Hi family.

So I got your letter last week mom. I'm not sure why but for some reason I didnt get your email. It might be the address. 'kevinswagnerTDM@myldsmail.net' The other thing it could be is that the mailbox only holds like 50mb and so when you send all those pictures it fill ups in a couple weeks and I dont want to delete all the letters. So maybe you could send two emails, one with pics and one without. Because this week I didnt get an email again. Not sure why but oh well.

We had a good week with interviews on thursday in longview and zone conference in tyler. It was a bunch of driving I had to do. But it was good to see the other missionaries and President Smith. Things are going well here in Nacogdoches. We are working hard and seeing lots of miracles. Elder Haslam and I spoke yesterday in sacrament meeting. He spoke first and I was the closing speaker. I shared the story of how Grandpa Wagner found the Gospel. I talked about how it wasn't two missionaries knocking on his door, it was a teenage friend who gave him a Book of Mormon that led him to the Gospel. It was a neat experience to be able to share something personal able sharing the Gospel. The best part was that I was able to express myself in spanish and it was like a twenty, twenty-five minute talk. It was cool to see how much my spanish has progressed.

So next Sunday Junior (his real name is Pedro) should be getting baptized. I'm so excited for him. He knows the guy who is heading out on a mission and a bunch of the other members. When they knew him in High school he was a lot different I guess. He used to do lots of bad stuff. During gospel principles class he was asking tons of questions. Its neat to see the spirit work on him and make a big change happen in his life.

So I'm really grateful to be here in Texas as a missionary. Someone at Zone Conference said that the mission is a time we have to refine ourselves. But that this time we can do more refining and faster, to burn out all of our impurities. Sometimes I feel like that, that its a fire that just hurts a lot but I know its good for me. I love Ether 12:27. If we trust in God and have faith he will make weak things become strong things to us. I have a testimony of that. I also have a testimony of priesthood blessings. President Smith gave me a priesthood blessing during my interview. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. I needed comfort and guidance for my area and mission. I honestly feel that if Jesus Christ or an Apostle gave me a blessing that they would have used the same words. I had told him about Riley being sick and in the blessing he said that he would get better eventually, but that I was where I'm supposed to be. It was powerful. I know that the priesthood is really the power of God that he gives to men to help us serve and learn. I love yall and take care.

Love,
Elder Wagner