When Small Things Turn Great

Hey everyone!

How are you?? I hope that all of you have had a great week and that this following week is even better! Well, as for us here in Universidad, everything is going well. We were able to have a good, normal week of work with many opportunities to serve and help others in this amazing area. What more could anyone really ask for?? :) Well, for this week, I would love to talk a little bit about Sergio :)

Sergio is the son of a less-active member and is truly amazing. He is 13 years old and very interested in the Church. We found him in a very interesting way. Several weeks ago, Elder Benancio and I were walking down the street and said hi to a person that passed by us. She said,"Why hello Elders." That's a good sign. We turned around to chase her down to talk and found that she was a less-active member. We asked if we could help her with anything and surprised us by saying that she had a BIG project that she needed help with. We accepted, slightly scared, and were able to plan a day and an hour for the service. During the service, we gained the trust of Angelica, the less-active member, and another appointment. In that appointment, we finally found Sergio and to this day we keep teaching them both. Angelica is still not willing to go back to Church, but Sergio really is. He has attended two weeks in a row and has made really good comments about it. We look forward to seeing the continued progress of Sergio and his family :)

Well, as a quick thought, I want to reference the story of Angelica and Sergio. We are SO happy now that we were given the chance to meet and teach Sergio, but as you may have noticed, everything came as a sequence of events. First, we simply said hi to someone on the street, which was followed by a conversation, a service, an appointment, trust, and finally, the meeting of Sergio. I find it interesting to think about this. Had we not been following the Spirit in any one of these steps, we probably never would have had the blessing of meeting Sergio. The scriptures say that by small and simple things, great things come to pass. Thanks to the fact that we said hi to someone and that my companion was ready enough to listen to the Spirit, turn around, and chase her down, we have been blessed with a great investigator that is showing a lot of interest in baptism. Is that not a small thing that brought something much greater? Now, for each of you, I want you to think about this. How many opportunities do we have every moment of every day to simply say hi to those that pass us by? Whether on social media, the street, public transportation, etc. the opportunities are there. Many of you, as members of the Church, have a light inside of you that must be shared. Please, please, please listen to the Spirit, be kind to others, offer them your service, something simple, and I promise that many great things will come to pass as a result of your actions. Don't be afraid to share that marvelous light that you hold. You truly can change lives :)

Well, thank you so much for all of your love and support for me here in Bolivia. Please pray for Sergio so that he can continue to progress. That would me the world to us :) I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

No Effort is Wasted

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? Are you enjoying your March and all the madness that comes with it?? I hope so! Well, as for us here in Universidad, it was a week full of madness due to Carnaval. We weren't able to leave our house for 2 days due to the CRAZY celebrations going on, but we survived and all is well :)

This week, I would love to mention Gloria and Lourdes. As I mentioned last week, Gloria had a baptismal date and was progressing very well towards baptism this last Saturday. Sadly, she took the decision to travel back to Brasil this last Friday, so she was not able to make those amazing covenants. We have hope that she will either be back soon or will be baptized there in Brazil, but I ask for your prayers to help her as she makes this very large decision in her life. Thank you for all your support for her in this past week :)

Lourdes is an amazing woman that just kind of showed up out of nowhere. We came to church a couple Sundays ago and she was just there. Apparently, some time ago, the missionaries were visiting her and she really enjoyed the lessons. However, she travelled to another part of Bolivia for several months and completely lost contact. Amazingly, when she returned, she decided, all on her own, to come back to church to keep learning. She has come a couple weeks in a row now and is progressing well. We look forward to the opportunity to keep visiting Lourdes.

Well, as a quick thought, I want to reference what I just talked about with Lourdes. For us, the fact that she just decided to come back to church on her own is unbelievable and gives us the desire to keep working hard to find and teach new people. But, if I think about it, there must have been missionaries who thought very differently several months ago. They thought that they had found an amazing person that would instantly progress, just to find out that they were going to go far away for a long time. These missionaries were probably very saddened by that. However, thanks to their hard work, we are now seeing the fruits long, long after the effort. I believe that we can all learn from this. Many times, as members, we share the Gospel with other people, and, many times, these people decide not to follow for whatever reason. Sometimes, we become discouraged by this and lose hope that our friends and family members can and will one day accept the Gospel. However, I want to use Lourdes as an example for you all to say that no effort is ever wasted when we are sharing the Gospel. If the first missionaries would have thought that in the first place, we would not be seeing marvelous fruits right now. Please, share the Gospel with everyone and don't be discouraged if you are not accepted right away. Everyone has their time and their agency. Respect that and keep up your marvelous work with hope and a good attitude :)

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your love and support for me here in Bolivia! Have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

A good shot of Cochabamba :)

My companion and I enjoying the Carnaval from the roof of our building ;)

Our zone activity in Pairumani this morning :)

The Feel of the Gospel

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Can you believe that it is already MARCH?? I guess time just continues to fly by as always :) I hope that this last week went well for each and every one of you because for us it was really quite amazing :) We are receiving a lot of support from the ward and continue to work here in the center of the city. What more could one really ask for?? :)

This week I want to focus on Gloria. I believe that I mentioned her some time ago, but just to recap: Gloria is an amazing brazilian woman that doesn't speak any Spanish. We have been teaching her for a few weeks now and it has been an amazing experience. We have had a TON of support from the ward, especially a brazilian family (The Lima Family) that lives here and her progress has really been astonishing. With all that she has learned in this time, she has decided to take the next step and be baptized this coming Saturday. We are so excited for her and hope that everything can go well :) If it's not too much to ask, I would love to ask for your prayers for Gloria this coming week :) Thank you!

Well, I would love to share a quick thought that relates a lot with the amazing experiences that we have had with Gloria. In almost every appointment, we have had the help of the Lima Family to translate and teach, but I often reflect on the one time that just my companion and I were available to teach. My companion is amazing and knows a fair amount of Portuguese, but it was still quite a struggle to get our thoughts across. Even though Gloria probably couldn't understand much of what we said, she expressed her feelings of such joy as she attends church and receives us in her home. This taught me something very special: This Gospel isn't something that we learn, even though that is quite a large part, it is something that we FEEL. When we read the scriptures, pray, and attend church with a sincere desire to come closer to our Heavenly Father, the truth of the Gospel is something we feel through the Holy Ghost. I invite you all to watch the Church Video titled "The Music of the Gospel" that talks a little bit about the subject. Please ponder about if you really feel the truthfulness of these things. I promise that if you really desire to know that it is true, you can read, attend, and pray and you will simply FEEL that it is true through the power of the Holy Ghost :)

I love you all so much! I hope that you have an amazing week! Please pray for Gloria :)

Elder Wynn

The Process of a True Conversion

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Did you have a great week?? I hope so! Well, as for us here in Universidad, things are amazing :) We're working hard and seeing the results little by little. I would love to mention Estefano this week :)

Estefano is a very quiet teenager that we have recently come in contact with. He's the younger brother of a very strong member and is actually very familiar with the Church. He has come many, many times to the Sunday meetings and says that more than anything he loves hearing people share their testimonies. He has received all the lessons from past missionaries, but still feels unsure about if the Church is true or not. However, he has accepted a baptismal date for about a month in the future and has many goals that are centered in helping him gain his very own testimony that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Well, I would love to build my thought off of the experiences that we have had with Estefano. He has learned and understands all of the doctrines of the Church and has no problems with these things. Even though he likes what he has learned, he still doesn't feel that he knows that it is true. This is because gaining a testimony of the Gospel is not an intellectual procedure. Yes, it is necessary that we understand the doctrines, but that is NOT the way we gain a testimony. This comes only through diligent study, prayer, and church attendance, mixed with a good dose of putting the church doctrine in practice. This is how miracles happen. Now, for you all, do you feel that you really know that it is true? If the answer is no, do you want to know? If you really want to know, please follow the invitation found in Moroni 10:3-5 and read, ponder, and pray, putting in practice all that you learn in the transcourse of these events. If you do so, I promise without a doubt in my mind or heart that you will know that this is true. The same has happened with me. It will happen with you :)

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your support! Have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Old Friends

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? Did you have a good Valentine's Day?? Well, even as a missionary, I testify that a day of love can still be enjoyed! This week here in Universidad was great with the lovely people of Cochabamba :) I would love to talk about Gloria this week :)

Gloria is an investigator that we met at church yesterday. Her daughter is a member but lives in her home country of Brazil. Gloria heard about the Church from her daughter and decided to come, even though she doesn't speak any Spanish. My new companion, Elder Tellez, is amazing and started studying Portuguese a few months ago in Potosi due to an impression that he had. We were able to communicate with her, go to her house for a visit, and set up an appointment to begin teaching. She is AMAZING and has so much faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. We look forward to the great opportunity to teach her, even thought we're nervous about the language barrier, but we know that everything will go well if we just trust in the Lord and do the best we can :)

Well, I just want to share a quick thought :) Today, I had the opportunity to do something that I had looked forward to for a LONG time. As you may remember, I began my mission in the city of Quillacollo almost a year and a half ago and loved the opportunity to serve there. Well, today I got the chance to visit my area in Avaroa and see some of the people that I grew to love. It was so amazing for me to walk down the streets that I hadn't seen in almost a year and it was an amazing highlight to see the bright faces of loving people that helped me so much there. I learned about the importance of treasuring relationships that we have made in the journey that is our life. I loved the opportunity and look forward to treasuring these relationships with future visits. Well, as for you all, I want to invite you to look for those people that you have grown to love, even if you haven't seen them in a long time. You will find that you can bring a smile to the faces of old friends and brighten the eyes of family members that are far away. With today's technology, this isn't that hard, but I promise that as you do so that you will find more joy in your lives as you experience the spirit of ministering and the pure love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love you all so much! Thank you for the support that you always give me :) I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Trabajemos Hoy en la Obra del Señor

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? Did you have a great week?? I hope so! As for us here in Universidad, things are going really well! We organized a futsal tournament in the ward and worked as normal with some good results. I would love to talk about Jenny this week.

Jenny is the cousin of a very faithful member named Brother Loayza. Yesterday afternoon, we got a call from Brother Loayza asking us to come to his house so that we could meet Jenny. We assumed that he had explained to her that we would be there and that he was going to share the gospel with her, but that wasn't the case. We arrived before she did, and when she entered the room, she was quite surprised to see us there too. However, Brother Loayza did an amazing job of explaining how much the gospel had blessed him in his life and bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel. Jenny decided to listen rather hesitantly, but what started as a surprise turned into a wonderful experience. She accepted our message and the invitation to read and pray about our message. We look forward to our upcoming appointment this week :)

My thought for this week has much to do with our experience with Jenny, so I'll just jump right in! :) Us as missionaries are taught to work and work and keep working to find, teach, and baptize people that are willing and ready to keep covenants with God. Yes, we knock lots of doors. Yes, we talk with lots of people in the street. However, I am very willing to say that this is NOT the most effective way to have progress in the glorious work of the Lord. In the experience, Brother Loayza took the time to invite a friend over, share his testimony with them, and invite them to listen to the message of the Restored Gospel. This is not only an easier way for the work to progress, but also the most effective way for people to not only get to know the Church but also progress towards baptism and a faithful life afterwards. The title of this email is the title of a Hymn in Spanish and means,"Let's work today in the work of the Lord." My invitation to you is exactly that, to work today in the blessed work of the Lord. I promise that your efforts to share the Gospel with others with not be wasted. You will see the Lord pour His blessings upon you and those that you take the time to share the Gospel with.

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

Elder Wynn

Eternal Reflections

Hey everyone!

How are you?? Did you have a great week? I really hope so! As for us here in Cochabamba, things are going really well :) We are working hard and seeing the progress come little by little. 

For this week, I would love to talk about Rosio Luque. About 2 weeks ago, we were door-knocking and were able to talk with Rosio. She said that she didn't have time (very common) but told us that we could come back a week from that day (slightly less common ;). We came back and she still didn't have time, but this time asked us to come back the next day (almost never happens), so we did, and we had an amazing visit. Rosio has been Catholic her whole life and has truly amazing faith in God. When we began talking, she only asked,"What motivates you Mormons to be here and talk with me?" We said that it was an amazing question and promptly jumped into the Restoration. She understood very well, accepted a Book of Mormon, and seemed very excited to take our challenge to read and pray. We're looking forward to the next appointment :)

Well, as a quick thought for you all this week, I want to start with a similar question to that which Rosio asked us this week: What motivates you to live how you live, do what you do, and think the way you think? I know that not everyone on this email group is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but know that this question is for all of you, no matter what religion you are from or what you believe. Now, I would love to share my personal response: I am a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because I know that it is true. I testify that Jesus Christ really did bleed from every poor in His suffering for us, making it possible for us, imperfect beings, to be able to live with our Heavenly Father once again if we are baptized in His Church and follow His commandments. I testify that Joseph Smith really saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Sacred Grove in 1820 and that he was the prophet of the restoration of God's true Church. I follow the Prophet and live the way I live because I know that due to this I will live with my Father in Heaven once again. That is why I am a missionary. I invite you all to answer this question very personally and to evaluate what you are doing NOW that will help you in this life and in the eternities to come.

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

Elder Wynn

Photos:

Elder Benancio and I in the Elevator of our appartment building

                    "             in front of the door of the Cochabamba Temple

The Christ Statue of Cochabamba next to the full moon