Preparation and Faithfulness

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Can you BELIEVE how fast June is flying by?! I guess we'll just have to take advantage of every moment :) Well, in these past two weeks, things have been going great here in La Chimba. We continue working with Johnny, Lidia, and their family and their progress is something amazing to see :) We also have a couple of other investigators that are progressing really well, one of which I would like to mention today: Eddie.

As I mentioned a while back, Johnny presented us ALL of his family that lives in the area, including one of his brothers that has two amazing kids that are listening to us. One of these kids is named Eddie and normally accompanies us during the appointments that we have with other members of his family. One time, when Eddie wasn't there, we tried to extend a baptismal date to the whole family, and they politely declined and asked for more time. When we returned for the next appointment, Eddie was there and we taught the family about baptism because they had a few questions. When we had finished, we decided not to extend a formal invitation again because the whole family had said no the time before. However, before we said the closing prayer, Eddie, raised his hand and asked a question: Do I set my own baptismal date or do you guys do that because I want to be baptized. This sincere question from a 16 year old teenager filled us with joy. We look forward to keeping on the work with Eddie and helping him in the process of arriving to the waters of baptism.

Well, as a small thought today, I want to talk a little bit about some of the events of the book of Alma in The Book of Mormon. There are many chapters in this book that talk about the wars that the Nephites had against the Lamanites. I find a couple of things interesting as I read about their wars that we can really apply to our every day lives.

1- Preparation. Every time that the Lamanites attack the Nephites, they are shocked to find that the Nephites have continued preparing themselves for war. The first time, they find that the Nephites came with armor while they did not. The second time, they come with armor but find that the Nephites have fortified their cities in such a way that it is now MUCH more difficult to battle against them. In the same way, when we are constantly preparing ourselves with the full armor of God, Satan will come with temptations and find that there is nothing that he can do to beat us.

2- Faithfulness. Even though the Nephites had armor and strongly fortified cities, they didn't stop relying on the Lord. They knew that they had to prepare themselves as much as they could, but they also understood that without the help of the Lord, they were nothing. Moroni is a great example as he leads the armies in great preparation and faithfulness to victory over the Lamanites. In the same way, we should do our best to prepare but always rely on the Lord because only through His strength we will be able to do all things.

I invite you all to study the war chapters of Alma and think about the preparation and faithfulness of the Nephite warriors. Do your best to apply what you learn about their example to your own life and you will see a grand change.

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

Elder Wynn

A Calling From the Lord

Hey everyone!

How are you? I hope that you're doing great and enjoying this beginning month of June :) As for us here, everything is going great! This past week was one of work, joy, and more work! :) I am loving my time here in La Chimba. It is a great ward with AMAZING members that love and support us so, so much :) We could not be more grateful for them :)

This week, investigators wise, went really well! Johnny and his family are progressing a TON and even made it to the stake conference that was held a little further away than normal. Leidy is progressing well and making the step by step journey of returning to the Church after many years. Along with them, we were able to find a few new investigators and I would love to mention a couple them today.

Rolando and Loyda are a couple that we found this past week that is absolutely amazing. Rolando is a construction worker and lives in the same, unfinished building that he is building. He lives there with his wife, Loyda, and 3 kids. We found them while we were contacting in the street and set up an appointment. To our surprise, when we arrived for the appointed time on the set day, they were seated in their house waiting for us, something which is very uncommon. We were able to talk about life and the difficulties that they face and then turn the conversation to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong in the lesson and it was amazing to see the smiles on their faces as they felt the love of God and learned that there is once again a Prophet upon the face of the Earth. We have our second appointment in these coming days and we really look forward to seeing how things turn out :)

Well, as a short thought, I would love to talk about callings. A few weeks ago, we received a new ward mission leader, Daniel (a returned missionary that got back about 6 months ago), and I just cannot say enough good things about him. As we have worked with the baptisms of Maxima, Alexander, Douglas, and Rodrigo in these past weeks, Daniel has helped us so much so that we could make these baptisms a special experience for these amazing people. As I see the example of Daniel, one who really strives to magnigy his calling, I think about the callings that each and every one of us has. For example, would the baptisms have turned out alright without the help of Daniel? Probably. However, with his help, the baptisms were not just "alright" but spectacular. Do people know all that he did to help us organize, plan, and execute everything for these people? No, but this doesn't matter to Daniel. He serves so that things can be spectacular, even though people will never know the part that he played. Now, almost all of you, I'm assuming, have a church calling. How much effort do you put into that calling that the Lord gave to you through His chosen servants? I don't want this question to seem judgy, but I really want you to think about it. Every calling that we receive is one that comes directly from our Lord. We are expected to treat it as such and magnify whatever calling that we have so that everything may be something spectacular, outside of ordinary. I hope that each of you can reflect on your callings and your efforts so that you can make the necessary adjustments so that you can help your ward or branch of the Lord's Church wherever you may be.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support of me here! I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn