The Parable of the Broken Piano

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? By the way, happy Tuesday! It may be weird for me to write today and not yesterday, but it has a very good reason: I got to go to Uyuni yesterday! Uyuni has world famous salt flats and was even one of the filming locations of the last Star Wars! It was an amazing experience and took up all of yesterday, so that is why I am writing today. Don't worry, we have permission and everything, so I am not being a disobedient missionary :) So, my week went great and I am very happy with the work that we were able to do. I would like to focus on another experience this week, so I will not mention investigators by name, but just know that they are doing great and the work continues progressing here :) The experience that I would like to focus on this week was in a little pueblo (which is a term that means a small, secluded town) called Quiriza. Quiriza is about an hour drive outside of Tupiza and around 50 people live in the pueblo itself. In this area, there are also about 8 other pueblos that also need to be visited, and after arriving to Tupiza, each one is between a 30 minute to 3 hour walk away. Every weekend, a couple missionaries from Tupiza go to Quiriza to help the Branch there and do a little bit of missionary work in the pueblos there. This past week I had the opportunity to go and it was amazing! While there, we lived inside the small chuch building there, which is actually the first church building ever constructed here in Bolivia. We walked to a couple pueblos, shared messages with the people there, and even helped them a little bit in their daily work in their fields with their crops and animals. It was such a cool experience and my favorite part was spending Sunday there. We got to see people from every pueblo walk to this small church to partake of the sacrament and enjoy some time there. These people are such dedicated saints of the Church and I loved being able to be with them this weekend. One of my favorite experiences was being able to play the piano during sacrament meeting. The piano there is not electric, it is a real, old piano that has been there probably since the building was constructed. Many members told me how that piano had been sleeping for some time but they were so happy to see me wake it up again after its many years of silence. It was out of tune and had many, many broken keys, but it was amazing to play and it was a great honor to be able to play for these amazing members (who sang just as loud as my home ward as a group of 15 people). As I think of this piano, I can't help but think of a thought to go along with it, and I would love to share this with you guys today :) As I said, this piano was old, out of tune, and slightly broken, so I cannot say that it was the easiest to play. I tried several hymns that simply would not work just because the keys in that musical key were either broken or too out of tune to work together properly. When I was preparing to go to Quiriza, I had heard of the piano there and was really excited, but other missionaries in my zone told me not to get my hopes up, that it was too broken and out of tune to be played well. So I went, without many hopes and came to many of the same conclusions as the other Elders. However, I kept at it and realized that there was one musical key that had no broken notes and was sufficiently in tune that the hymns in that key could be played quite well. This opened up a whole world of possibilties and I was successfully able to play the piano in a good, not perfect, but good way that brought the Spirit to that meeting. Now, let's make the comparison :) Many of us may feel like this broken piano sometimes. We may have tried many things in many different ways, but we just never can find what we can truly do. We may struggle at many of the things that others think that we should be good at, and they don't hesitate to point that out. We may become discouraged and decide that maybe it is better if we just don't try anymore. However, like this broken piano that had it's musical key that worked for it, we too have our area that we can succeed, we just need to find it. So, don't be discouraged if you aren't good at what the world thinks you should be good at. Keep working, search for your God-given gift, and I promise that you will find it. Remember that a piano has no use if it is not played. Likewise, you have no use if you do not try, but if you do try, you can be made beautiful before the world and show those who doubted you how amazing you truly can be. That is my promise that each and every one of you has a gift that can and will help others if we truly make the effort to find it :) Well, I love you guys and I hope that you have a wonderful week! Thank you so much for all of your love and support!

Elder Wynn

Hey everyone!

How did your week go?? I hope that you all had amazing weeks and that you're enjoying your summer! Here, in Bolivia, it is winter, and when you are at a high elevation, that means COLD. However, life is still great and I am loving being here in Tupiza. This past week was a week with two first-time experiences which I will explain in a sec. But first, the investigators :) This week, I would like to focus on Marcela, Ismael, and Elmer. I don't believe I have mentioned either of these three before, but they are amazing :) Marcela is the daughter or a less-active member and is very, very shy. This week we were able to make more of a connection with her and she actually was able to come to church for the first time since I have known her. She is amazing and I look forward to continuing our work with her :) Ismael and Elmer are two good friends and two even better investigators. Ismael has known about the Church for a LONG time (more than 5 years) and has known all the missionaries that have passed through Tupiza. Elmer, as his friend, is just barely getting to know the Church. This past week we had the opportunity to teach them but also take some time out of our P-day to go play soccer with them, which is a passion of them both :) They are amazing and both came to church yesterday. They really liked it and I hope that they continue being just the amazing people that they are :)

Well, these were a couple of our investigators and I hope that they keep progressing :) Now, the week of firsts that I mentioned. The first of my firsts: I gave my first district class! Yes, I was stressed and nervous, but I think it went really well! I talked about the power and authority that we have as missionaries using Preach My Gospel and the stories of Enoc (Moses 6-7) and Nephi and Lehi (Helaman 5). I have an amazing district that participates a ton, so they help me a lot and I loved that opportunity :) The second of my firsts: I went to the farmland this past Saturday and helped harvest corn. This was a crazy experience. We left at 7 AM and returned at 6:30 PM, taking up our whole day and making for an experience that I will never forget, and I would love to focus my thought for the week on this experience.

Every once in a while, we have an experience in our lives that helps us see the bigger picture. This past Saturday was one of those experiences for me. I was in the middle of nowhere, in a field of pre-cut corn, and my job was to pull that corn off the stalks and peel it before throwing it into a bag and moving on. I have lived such a priviledged life of comfort that this was kind of a world rocker. People live out in that place. They farm every day. They eat what they farm. They sell what they won't eat to buy what they can't grow. This is their life. This is only something that can truly hit you when you get just a taste of what that life would be like. I am so blessed with such an amazing life with comforts and priviledges that these people couldnt't even imagine. I am so blessed to have been able to study for 12 years in a public school learning so much. I am so blessed to have a family that has always provided for all my material needs and so, so much more. These people do not have that. They wake up, they work, they rest, and they repeat. I am so blessed to have all that I have. Seeing this also makes me grateful for this wonderful Church. I understand my purpose. I know why I'm here, what happened before, and what will happen after. I know that I have a Father in Heaven that loves me. This brings me purpose to my life. Many of these people don't know this purpose. That is why I am here, so that these amazing, loving people can learn about the amazing purpose that their loving Father has for them. Now, as you all go back to your normal lives this week, I invite you to think about the lives of these people in the Bolivian farmland. Then, I invite you to count your blessings, remember your purpose, and then try your best to help others learn the same. You will see the bigger picture and realize how blessed you truly are :)

Well, thank you all so much for all of the support and love that you guys send me! You are all amazing and I hope that you guys have great weeks! I love you all and I hope that you never forget that you are amazing!

Elder Wynn

Mounting a Donkey in the farmland

A couple of the houses out in the farmland

Our field of work after finishing

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

Love,

Elder Wynn

Hey everyone!

How was your week?? Can you believe that we're in June already?! I hope that everything went well this past week and I hope that it goes even better this week! As for me, it was a rather normal, but still really good week here in Tupiza :) I would like to focus on Febe and José, Vicente Fernandez, and Magalí. Febe and José continue progressing as normal. What surprises me more than anything is the rate at which they are progressing. They have such a desire to learn and know if it is true, so they have been reading the Book of Mormon a LOT and are both almost finished with Jacob. We have already taught them all the lessons and they have a baptismal date for the 16th of June, so we will continue preparing them for that date. With Vicente Fernandez (It's really Vicente Quispe, but his favorite singer is Vicente Fernandez from Mexico, so he likes it when we call him by that name ;), we are just really happy :) Vicente, as stated in past emails, has problems with his memory, but he still continues to progress and try his hardest to learn. He came to Church yesterday and gave me a huge hug, making me feel amazing, and I just love him :) We hope that he can continue progressing and learning :) Lastly, our recent convert, Magalí. Magalí continues strong and impresses me more and more every day. She is currently preparing herself to travel with the branch this July to visit the temple and also got up yesterday in Sacrament meeting to bear her testimony. It is something amazing to see her continue progressing and she just makes me so happy :) I hope to continue working with her and can't wait to see her continue :) Now that I have talked about the investigators/recent convert that I wanted to mention, I would like to give a small thought and then talk about transfers. One of the amazing things about this Church is the amazing opportunity that we have to serve in callings. Just think about it. We all have the opportunity to contribute to this beautiful truth, whether it be in the Ward, Stake, or beyond. One thing that is important to remember is that every calling is important, from Primary Teacher to Stake President. No matter where we serve, we are making very important contributions to this Church. So, just to remind you all, don't worry about where you serve, just serve where you are called and make the difference that you are supposed to make. I promise you that you will find more happiness in your life if you serve where you are called, without disappointments, doing all that you can to complete with your calling. Remember, you were called by a servant of God to serve where you are, you are there for a reason, and happiness will find you wherever you are. That's a promise :) Well, now that I have talked about callings and accepting whatever comes your way, let's talk about transfers. This is always kind of a stressful time, as you truly have no idea what could happen, but they are also amazing, so here goes with my transfer: I am staying here with Elder Vergara, but something has changed. With Elder Perry leaving, I have been assigned as the new District Leader here in Tupiza. This is an amazing honor and I that I am able to serve to the best of my abilities in this assignment. If it is not to much to ask, I would love to ask for your prayers to help me with this assignment along with the normal daily work as a missionary. Thank you :) Well, This has been my week! I look forward to another transfer here in Tupiza with Elder Vergara and cannot wait to get back to work! I love you all and thank you for the amazing support that you always give me! I hope that you all have amazing weeks!

Elder Wynn

I took a selfie with my pention and her family!

El Choco (this is the slang they use here for all white people, so I HAD to take a photo with this ;)

Today was the anniversary of Tupiza, so the owner of our house barbecued a whole lamb! Really cool to see and he let us try some! So good!

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

Love,

Elder Wynn

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? I hope that your month of May is finishing up well and that you are all getting ready for Summer! Here is is Winter, and being at an elevation of over 9300 feet, it is COLD! There's not even snow! ;) Even with all that, I am loving my time here in Tupiza :) This week was a special one as we had our Zone Conference in Potosí and the Branch had a baptism, so I would like to focus more on those things than anything else. First off, the Baptism. A woman named Rosa had the wonderful opportunity to be baptized this last week. Almost all of the Elders here in Tupiza have had the opportunity to visit her and help her in this process, so it was SO cool to see her get baptized and confirmed this past weekend, and she did it in style. She didn't want to get baptized in the font that our church building has. She wanted to be baptized the way Christ was baptized, so we went to the nearby river for an unforgettable experience. I will definitely send pictures in a sec, but just know that it was amazing to see Rosa and Elder Perry enter the river for her baptism. I'm so happy for her and wish her the best as she begins her new life :) For our zone conference, it took up our whole Thursday with travelling and the 5 hour long conference. We woke up at 5:30 to get ready a little early, and then our bus came WAY late, making us not leave until 9 AM. We got to Potosí around 2 PM and had a couple hours to visit members (being Elder Vergara's last area) before the Conference at 4 PM. I don't have time to go into the details of everything, but it will suffice to say that it was amazing and well worth the travel. We were able to receive great counsels from our President, his wife, and his assistants, as well as several great messages, so I just loved it :) After we finished the conference around 9 PM, we had to hurry back to the bus terminal for our 10 PM bus. We got home at 4 AM Friday morning, 22 and a half hours after waking up the day before. Though exhausting, it was well, well worth it, and want to focus a small thought around this :) Well, I just want you all to think about how much of a blessing it is to have leaders in our lives. We believe that we literally have a prophet of God on the Earth today. What a blessing that is! Now, think of how amazing it is that we have access to all his words, and the words of the apostles, inside of our pockets with our cellphones. What a blessing that is too! Now, as a followup question, how many of you take advantage of this wonderful opportunity?? No. I'm not trying to make you feel like a terrible human being, but seriously, think about this. We have amazing, inspired men to lead and guide us in this world. Their advice and counsel really and truly will make our lives better if we make the effort to search it out. As for me, with my cell phone being a Nokia that looks to have come out of the Space Age, I have to travel 5 hours in a bus to hear my leader's counsel, and it is so worth it. Now, as my final question, what would you be willing to do to hear the words of God's Prophet? Think about this in all honesty and then thank God for the blessing of technology. Now, use it! I promise that if you all will make the words of the Prophets a daily part of your lives that you will find the answers that you are searching for in your lives. That is a promise. Don't believe me?? Then try it! ;) Well, I love all of you guys and thank you for all the support that you give me. You are all amazing and I hope that you have an amazing week! Next week I will have transfer news, and though I don't expect to be going anywhere, we'll have to see! Love you all and I'll talk with you next week!

Elder Wynn

El Cerro del Elefante. This is the mountain that has the cross on it.

The Baptism by the River

Elder Perry and Rosa in the water

I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Gratitude

Hey everyone!

Happy Monday! How are you all doing?? I hope that you all had amazing weeks and that this next week is even better! As for me, the Bolivian life just keeps on plugging along :) This past week, we were very happy with the work that we were able to do. The investigators that I wish to focus on this week are Febe, José, and Vicente. Febe and José, as brother and sister, are progressing really well together. Last week, Febe had accepted a baptismal date and José was progressing really well. Now, this week, they both have a baptismal date (the same day) and still continue progressing really well. I am just always blown away by the two of them and their desire to learn and know about this Church. We hope to continue working with them and cannot WAIT to see how they keep progressing :) Now, Vicente. I believe that I mentioned Vicente a while back, but I'll just give a little refresher. Vicente was involved in an accident over two months ago and received a substantial blow to the head while drunk. He now suffers from memory problems and hardly remembers anything about his past life. He has sworn off alcohol and has begun searching for God in his life. This past week with him was really special. Vicente came to church for the first time yesterday and also accepted a baptismal date for this following month. Though he struggles to remember lessons sometimes, he has expressed that he just feels peace and happiness with us and in the Church, helping him know that it is true. In church, I went over to shake his hand and he just pulled me into a huge bear hug. He is AMAZING and I just love working with him :) Well, these are our principle investigators right now and I am just so happy with how they are doing. We have several others and I am just so grateful for all the work we have been blessed with here, and this gratefulness is what I would like to focus my thought on this week. In this world of pride and self praising, thankfulness can be such a lost trait. If we go to the scriptures, we often see the most righteous people giving thanks to God for everything they have (for one example, look to 1 Nephi 1 and the example of Lehi praising God for all he received). We too must do this. I hope that every day when you get down on your knees that you thank God for all you have. You should be thankful for your home, no matter how big or small it is, the food you have, no matter how much or little you have, your friends and family, no matter how many people belong in this group, etc, etc, etc. You should also be grateful, if this applies to you (and if it doesn't I invite you to make it apply to you ;), for all the blessings that you have received through this Church, the one and only true Church upon the face of this Earth. If you think that you have no blessings as a member of this Church, sit down and think for a second because I promise that they are always there. As a lifelong member of the Church, I have lived in the light so long that I sometimes forget that the darkness exists. However, as I remember the truths that I have been taught my whole life, such as being a child of God or knowing the Plan of Salvation, and the fact that not everyone knows of these truths, I remember how truly blessed I am. As I sometimes feel too tired to work, I remember the light that I have and also the desire to share it. I am so very grateful to be a member of this Church. I am so grateful for the light that it brings in an ever darkening world. It is my hope that I will have the chance to find all those who are searching this light so that I can be an instrument in the hands of God to the bringing to pass of much righteousness. I am grateful, and I hope that all of you are too. Whenever you struggle to find gratefulness for this Church, I invite you to think about what your life would be like without knowing the things you know. Remember that you are God's child and He loves you so very, very much. Be grateful and I promise that you will find even more reasons to sing your praises to God :) Well, I hope you all know that I love you so, so much! I am so very grateful to have all of you to support me and help me on this amazing journey that my mission has been. You are all amazing and I hope you never forget it! Have an awesome week!

Elder Wynn

The House of a lovely investigator of Elder Perry

Making a cake with the crazy, gringo trio I was in this past weekend

Getting a crazy awesome package!

I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Hold Tight, Knuckles White

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? How was Mother's Day? I hope that everything went great for all of you and that you are enjoying life! As for me, I have just kept plugging along here! This past week was rather normal and not a lot happened out of the ordinary, with exception to the skype with my family yesterday, but I'll get to all that in just a sec :) So, this week, we just kept working as normal, finding a couple of awesome new investigators as well as keeping the work going with the investigators we already had. As for investigators, I would like to focus on Febe, José, and Nayeli. Febe, as I mentioned from last week, is an amazing investigator that has progressed very fast. We were able to visit her several more times this past week and we couldn't be happier with her. She has read 1 Nephi, came to church, and even came to a Family Home Evening we had last night. On top of that, her new best friend is Magalí, our recent convert. Everything is looking up for Febe and we honestly could not be happier :) Now, José. José is Febe's sister and is an amazing 12 year old. He is reading the Book of Mormon even faster than his sister and goes with her to everything she goes to. He is progressing well and hope that he, along with his sister, continue progressing. Lastly, Nayeli. We contacted Nayeli this past week knocking doors and she is realy cool. We have given her the first two lessons and she seems to be progressing really well. We'll see how things turn out as we keep working with her, but for now, she is doing great :) These were a few of our investigators and I just want you guys to know that the work here is so amazing! I love working here in Tupiza and hope to be here for quite a while longer :) Now, the Skype :) I don't think words can truly express how cool it is to see and talk with your family while here in the mission. It is such a revitalizing experience and I now feel ready to get back to work for the rest of the time I have here. I have the best family in the world and I hope that you guys all know that so you can be jealous!! Yes. I am saying that my family is better than yours. You'll just have to deal with it ;) Now, doing a little rewind, we were able to organize a ward activity this past Saturday called the "Iron Rod" and I would love to focus my thought on that. The activity went just as it is explained in 1 Nephi 8, so if you need a refresher, go ahead and read it :) We had an "Iron Rod" that went through the whole church building, a "Great and Spacious Building", which was full of the young men and women, and a "Tree of Life", which was just a tree outside of the church with apples attached. We turned off all the lights and filled the church with smoke to make it difficult to follow the rod. I didn't participate in the activity, but I had the chance to observe as everything went down. Some entered and immediately fell into the temptation of entering one of the side rooms that had candy. Others, made it quite a ways, but saw the young men and women partying in one room and abandoned the rod to join in. Others made it all the way to the other end of the church, but then, forgetting that the tree was the absolute goal, let go and walked to the beginning of the church to start over, without ever having finished the journey. Very few, surprisingly made it to the tree and tasted of the fruit that was placed there. This was a very interesting experience for me, seeing before my eyes an almost exact representation of Lehi's dream. Now, with all the groups I just mentioned, I invite you to think about what that could mean for each of you in your lives. Maybe, we start on the good path, but immediately fall away at the first temptation. Maybe, we get pretty far, but then fall into the temptations of the world, taking us right away from all that is good in this world. Or maybe, we make it so far, almost to the goal, but loose sight of what is really important when the journey is almost through. With all of this, I invite all of you to be part of the final group, the finishers. Hold to the rod, not just lightly, but with all your might. As one of my favorite seminary teachers, Brother White, always said," Hold tight, knuckles white." My invitation to all of you is to remember the ultimate goal and strive for it to the end, holding to the rod (which represents the Word of God, or the scriptures and, in my mind, the words of the prophets) and I promise you that you will be much, much happier in this life. That's a promise :) Well, I love you all and I hope that you have amazing weeks! If you ever have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! You are amazing and I hope you never forget it!

Elder Wynn

True Joy

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? I hope that you guys have all had wonderful weeks and that this email finds you well! As for me, I'm doing great! This past week has been one of our most successful here in Tupiza, so I have no complaints and really just feel so blessed with everything that has happened. About the Branch that we have been working in, there are SO many members, but there a very few who are active in the Church. These past weeks, we have been searching for less-active members and have been able to track a few down and help them on the path of reactivation. Also, the members are beginning to warm up to us more and more, so we look forward to an increase of help from the members of Branch America here in Tupiza. Now, the amazing investigators. I want to focus on Noemi and Robert, Febe (pronounced "Fay-Bay"), and Magalí. With Noemi and Robert, we had a wonderful appointment this week where we got to cook with them, help their kids with homework, and then watch the Restoration movie and give a lesson. They are an amazing family that really wants to progress in this gospel. I hope that they just keep doing well and I know that they will continue progressing :) Now, Febe :) We knocked Febe's door this week and got to teach her a little before taking out an appointment for another day. We came back to find she was already a few chapters into the Book of Mormon we gave here, she wanted to know more, and was willing to do just about anything to understand more and know if this Church is true. We had a couple great appointments with her this week and then (spoiler alert) she attended our baptism and Church for the first time. She is amazing and we hope to be able to keep helping her little by little to understand. She is truly amazing :) Finally, Magalí :) Well, I kind of already said it with Febe, but we are pleased to say that Magalí was baptized and confirmed this past week. I had the wonderful opportunity of performing both of these ordinances and I am just so happy for her :) This week, I would love to focus my thought on her :) One thing that we were really worried about with Magalí was if she would be able to get permission from her parents. She had expressed much anxiety with that and the moment finally came to ask the permission. We talked with her father for a little bit and then an uncomfortable silence settled in as we waited for him to respond. He surprised us after about a 10 second silence (one of the longest 10 seconds of my life! ;) and gave his permission. We thanked him and then he went back inside. We looked over at Magalí and I saw something that I really didn't expect: She was crying. Hard. She was bawling. She was so happy that she had received permission to be baptized that she had burst into tears. This is something that just makes me so happy. In this moment she felt pure joy in a way that we don't feel that often, only when we make the right decision and God blesses us. I love Magalí and am truly so happy for her :) Now, for all of you. How often do you feel this "true joy"? I am asking you all to evaluate your life andd think of when was the last time you actually felt this utter joy. I promise you that if you are doing all that you are supposed to do, this joy can be a daily part of our lives. You must pray, read the scriptures, and do your best to live a Christ-centered life, taking the necessary steps (like baptism and confirmation) for your salvation. If you all will do this, I promise you that you will have the joy in your life that you seek. No doubt in my mind, because God always blesses His children who choose to follow his path. I know that this is true without a doubt :) Well, this was my week here in Bolivia! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! Thank you for all that you do for me!

Elder Wynn

Magalí, Elder Vergara, and I on Saturday night :)

Me with Noemi and Robert's daughter

Me made Tupiza jerseys. Heck yeah we did ;)

I love you so, so much! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Wynn