Leaving Nacogdoches...

Elder Wagner at the zoo with a new friend!
A birthday party!

Elder Haslam & Elder Wagner watching the pinata bashing at the birthday party!

Elder Wagner, District Leader, and his district.

Dear Family,

Well. We had a good week here. So Saturday night we have transfer calls. President Smith called me and told me I'm leaving Nacogdoches. Even crazier is that I'm going to be a Zone Leader somewhere in the city.

Needless to say Sunday, yesterday, was bittersweet. Its hard to leave because I love all the members here. I've seen lots of miracles in my time here and its been really fun. Elder Haslam is staying here which is cool. At the same time I was ready for a change. It seemed like I had no more ideas for the area and I wasn't sure what to teach to investigators anymore.

On Sunday, Hermano Ortigoza received the Melchezidec Priesthood and was called to be the 1st counselor in the Elders quorum. In the 4 months I've been here he went form being completely inactive for the last 14 years to a worthy holder of the priesthood of God. Its a miracle. I gave him and Nacho and Jorge some ties and we talked about how they can prepare to go to the temple and be sealed as a family. It should happen while I'm here in Texas so I hope I can go. Its hard to go and I'm excited for the opportunity that I'll have to serve as a leader. I'm sure I will learn so much and hopefully I'll be able to help some other missionaries. In this transfer as a district leader I've learned so much. Oh, last week I interviewed a guy named Ascencion. He is 19 and got baptized in the Hemphill Branch (the area is the furthest away from the mission home). Less that a month ago he met the missionaries there. The missionaries there taught one lesson and in the middle of the lesson they left his apartment for a few minutes. As soon as they came back in they asked him how he felt when they left. He said that the peace he was feeling left as soon as they left. He learned that the peace was the Holy Ghost and from hat day he has been on fire, reading in the Book of Mormon, the Teaching of Joseph Smith. It was a miracle lesson. He bore me a powerful testimony of how he prayed and asked if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if Thomas S Monson was a prophet. So cool.

Jacquie, that was a great email. Just think, you can feel the spirit that strong everyday as you prayerfully study the scriptures. Do it, you won't regret it.

Mom, I still have 6 full boxes of contacts, enough for two pairs a transfer (every 6 weeks). Just to be sure you could get like a box or two. All my clothes are doing good. About prayer. Where do I start.... Read 3 Nephi chapters 3-4 (mostly 4) have a really cool story about prayer... but its about war and robbers and stuff... 13 year old girls might not like it.... about prayers... I like Pedro's story, who got baptized just a few weeks ago. He was a drug addict. Partied. As he put it after we taught him the commandments, "I've done most all of those...". One Night before he met us, he felt alone, and like he was wasting his life, money and didn't know what to do. Although he had never been very religious, he prayed to God. Crying, he begged for help, maybe even angels to come help him. Less than a week later, we were in the area and we stopped by to see his sister who was baptized in febrero. We started talking to her and then Pedro walked in. I had never met him, I didn't even know she had a brother. We started talking. He asked how we can not do bad things, even if everyone else is. (because he had tried to stop drinking and smoking but couldn't quit for a long time) I told him the story of Mormon. He was the only one who had the holy ghost and he stayed righteous even though everyone (really everyone) was sinning in the worst ways. Then we talked about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. At the end of the lesson I asked him how he felt. He said he felt happiness, something different. I told him it was the Holy Ghost, it was God telling him that its true. His prayer was answered. Elder Haslam and I had the opportunity to be the angels to answer his cry for help. We can all be answers to prayers and we can receive answers to our prayers.

I'm running out of time but I love you all and pray for your safety. Happy Fathers Day to Dad and Grandpa Wagner and Grandpa Shaffer.

Love,

Elder Wagner