Testimony

Hey everyone!

How are you? I hope that this last week has treated you all very well and that this one can be even better :) As for us here, it has been a very good week. We were able to keep working with Sussel and the Paniagua Family and we are very pleased with their progress. This week, I would love to focus on Juan Gabriel and Miriam.

Juan Gabriel is Johnny Chavez's brother (Johnny is the man that was baptized with his whole family a couple weeks ago) and has been listening to us for a while with his wife, Miriam. From the beginning, they showed a lot of interest in the Church, but between the winter vacation and other things we had lost contact for a couple weeks. However, this week, we had the opportunity to once again teach them and it went really well. They had started reading the introduction of The Book of Mormon and we had the opportunity to finish reading it with them and explain some of the details. We loved the opportunity to teach these basic truths and also loved seeing them come to church for the first time. We are very excited to see their progress and look forward to upcoming visits :)

Well, I was thinking about what I could share for a thought today and then I realized that this will officially be the last group email that I send. How crazy is that?! When I realized this, I decided that I would just love to share a quick recap of my mission and a small testimony.

As I think about my mission, many experiences and feelings come to mind. Like the unbelievable excitement of opening my mission call letter. Or feeling uncapable as I began learning Spanish in the MTC and then realized that I hadn't learned nearly anything when I arrived here to Cochabamba. Also the strong sadness as people chose not to accept commitments, or others straight up rejected us. However, with all of these feelings, something that resonates is the amazing joy and Spirit that I have felt as I have traveled to cities like Quillacollo, Tupiza, Potosí, Sucre, Villazón, Uyuni, Cochabamba, Quiriza, and several others to preach this amazing Restored Gospel. I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ is the one and only true church upon the face of the Earth. I know that the Bible is the word of God and shares the communication that God had with his children in the Middle East and the other close-by areas. I know that The Book of Mormon is true and that it shows the same communication from the same Divine Being but in this American Continent. I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration and that God used him as an instrument in His hands to bring to pass a marvelous work that stands and continues growing even in our days. I know that through modern day revelation, we once again have access to the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, which truly is God's plan for each and every one of His children. I know that we will be judged for our actions here on Earth. If we choose to follow the commandments and make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father, we will have the opportunity of being welcomed once again to His presence. I know these things are true. I have had the opportunity to testify of them for more than 23 months and would not have done such if I didn't have a certainty of their truthfulness. I look forward to testifying of these things for the rest of my life as a witness of the love of God in every moment and in every place. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your love and support during these last 2 years :) I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

Making Bolivian pasteles with api in the house of some amazing members

Our district in the last meeting for this transfer

The zone :)

Hey everyone!

How are you? Did you have a good week? Can you believe that we're in the middle of July?? It's unbelievable.

Well, this past week went really well! We are loving our work here in La Chimba and hope that things can keep going well :) It's been a while since I mentioned investigators, so today I would love to talk about the Paniagua Family and Sussel.

The Paniagua Family was passed to us as a reference from a member and is absolutely amazing. We have had 2 appointments up until now and they have both gone great! The mother of the family is rather quiet but is always very attent while we are teaching. The father is very outgoing and is always asking all kinds of questions. He has a very good knowledge of the Bible and his questions normally are about The Book of Mormon's place historically. He's very sincere and willing to experiment on what we teach. We're loving the opportunity to visit this family and look forward to future teaching visits :)

Sussel is a wonderful woman that we met this last week in quite a special way. Basically, she has been a member of another church her whole life but has never felt supported or helped being there. One day, she was walking in the center of Cochabamba and stumbled upon the institute building that our church has there. She saw that many people around here age were entering and decided to enter too. She loved the bible classes and the great supportive feeling there and asked for more information. That's when we got a text message from the institute secretary, passing us the reference to our area. Sussel has a ton of interest in the Church and mainly loves the way she feels while she is there. We look forward to helping her learn more about the Church :)

Well, thinking of a small thought for you all today, I began to think about time. Time is one of the most valuable things that we possess. We live each and every day with our set 24 hours and have the great blessing of choosing how to use them. Here in my mission, I have learned a little more about the value of our time. While serving a mission, there is a rather strict schedule that includes waking up at 6:30 AM, getting ready, studying, and planning all before 10:00 AM. Many would say,"What's the problem with getting up at 7:00 AM or later?" Well, if I get up at 7, I push the whole schedule back 30 minutes, meaning I get ready, study, and plan later than I normally would, leaving home well after 10 AM. What's the problem with that? That means I get to share this amazing Gospel with less people simply because I have less time. That is something that, as a missionary, I can't afford. This also applies to each and every on of you. If I plan to get up at 7 AM so that I can excercise, study the scriptures, and then go to my university class at 9 AM, but then get up late, I now have to cut something out of my schedule. If I cut my exercise, I put at risk my physical health. If I cut my scripture study, I lose that valuable time to feel the spirit and prepare myself for His guidance during the whole day. Laziness often causes us to lose valuable opportunities. We all need to learn how to manage our time in such a way that everything fits into our daily allowance of 24 hours. We do not have any time to waste. I invite each of you to think about how you use your time and set goals so that you can do everything you need spiritually, mentally, and physically. I promise that as you do so, you will find that there really is a time for everything (see Ecclesiastes 3).

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support! If it's not too much to ask, please pray for the Paniagua Family and Sussel. I would greatly appreciate it :) Have a great week!

Elder Wynn

Photo: Elder Rugel and I with our new black suits with aguayo inside :)

Thank You!

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I last wrote, but I hope that this email finds you all well :) I have about 3 minutes to write this, so it'll be short ;) I would just love to explain a couple of things that happened these past few weeks.

First off: Thank you so much for your birthday wishes! You are all amazing and I thank you for taking the time to write me if you had the chance. I got to celebrate a little here in the appointments we had during that day. I got my face smashed into a couple of cakes, I got serenaded by mexican mariachis, and really just had an amazing day in the marvelous work of the Lord :)

Second off: I just have to mention the amazing baptism of the Chavez Suca Family. We had taught this family for quite some time and on the 29th of June got married and then they were baptized. What an amazing day! I would love to ask for your prayers for this amazing family so that they can stay strong in the process of adjusting to this new and amazingly blessed life :)

Third off: I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you! You are all so amazing! I love you all so much and cannot thank you enough for all of the love and support that each of you gives me. Thank you!

I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

My face after a birthday cake smash!

The baptism of the Chavez Suca Family

A little birthday celebration with our ward mission leader and the ward missionaries :)