Saying Goodbye

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? Can you believe that August is coming to a close already?? Well, I hope that you are all doing great and that in this following week that you will do better! As for me here in Tupiza, I have some strongly mixed feelings. This week was great and we worked really hard. We found new investigators, kept working with the same amazing ones we already had, and just feel really good about everything. The thing that makes me sad is that yesterday we had transfers. But before I touch that, I would like to talk about Vicente, Febe, and José. Vicente had a baptismal date for this past Saturday but chose to postpone his baptism for another week. He is truly doing amazing and is ready to be baptized, but he just wants to be 100% sure, and I can't blame him for that :) Febe and José are working hard and progressing towards a baptismal date together this following Saturday. They are reading, praying, and coming to Church, which is the trifecta of good progression. I have no doubt that they will be baptized this next week :) They are doing amazing :)

Well, now that I have talked about some of my favorite investigators, here comes the bitter news: I will be leaving Tupiza. Tonight. Last night, I received my transfer: I will be heading to the capital of Bolivia, called Sucre. I cannot deny that I am very, very excited for these new experiences in a new place with a new companion, but I would be lying if I said that I weren't sad to leave Tupiza. There are so many people here that I truly love and will miss. However, today, I have a thought for you guys to address this very subject.

Many times in our lives, we have to say goodbye. It is sad, painful, and straightup hard, but it must be done. We say goodbye to our families to go to college, we say goodbye to friends when we move away, and in so many other times in our lives we must leave the people we love as we move on with our lives. However, as I spoke with another missionary about leaving Tupiza, he gave me some profound advice, and I would like to share it with you all. We love the people we are with, but if we really think about it, every time we have the opportunity to meet new people, we had to leave others that we loved to have that opportunity. So, although leaving is heartbreaking, it is truly necessary for us in order to have new opportunities to meet even more new, amazing people. We can think about this in terms of our lives (Like when we move houses, leave to college, etc.) or we can think about the eternal perspective. I am positive that we had loved ones in the premortal life even before coming here, but we had to come so that we could meet the people that we know now. And, one more thought, we truly know that there are no real goodbyes here. We are all children of God, members of an eternal family, and we will see everyone again, yes or yes, whether it be this life or the next. I know that saying goodbye can be hard, but my advice to you is to look at saying goodbye as a new, exciting opportunity to meet new people. I promise that as you do so, staying in touch with those you have left and being open to finding new people, that you will find your circle of friends grow and grow with many people that you know and truly love.

Well, tonight will be hard as I say goodbye to Tupiza, but I cannot wait to get to know the new area of Sucre, meeting new, amazing people there as well. I love you all! I hope that you all have amazing weeks! Talk to you next week!

Elder Wynn

Saying goodbye to Hermana Rosa and her family

Saying goodbye to Hermana Paolina and her family

Saying goodbye to Vicente

I hope that you like the photos! I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

We Are Our Most Important Convert

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? Well, I hope that you all had a great week and that you all just keep doing great! Well, this week has been rather eventful! We had the great opportunity of going to Potosí for our zone conference! But more on that later :) With investigators this week, I would like to talk about Febe and Vicente. I talked a little bit about Febe this past week, but I just wanted to say that she is amazing. She was able to come to church yesterday and is doing all she can to progress towards her goal for baptism. Just wanted to give a little shoutout :) Vicente is one of my favorite people that I have met here and I have worked with him since I was with Elder Ordoñez. Due to an accident a while ago he struggles to learn and remember new things, but he has been improving little by little ever since I met him and is doing very well :) He looks forward to a baptismal date either this week or the following (he says depending on how he feels) and I just could not be happier with him :) We hope that everything continues to just go amazingly with him :)

Well, now that I've talked a little about some investigators, I would like to talk a bit about the Zone Conference. It was an amazing opportunity to go to Potosí and hear from our Mission President. He just gives us such amazing lessons and inspires us to do better. I also got to see some of my amazing friends that I have met here in Bolivia, which is an added treat :) I loved the conference and just wanted to mention that :)

Well, I would now like to share a small thought with all of you that I found in something called the Ricciardi Letter. Elder Chapman, a great friend here, lent me his copy and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you are planning on serving a mission. There was one part that talked about D and C section 18 where the worth of souls is talked about. Forgive my abreviation, but here it says that if you bring but one soul unto God, your joy will be great in heaven. The writer of the Ricciardi letter talks about this reference in a way that I just love. He says that the one soul that we truly need to bring unto God is our own. We are the one soul that we should bring. Then, once we have had our own conversion, we should look for others, hence the scriptures first talk about bringing one soul and then many. So, my invitation to all of you is that you think about your own conversion. In the end of all things, especially as a missionary, your first and most important conversion is your own. Do whatever you need to in order to convert yourself so that your joy can be great in the Kingdom of God. I promise that I will do my best to do the same here :)

Well, I hope that you all have an amazing week! I love you all! Next week I will have news about transfers and we will see what happens! But until then, it is my hope that the Spirit of God be with you all!

Elder Wynn

Our Pursuit for Happiness

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? I hope that you all had amazing weeks and that this next one is even better! Well, I've had a great week here in Tupiza as normal and don't have really anything new to report. With investigators, I would like to talk about Febe and Narciso. Febe has been struggling a little bit of late to come to church due to the fact that she is a very involved young lady. She loves working with stray animals and has been a part of an association that helps for a long time. However, they have meetings every Sunday morning and has not been able to come to church in a couple months due to that. However, this past week, it was amazing to see her make the decision to drop that association that she loves so much so that she can prepare herself for the goal she set to be baptized this coming September. She is amazing and I love working with her :) With Narciso, I have a cool story :) Well, we were knocking doors for a little bit searching for new investigators and hit a pretty long streak of rejection. We finally got to Narciso's door and got discouraged as we say an older man answer because the older generation is normally a lot meaner to us here as missionaries. However, Narciso was the complete opposite of our expectations. He greated us nicely and got very excited when he heard that we preach about Jesus Christ. We asked if he had any questions for us and he asked if we believed in Hell, if we even believed in a life after this life. We began explaining the Plan of Salvation and he became very interested very fast. Surprisingly for us, he agreed with everything we said and loved the lesson. Then, my very spiritually-in-tune companion extended a baptismal invitation for this coming September. We didn't even have to wait for a response as he said,"Claro pues!", which basically means,"Well, of course!" This man is amazing and I look forward to continuing to work with him. I would also like to share a short thought about this experience. I would assume that everyone is looking for happiness in this life. We search and search and search for the things that make us the happiest here. Well, I have found that sometimes we find the things that make us happier than anything else, but due to fear or other factors, we turn away. This lovely man, Narciso, is not that way, accepting something that made him happy in the instant it was offered him. My advice to you all this week is that if you find something that makes you happy, that truly brings joy to your life, that you stick to it as long as you can. I can honestly promise you that the best and most everlasting happiness that you can find is found within this Church, following Jesus Christ. I plead with you all to strengthen your testimony of Christ and search to become a better servant of Him, and I promise that you will find more happiness than anywhere else. That is a promise in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, I love you all and I hope that you have an amazing week! Keep being the great people that you already are!

Elder Wynn

Photos:

At the cross with the district

Teaching piano to my compi :)

With Febe, Jose, and Esmeralda, completing my homework from you Primary Presidency ;)

Hey everyone!

How are you doing?? How did your first days in August go?? I hope that you all had an amazing week and that this week brings you even more happiness and joy! Here in Tupiza, it has been a normal week of work with a couple twists. Early this week, some protesters blocked the main routes from Tupiza to Potosí and to Villazón, so the Elders visiting from Villazón for P-day were trapped for a couple days. They were assigned to work with us and it was great to work with them on Tuesday and part of Wednesday :) We also had an exchange with other Elders and I got to be with a great missionary named Elder Chapman, who is from my group and came here to Bolivia with me. It was so cool to work with him and I loved the experience :) Now, the investigators :) I would like to focus on Jimena and Ismael. I have already mentioned Jimena before, but I just wanted to say that she is amazing and is progressing very well. She accepted a baptismal date and is working hard to find out that this is the true church. She is coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon, so we look forward to seeing her continue and helping her along that path :) Ismael is an awesome teenager that has met with missionaries for many years. We have worked with him for a bit and were happy to see him accept a baptismal date this past week. He is an amazing person that loves learning about Christ and I have loved working with him :) We look forward to helping him with anything that he may need :) Well, now that I have talked a bit about the work here, I would love to share a small thought, so here goes :)

This past week, I have been nearing the end of the Book of Mormon for my first time in Spanish. I have loved studying in another language and am so excited to finish, probably in this next week. As I have studied the book of Moroni, I have grown to really appreciate the second witness that the Book of Mormon brings to the faith in Chist. Having studied the Bible a bit here as well, I have learned to love the witness of Christ that it brings. However, I have realized that it talks very little about the organization of Christ's Church and several key points of doctrine. But, along with the Book of Mormon, any questions quickly become clear. In the book of Moroni, we find the last prophet from the Americas explaining how the church was run. He also explains very key doctrines, like the fact that infant baptisms are not approved of God. And the amazing part: Moroni is only one of the many people that brings clarity to sometimes confusing subjects. As I have studied here, I have realized how grateful I am for the Book of Mormon. This second witness brings amazing clarity to the already amazing book that the Bible is. Now, I testify to you all the necessity of studying BOTH of these amazing books. I promise that if you take the time to DAILY study these books of Holy Scripture that all of your concerns will be resolved and you will find the peace that you are searching for in your life. Study the Bible. Study the Book of Mormon. It will be one of the most life-changing things you ever do. I promise :)

Well, I hope that you guys have great weeks! You are all so amazing and I thank you for all that you do for me :) I will talk to you next week! Love you all!

Elder Wynn

A selfie with some of my pension's kids

Eating a GIANT dish of Pique Macho

Shoutout to Elder Wamsley who had his birthday this past week! Love this guy!

I hope that you like the photos! I love you!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Our Personal Conversion

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? I honestly cannot believe that July is coming to a close, but I hope that this past month has brought you lots of joy and that the next brings you even more! As for me, I have been very happy here :) I have to say that the baptism of Jose did not happen this past week, but he has accepted another baptismal date and we look forward to keep working with him. Investigators wise, I would like to focus on Janet, Evelyn, and Jimena. Janet is the mom of Diego, the kid that got baptized a couple weeks ago, and we have visited her for some time. A couple weeks ago, she accepted a baptismal date and we have been working hard with her to help her feel ready. This past week, we set goals about prayers, scripture reading, and church attendance to help her reach her goal feeling ready and we are very excited to see how everything goes there! Evelyn continues progressing amazingly fast. She has come to church by herself for more than 3 weeks in a row now and continues reading in the Book of Mormon. She is amazing and we look forward to continuing working with her :) Jimena is an amazing new investigator that we met with for the first time this past week. She is a reference from Evelyn, who is our cousin, and we cannot believe how unbelievably prepared she is. Everyone in her family is from a different religion and she finally decided to look for her own when Evelyn invited her to one of our church activities. She has accepted a Book of Mormon and shocked us by saying that it's a small book and she'll read the whole thing in the next month. We look forward to working with her and can't wait to see how everything turns out :)

Well, now that I've talked about a couple of the people that we are teaching, I would love to give a small thought. As you may remember, I have been assigned as a district leader here and give a class every Tuesday to all the missionaries in the district. One of the coolest things that I get to do with that is choose a district focus for the transfer, and I realized that I hadn't shared that with you, so here goes!

One thing that I've realized as a missionary is that we focus a lot on the conversion of the investigators. I can't say that this is a bad thing, but sometimes I feel that we forget about the personal conversion of the missionaries. After all, it is a commonly accepted quote that you cannot convert anyone more than your own conversion. So, this transfer we are focussing on the steps of our own personal conversion so that we can help others receive theirs. The scripture that I have found to pair with that is found in the Bible, 1 Timothy 4:10-16. I love it because it talks about that we must be an "example of the believers" (verse 12) and that we must focus on the doctrine and ourselves so that we can save ourselves and those that hear us (verse 16). This may seem like just a missionary thing, but it truly applies to all of you as well. Every day, we have the opportunity to share our personal testimony (or statement of belief) with at least one person, but if we are not personally prepared, we may not have the spiritual power that we must have to reach the hearts of others. So, as a challenge to you all, I invite you to study the scriptures about personal conversion, focussing on stories of amazing people (Such as Alma, Alma the younger, and Paul) so that you can find ways to strengthen yourselves in the gospel. As you do so, I invite you to make it a goal to share your testimony at least once a day and see your strength in this beautiful gospel grow, and grow. I promise you that you will feel the Spirit in more abundance and that you will feel your faith and testimony grow bigger than you ever would have imagined. That is a promise that I give you in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, I sure do love all of you! Thank you so much for all of your support that you always send my way! I hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wynn

Around 50 years ago, Spencer W. Kimball came to Bolivia to dedicate the country for missionary work. He came to the church builiding in Quiriza and hiked a small mountain nearby before holding the dedication service there. As a zone activity today, we all went to Quiriza to hike that mountain and see the altar that was placed to commemorate that action. Here's the altar.

It's a missionary tradition to spell your name in the rocks on top of that mountain, so my name is now up there with the rest

The view from the top of the mountain

I hope that you enjoy the pics! I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Search, Ponder, and THEN Ask

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? I hope that you guys are enjoying your July and looking forward to all that is to come :) As for me, I'm just enjoying the Tupiza life :) This past week has been a week of looking for new investigators. Today was the last week of Bolivia's winter break from school, so lots of our investigators left to Potosí and other places. However, that gave us some good time to look for new investigators, and I am happy to say that we found a couple people we have hope with. We look forward to appointments this following week and I will be sure to keep you all updated :) To talk about a couple people now, I would like to focus on Diego and Jose. As you may remember, Diego was baptized this past week. I just want to mention that he is looking forward to receiving the priesthood this following Sunday and passing the Sacrament. I am really excited as well :) With Jose, you may remember him from a WHILE ago. He has been in Potosí for the past 3 weeks for the break, but has been attending church every Sunday there with his sister, Febe. He has his baptism scheduled for this following Saturday and we really look forward to that :) If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to ask for your prayers for Jose so that he can take this amazing step :) Well, now that I've updated you all on a couple amazing people, I'd like to share a small thought from my personal study this week.

I am currently still working on finishing the Book of Mormon in Spanish and recently arrived to the book of Ether. There are amazing things that happen here with Jared and his brother, and I want to invite you all to read the book of Ether if you never have before. Here we find Jared and his brother travelling from their homeland to the Americas and have recently arrived to the sea. They have received revelation from God and build ships according to His instructions. They find some problems though. These ships are COMPLETELY sealed. Which means no air, no stearing, and no light. The brother of Jared goes and asks God about these apparent problems and receives two quick answers about the first two problems, but something very interesting happens with the third. Forgive my imperfect translation from Spanish, but God asks the brother of Jared: What do you desire that I do (Ether 2:25). I find this fascinating. I don't believe that God is out of ideas and is relying on mankind to find the solution that He can't. Here, He is testing the brother of Jared and allowing him to use his faith and search out an answer for himself. Read the story for yourself to see what happens next because I want to apply this to all of you now :) Many times, we have faith in God and desire something, so we simply ask for it. However, it is often not that simple. Many times, we personally must make the effort to search, ponder, and THEN ask for what we need. According to D and C 9:7-8, we must first study it out in our minds and THEN ask. Now, I invite all of you that are looking for answers, and seem to not be receiving those answers, to make a stronger effort. God will not always do everything for us, in the same way that our own parents cannot do everything for us, so that we learn and grow. I promise you that if you personally look for a response, ponder about your findings, and THEN ask God that you will receive the answer that you seek, that is a promise :)

Well, I love all of you guys and hope that you have an amazing week! Thank you for your support and I hope that you guys know that I'll be keeping up my work here in Tupiza as long as God permits me to be here :) Talk to you next week!

Elder Wynn

Diego with the tie I gave him :)

My favorite Bolivian dish: Picante de Pollo, with extra chuño!

Luis, one of my favorite young men here :)

¡Provecho! I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing?? Did you have a good week?? I hope that this last week went well and that this next week is even better! As for me, this week has been one of my favorites thus far in the mission. First off, the investigators :) Let's go with Diego, Marcela, and Alex. As you may recall from last week, I said that Marcela and Diego had baptismal dates this past Wednesday and Saturday. I am pleaded to report that both of these amazing children of God entered the baptismal waters this past week :) I had the amazing opportunity of being a witness at Marcela's baptism and the great blessing of entering the water with Diego to perform his baptism. Seeing their smiling faces as they left the water made every minute of work or stress with them 100 percent worth it. Continuing with their progression, Marcela received her temple recommend and made the 18 hour bus ride to Cochabamba with the branch to visit the temple and Diego is now looking forward to receiving the Aaronic Priesthood and passing the sacrament. I love these two people and look forward to continuing working with them :) As for Alex, he is a new investigator from this past week. We taught him the first lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon. I loved seeing his face as we explained a little about this amazing book of scripture. We look forward to continuing working with him and his family this following week :)

Now, let's talk about transfers. If you're keeping track, I've been here in Tupiza for three transfers, two of which with Elder Vergara. Here in my mission, it is a trend to have one, MAYBE two transfers with every companion, but never three. Going into Sunday night, I was POSITIVE that I would be leaving, as sad as that made me feel. Little did I know, but the trend was about to break. I am staying here in the America Branch of Tupiza with Elder Vergara for another transfer! I'm so excited! I REALLY look forward to this next transfer and hope for the best with everything that comes our way! Thinking of this, which, at least to me, is a miracle, I would like to present my weekly thought :)

As I have explained, it seemed impossible for me to stay, legitimately impossible, but it happened. This helps me realize an eternal truth about God. There are many things that confront us in our lives that we see and think,"That's impossible!" Maybe it's getting into our dream college, getting the job we feel slightly under-qualified for, or receiving the answer to our prayers that we are searching for. In all of these circumstances, we may think that it is impossible for things to turn out the way we want them to. I thought that about these transfers, but I realized a couple amazing things.

1. God answers prayers. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed to stay, even though it seemed so improbable. The fact that I get six more weeks here tells me that God truly listens to and answers prayers.

2. God can do ANYTHING according to His will. Whether it is my transfer, your dream college/job, or the answer that you seek, God has the ability to make anything happen. This is a promise from me to all of you :)

God answers prayers. God really and truly can do anything. All that I invite you to do is try Him. Ask for His help. Trust in Him. He truly loves you and wants what is best for you, so go and test Him :)

Well, I love all of you and I thank you for all the support that you all send me! You truly are all amazing and I hope that you have a great week!

Elder Wynn

Diego's Baptism :)

Marcela's Baptism :)

Our winning team at the District Tournament :)

I hope that you enjoy the photos! I love you so, so much!

Love,

Elder Wynn