am staying in Tupiza or going somewhere else. I have loved my time here and hope it doesn't come to an end, but if it does, I hope to follow a favorite quote of my mother: Come what may and love it! I promise to do that and keep working here! Love you all!

Elder Wynn

We celebrated my companion's birthday this past week so I thought that you all would enjoy a little insight into how that went down! Here's his cake, my companion after the smash, and then us two together after the smash. I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn