A Picture from the President!

Elder Wagner with
President Smith and Sister Smith


October 13, 2008


Elder Wagner has been assigned to serve in Garland, Texas with his companion Elder Brady Barney of Herriman, Utah. The Dallas Texas mission covers the northeast part of the state of Texas. Nearly 3/4 of the missionaries are in the "Metroplex" of Dallas serving a population of almost four million!

We received a letter from President Barry M. Smith and a letter from Elder Wagner. This letter was written before the previous post, but I thought you all might enjoy reading it!



October 13, 2008
Dear Family,
Howdy! Well, I'm alive and well here in Texas. I'm so excited. It's really amazing to be here. President and Sister Smith are great! I'm excited to get to know them better.
It was nice to talk to most of ya'll this morning. I really am looking forward to serving here. Tomorrow I meet my trainer and find out where I'm going.
It's scary to talk to people at first, but everyone is pretty nice once you get talking to them. The lady I sat next to on the plane was really nice. I gave her a 'Finding Faith in Christ' pass-along card. I hope she calls for it. It's hard for me to make the jump from small talk to what I'm doing as a missionary.
Oh, I finished the Book of Mormon today on the plane. The last chapters are so great. Mormon and Moroni knew where it was at! They fought a losing war their entire lives and they still lived with faith, hope and charity. I especially like in Moroni 7 when it talks about "laying hold" upon every good thing. Lay hold upoth the words of God. Laying hold is like clinging for your life!
Well, God Bless and I'll talk to ya'll later.


Love,
Elder Wagner


P.S. There aren't any mountains in Texas, so I won't be distracted! And THERE ARE SQUIRRELS EVERYWHERE!