New Year's and Change

Hey everyone!

How are you? How was your Christmas? Are you ready for New Year's?? I hope the answers to these questions are, in order: GREAT! AMAZING! and OF COURSE!! As for us here in Sucre, it has been an interesting week. Between house moves, trips to the airport, and lots of document filling, our week wasn't one too full of normal missionary work, but the work that we could do went really well. 

Carla continues progressing and we are working with her so that she can get married and then baptized with all her family. A great investigator, named Maria Luz, came to Church yesterday for the second time and we are really excited to see her continue progressing. Edson, an investigator that I have mentioned a couple of times, is in legal problems, but shares a powerful testimony and looks forward to the time where he is off of house arrest to begin going to church and get baptized. Several other amazing people are progressing as well, but I don't have enough time to talk about them all :) I love these people and look forward to hearing about them from Cochabamba as I have been transferred. One cannot accurately describe the feelings that come as one is taken from one area and sent to another. My heart aches for the people that I have to leave behind, but I know that they are in the Hands of God and that all will be well. To put these feelings a little better, I would like to focus a small thought on the upcoming new year and change.

With the new year, there are many things to look forward to. Whether it's the new goals that you've set or the daunting challenge of writing "2019" instead of "2018", this will be an amazing year no matter what. However, I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to make necessary changes. Every single one of us lacks something. I invite you to think about what you need, especially spiritually, in this coming year. As for me here in Bolivia, I didn't know that I needed to go to the very center of the large city of Cochabamba, but I know that there are many things that I have to learn there. Take advantage of this great excuse to make new goals. Decide to make a change this new year so that you can become the better you that God knows you can become.

I love you all so much! I hope that you have an amazing new year and an even more amazing week afterwards! Talk to you next week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

A pic after a great Christmas celebration :)

Maria Luz and I with an amazing hand-woven aguayo

Saying goodbye to Carla and her amazing family

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hey everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope that your lives are full of Christmas joy as we are literally hours away from the amazing day that we all love :) I invite you all to remember the true meaning of Christmas as you go through the course of tomorrow :)
Here in Bolivia, life is amazing :) Although I am slightly missing the snow of a Utah Christmas (FYI it's summer here), I love the amazing spirit that is here in Bolivia. The people here are very religious and almost everyone believes in Christ, so it is amazing to see how these amazing people celebrate this very merry holiday :)

As always, I would love to mention some people that we are teaching. I would like to once again mention Carla Leyton and her amazing family :) Carla is someone that has been familiar with the church for a LONG time, given that her spouse is a less-active member. Recently, Carla has taken our invitation to read the Book of Mormon, and I just want to take a moment to testify of the power of this book with her experiences. Carla is reading every day and is almost at the end of 2 Nephi. She comments that her family is more united, everyone is happier, and just a special feeling is accompanying them in their home. I promise that if each of you reads the Book of Mormon every day, these same blessings will be yours :)

Well, given that tomorrow is Christmas, I just have a couple words to share:

This Christmas, remember our Savior. Remember His love for you. Remember all that you have because of Him. Try to live more like Him. Forgive more. Love more. Be with your family if possible. If not possible, be sure to call them and express your love. Enjoy this season. Enjoy your CHRISTmas. Take this spirit with you all year round and you will find joy :)

I love you all so much! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

Our Christmas Lunch as a zone this afternoon :)

The Sucre Zone :)

My companion and I in our zone talent show ;)

Give the Best Gift

Hey everyone!

How are you? Christmas is just around the corner! Isn't it amazing?? I hope that you continue enjoying the amazing spirit of this season and that you never forget who is really at the center of CHRISTmas :)

Well, our week here in Sucre went really well! We were able to get in a lot of good work along with an amazing Christmas conference with President Montoya! However, everything in order ;) First off, I would like to mention a couple amazing people that we are visiting :) One is named Dubeiza and the other is named Nataly. Dubeiza is a woman that we met this past week and it was really cool being able to teach her. We taught the Restoration and explained about the Book of Mormon. I just remember that we finished teaching and thanked her for her time. She responded with a very sincere "thank you" for the new truths that we had taught her. We could see that she was searching for the truth and it was an amazing opportunity to be able to offer it to her :) Nataly is a great teenager that we have already met with a couple of times. She has accepted very willingly the idea of a Prophet in these the latter days and the invitation to read the Book of Mormon. It is amazing to see the power of this book when one truly decides to study it. We see her faith grow and her love for the Savior as well :) Truly amazing :)

Well, as I mentioned before, we had the opportunity to go to a Christmas conference in this past week, and it truly was amazing. Special musical numbers, an amazing spirit, and a couple of great messages from our mission president. As a quick thought, I would love to share what President Montoya shared with us. Much to our surprise, he decided to talk about Pride as a Christmas theme. He broke down all of the causes and indicators of pride, using the scriptures and words of the Prophets, and it was truly amazing. However, more than anything, I would like to stress his final point with all of you. He said that the most important part of Christmas is personal change. In this time of year, we remember more than any other time the life of the only perfect person that has walked this Earth. When we look to the life of Jesus Christ as an example, we should truly apply what He taught and try to become more like Him. My invitation as we get closer and closer to Christmas day, a day celebrated mostly for its material presents, is that we all try to give ourselves a more important gift, one of a spiritual nature, one of personal change that brings us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I promise that as you make an effort to become more like our greatest example, you will see the blessings, not only in this season, but also in the years to come :)

I love you all so much! I hope that you have an amazing week! Merry Christmas!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

The Sucre Zone at the Christmas Conference

Two of my favorite Elders at the Christmas conference :)

The overcast, Sucre sky of this morning :)

A Helping Hand

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Is your Christmas tree up?? Ornaments?? Stockings?? I hope so! I hope that you are all enjoying the amazing spirit of this season and that you are planning on taking it with you all throughout another amazing year to come! As for us here in Sucre, life is great :) I would love to mention an amazing family this week: The Leytons. The family is composed of 5 amazing people: Carla (the mother, not a member), Marco (the father, a less-active member that was baptized over 30 years ago), Marco (the oldest son), Damaritz (the only daughter), and Dyler (the youngest child). We have been visiting with this family for some time and recently have focussed on the Book of Mormon with them. We extended the challenge to begin reading this amazing book and set individual goals with them about daily reading. They took the challenge to heart. Carla is now a third of the way into 2 Nephi and the kids are making good progress in 1 Nephi. Even more amazing, they have come to church a couple weeks in a row and are also participating in several ward activities. They are amazing and we are loving the opportunity to work with them :) I testify that the Book of Mormon is true and has such an amazing spirit that truly shows how much God loves us :)

Well, I would love to share a quick thought with you before I go :) Today, as a zone, we had the amazing opportunity to go on a hike called "7 Cascadas" (7 Waterfalls) and it was amazing! We enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy nature and pass time as a group, but there was something that was even more amazing for me :) At each waterfall, there was a pretty significant ledge to climb, making it difficult to go up. However, it was amazing to see a couple of missionaries work together to lift one missionary up over the ledge and then see the missionary on top work with those at the bottom to help everyone get up above the ledge. Not only did they help those that wouldn't be able to get up on their own, but they were also able to give a helping hand to those that would be able to get up alone with a lot more personal effort. I feel that this works very well with the gospel. All of us have the same goal: Live with our Heavenly Father once again. Some of us find this path easier that others, but in the end, we all need the helping hand of our Savior Jesus Christ if we are to find success in this purpose. We must work together in this glorious work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I testify that if we all work together, we can personally complete this goal and help so that others can do the same :)

I love you all! I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

My companion and I in the Airport :)

Getting up one of the ledges :)

The zone by the last waterfall that we visited :)

Share What You Know

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? Can you believe that it's December?! I hope that you enjoy this amazing time of the year :) Here in Sucre, we are trying to do the same :) This past week has been great for us. More than anything, we are trying to find new people to teach, so I would love to talk about a couple of the new people that we were able to meet this past week :) I would love to mention Tania and Isaac :) 

Tania is an amazing teenager who was introduced to us as a reference from an amazing member. We were able to meet with her yesterday and it truly was an amazing appointment. She has LOTS of questions about just about everything. She has been searching for the truth in just about every church in the past years and is starting to believe that it is nowhere to be found. However, we were able to help her as best we could in our appointment yesterday and she has agreed to give us a shot. She truly is amazing and we really look forward to visiting with her more this coming week :) 

Isaac is an amazing investigator that we found today while getting a haircut. My companion and I just began to chat as he began cutting our hair, and we quickly learned that he was very religious. He told us that he loved reading the Bible, but he doesn't go to any church, due to the confusion he feels with his purpose in life. We were able to teach a part of the Plan of Salvation, focussing mainly on our purpose in life and he really enjoyed it. He asked many questions and thanked us for being here in Bolivia. We will continue visiting him. We really look forward to it :)

Well, these are a couple of the people that we are visiting, and I honestly love them. They are amazing :) Now, a quick thought to finish up :) I want you all to think about the first time that you felt God's love. Maybe it is one, singular experience, and maybe it is a sequence of events. Think about the peace, joy, etc. that you could feel then. Never forget it. Now, think about your family and friends. How many of them know what you believe? How many of them know that you have felt such peace and joy? If you can think of somebody close to you that do not know this, I invite you to share it with them. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we experience peace, joy, and happiness that is not found anywhere else. Share what you have felt with others. There is even more joy found in this.

I love you all! I hope that you have an amazing week! Thank you for all that you do for me :) Love you!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

Beautiful Sucre :)

Enjoying a P-day lunch with some Sucre Missionaries (Elder Behotas is right behind me :)