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

Commitment

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? Can you believe that April is almost over?! All you high schoolers will be finishing up in less than a month! How crazy is that?! Well, I hope that all of you are doing well and that it continues that way :) Well, my week went AWESOME! I have several topics to cover, so I'll just jump right in :) First off, investigators, with which, I will focus on Jherson, Magalí, and Guillermo. Jherson, if you remember from last week, was baptized a week ago, but was not able to be confirmed. However, yesterday he was able to receive that beautiful ordinance. He has expressed desires to receive the Priesthood and make it to the Temple, so we couldn't be happier with him and look forward to continuing working with him. Now, Magalí. Magalí was contacted by Elder Ordoñez and I and has always been one of our best investigators. About a month ago, she accepted a baptismal date and should be baptized this next Saturday. Magalí is amazing and I love working with her. I hope that all goes well and that she will be able to be baptized this following Saturday :) Finally, Guillermo. Guillermo is the husband of a very religious lady and we have taught him for about two weeks now. Both the lessons we have had have gone very well, but the most recent was really special. We taught the Restoration and felt a powerful spirit testifying to all the words we spoke. After explaining the Book of Mormon, he looked at us and asked us how long we think it would take to finish the book. He then promised us to use all his efforts to finish the book as fast as possible so that he can know if these things are true. We look forward to the following lessons and hope that he continues to progress :) Now, we have an awesome point to go over! My new companion! All that I knew about him last week is that he was from Ecuador and that he was from the same group as Elder Ordoñez. Now, after spending a few days with him, I am blown away :) He is an amazing Elder with a beautiful spirit about him and I love working with him. He was converted to the Church just over 2 years ago and is already a missionary, which, along with other things about him, is amazingly impressive. I cannot wait to keep working with him and hope that he will be my companion for some time :) Now, I would like to give a small thought about the 4 people I have mentioned today. Having read about these people, I ask you to think about one attribute that links them all together. In my mind, that attribute is commitment. Jherson has been baptized and now looks forward to the next steps in his progression. Magalí is making many efforts to be able to be baptized this following week. Guillermo has barely begun to learn about the Church, but already is willing to make the effort to know if it is true. My companion, Elder Vergara, has only been a member for two years, but is already here, helping others to know the truth. Each and every one of these people is a committed individual, and it is something that truly blows me away. I hope that with time I can develop this same attribute because it is truly spectacular to behold. Now, I ask each of you to put yourself in the shoes of these four amazing individuals. Think of what it would be like if you were them. Would you be doing what they are doing? Are you as committed to the good things of this life as they are? I invite you all to think and work on what you need to improve on so that you can become more committed people and receive the joy that comes from completing your life's grandest goals. I promise you all that if you evaluate your life and try to improve your commitment in any aspect, you will see an unbelievable change for the better in all aspects of your life. Well, I hope you all have wonderful weeks! I will keep on working here and I hope that you guys will keep working wherever you may be. I love all you guys!

Elder Wynn

Elder Vergara and I at the Cross of Tupiza

The Elders of Tupiza

Tupiza from up high

I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Riding the Rapids of Life

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? I hope that you all have had great weeks and that everything continues to go well! Well, for me here in Tupiza, it has been a week of ups and downs. I'm going to start with the ups and end with the downs so I can share a few thoughts. Well, our investigators this week have done really well! I would like to focus on Magali and Jherson this week :) We have been teaching Magali for a small amount of time and she is the sister of an active member. A little over a week ago, she accepted a baptismal date for the 5th of May, and she has continued progressing really well. She is reading the Book of Mormon, attending seminary, and making a big effort to prepare herself for the Cinco de Mayo date. She is awesome and I look forward to keep working with her :) Now, Jherson. Jherson is an amazing investigator that has been taught for a long time by the missionaries. If you remember from next week, we were planning on having his baptism this past Saturday, and we are happy to say that his baptism happened without any issues. We're so happy for him and hope that everything continues to go well with him :) Due to a work problem in Villazon, which is over an hour away, he was not able to be confirmed, but we look forward to next Sunday to have his confirmation. Everything should go well there :) Other than these two, Elder Ordoñez and I worked hard with the other investigators that we have. We are very happy with the progress that we have had here and look forward to the fruits to keep coming here. However, I will sadly have to continue the work here with a new companion. If you remember last week, Elder Ordoñez had been sick for some time, and President Montoya finally made the decision to do something about it. So, this past Saturday, Elder Ordoñez was sent back to Cochabamba to receive treatment there. Originally, when we got the news on Thursday, we thought it would be a temporary stay there, but we received news on Friday that he was expected to bring all his things, not just enough for a temporary stay. I would be lying if I said that I didn't experience a few negative emotions with this news, and I would like to share my thought on that today. The first thing that you should know is of my love for Elder Ordoñez. He is an amazing Elder and it has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside him here. It was devastating to watch him slowly degenerate with a suspected parasite and it hurt even more to watch him leave behind everything that we have done here because of this sickness. I feel sad, frustrated, and a whole other array of emotions, but I also feel an unbelievable sense of peace about it all. Yes, I wanted to stay with Elder Ordoñez, but I know who is in charge and that everything will be okay. Elder Ordoñez needs to be in Cochabamba, I need to be here, and none of this will stop the grand purposes of God from rolling forth. I know that he is in charge and I know that everything will be okay. Elder Vergara (my new companion from Ecuador that is currently in Potosi) and I will continue the work and everything will be okay. Now, for you guys, sometimes we will be frustrated by the seeming randomness of our lives. Sometimes things will happen that go against our personal "perfect plan" that we have. This is frustrating and hard, but I invite you all to remember who is really in charge. Just to clarify, it is NOT you ;) God is at the helm of this journey and everything that happens really and truly has a purpose. Remember this and keep an eternal perspective, and I promise that your daily struggles and frustrations will become easier to bear and you will find yourself happier in all that you do. I promise :) Well, I look forward to starting a new transfer with my new companion, Elder Vergara. He should get here either tomorrow night or Wednesday morning and I look forward to working with him here to continue the work of God here in Tupiza. Please keep Elder Ordoñez in your prayers as he will be in the hospital regularly to figure out what's wrong. I love all you guys and hope that you are able to have amazing weeks! You are amazing and I hope that you never forget it!

Elder Wynn

The America Branch

Jherson's Baptism

Saying goodbye to Elder Ordoñez at the bus terminal :(

Love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Following the Leaders

Hey everybody!

How are you all doing?? How goes life? Well, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying everything that is happening wherever you may be. This past week FLEW by, but was actually quite spectacular. This Monday night, we left at 9 PM in bus to Sucre (passing through Potosí on the way) and arrived at 5 AM. We travelled all the way there for our Zone Conference, where all the missionaries not currently in Cochabamba had to go. More words about how the conference went in a moment, but I'll just say that with all the travelling we did, along with the conference, we were only able to work from Thursday through Sunday, but it was still amazing. We are still basically working with our same  group of 4 investigators, but have a couple others that we hope will progress. This week, I want to focus on Jherson, Noemi, and Robert. Jherson is an investigators that the last missionaries in my area had been teaching for quite some time. When we got here, he was already quite prepared for baptism, but has been travelling a lot lately which has restricted our time with him. However, he has a baptismal date for this following Saturday, and we will be preparing him as much as we can this following week to fulfill that goal. We are super excited for Jherson and hope that all will go well because he is an amazing person and I have absolutely loved working with him :) Now, Noemi and Robert. These two are a couple and have 3 beautiful, crazy children. We knocked their door about 3 weeks ago but were not able to actually visit until yesterday. I am already in love :) They live in a very small, humble home and are about the nicest people that you will ever meet. We have a Noche de Hogar (family home evening) scheduled with them tonight in the house of our Branch President and hope that all will go well so that they can come. Hoping for the best with this wonderful family :) Besides these people, we have been working with several others and are very happy with the way the work is progressing here. Along with our investigators, we also had a visit from President Montoya in Tupiza for a district conference, and we had one-on-one interviews with him while he was here. Now, between zone conference, district conference, and interviews, we got to see President Montoya a lot this week, and for my thought today, I would like to just express how amazing that was. In every part of the Church, there are assigened leaders to help us and guide us along the way. They are normal people, just like you and me, but at the same time they are extraordinary. They are entitled to receive revelation, or direct communication with God, for each and every one of the people they are assigned over, and I realized more than ever this reality during the past week. There were many times that I heard my mission president say something that I felt was just for me and helped me in unbelievable ways. I am unbelievably grateful for President Montoya here in Bolivia and cannot thank him enough for all that he does for me and all the missionaries here in the Bolivia, Cochabamba mission. Now, about each of you guys. All of you have local and other leaders chosen and set apart to help you. Do you realize how amazing that blessing is?! Whether it be a Bishop or a Stake President, all the way up to the Prophet, we are so blessed to receive the guidence of these inspired individuals. My purpose with this message today is to remind you all of the great blessing it is to have chosen leaders, and my invitation is that all of you might listen a little more attently to there advice and guidence because I testify that it truly is inspired and will help each and every one of you. My promise each of you that if you try a little harder to stay awake while your Bishop or Stake President are talking, that you will be able to receive answers to your prayers in more abundance because they are literally called and set apart to receive revelation for you. Listen to your leaders, take their advice, and I promise that your lives will be blessed more than you'll ever know. Well, I hope that all of you can have amazing weeks and that you keep enjoying the spectacular lives that you are living! I love all you guys and think you're amazing! Don't ever forget it! Next week I'll be able to tell you if Elder Ordoñez and I will be staying together or separating because it is transfers week. About Elder Ordoñez, I would like to ask a little favor. He has been sick for quite some time here in Tupiza and would like to ask for your prayers on his behalf. Thank you so much! Have a great week!

Elder Wynn 

Zone Tupiza at the zone conference in Tupiza

Seeing an old friend in Sucre <3 Love you Elder Waldvogel!

Where I am every Monday morning: the big sink handwashing my clothes,

Love you!

Love,

Elder Wynn