Dia de Pavo!

Elder Wagner and his zone!

Dear Familia,

'dia de pavo' translated 'turkey day'!


So we had a good Thanksgiving here in Texas. Wednesday, I started getting a sore throat and Thursday, even though I was getting a little sick, went and played sports. We played softball and futbol (soccer for you gringos). I was pretty fun. I only scored one goal and I had tons more chances. It was fun because they are all really good at soccer and it was good to get to know the members better as well. The dinner we had was pretty american. I'd say it was about half-half. Turkey with salsa. Delicious. Pecan pie.

So I got a cold but I'm pretty much over it. I have plenty of cold medicine thanks to mom's preparedness. And thanks for the package!!!! The cookies were amazingly delicious. I still am eating them!!! They made my sickness a little less annoying.

Well the work is going here in Garland. This week is already the last week of this transfer. Pretty crazy huh? I imagine elder olson and I will stick together for at least another transfer here. I feel bad for Elder Olson because the work is so slow here. He is a great missionary. He has so much desire and strives to be super obedient. He is hard on himself but he has progressed a lot. His spanish is coming along really fast. He makes lots of phone calls in spanish and even ran the area last week on exchanges with the district leader (who speaks as much spanish as marissa or jacquie). So I guess that is a positive of this transfer.


Well family, the church is true. and many people are searching for the answers that we have. Let us reach a little higher in our efforts to share the Gospel. This time of the year is a wonderful opportunity to share why this time of year is so special. Share you testimonies of Jesus Christ with everyone around you, through your example. I pray for ya'll and know that God will help you be missionaries as well. Honestly, I don't care too much about what you send me for Christmas. The best present for me would be to hear about how you shared the Gospel with a friend. Invite the missionaries to come over and teach you how to do it. I'm confident they can help you find success. God Bless.


Love,
Elder Wagner

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Family,

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry for not being able to write last week. It was kind of lame but oh well. I can't believe how old riley looks! He is all grown up-ish and going to stake dances!! I hope you have a fun week in napa as well.

So you asked a bunch of questions and I hope I can answer some of them. As far as where I'm going to live next year I have no idea. Doug had mentioned rooming together but who knows. I'll tell you in a little while. As far as christmas goes, like 1-2 short sleeve white shirts would be good. Like a 16 or 16.5 inch collar. Mine are getting kind of yellowish (even with bleaching them!!!). Also, I need the minoclycline refilled asap. I forgot to tell you last week.

So I was thinking about making a christmas card that I could send to members and investigators in my old areas. If I could do a postcard version it'd be cheaper too. Mom, I bet you could help me with ideas. It could be simple, just my picture and a 'feliz navidad' or something. Just tell me what you think.

Exciting to hear about all those kids getting mission calls. It makes me feel old. Elder Olson is pretty young too. Graduated in 09. Its cool though because I still look young. haha. Speaking of tres leche cakes, Elder Facer had a recipe and we made it our last week in Sherman. And speaking of Sherman, Jennifer Lopez got baptized this weekend. I didn't get to go but its still way awesome. She is really awesome.

Well. This week was good. I'm learning a lot. Its really frustrating that the work isn't progressing like I'd want it too but there are good things happening. On Saturday the 4 other elders in the district and 4 youth from the ward went with us to go tracting in a spanish neighborhood. It was neat. The youth are all like 14-16 so it was fun. We gave out some Libros de mormon and got into a few houses. Hopefully it can help jumpstart the work here. On Sunday none of our investigators made it to church which is like one of the worst feelings as a missionary. We're going to re-double our efforts and trust in the Lord. Not everyone will accept the Gospel but someone here needs to. I know it.

During the past two weeks I've really felt the spirit while taking the sacrament. Not that I diddn't before, but that I have been learning the importance of covenants and the atonement. Last week I started a study comparing the scriptures from the Bible that teach about the atonement to scriptures from the Book of Mormon that teach about the atonement. Its really a huge difference. With the Bible we get an 'idea' or a general picture of the atonement. The Book of Mormon explains in clarity and detail how through Christ's infinite sacrifice we can be perfected and overcome the natural man. It teaches how those who 'had no law' or never were accountable won't be condemned forever. The Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of Christ better than any book on the earth. Not to discredit the Bible or talk down on it, but its not the same. I hope each one of us is taking the opportunity to prayerfully read from the Book of Mormon every single day so we can come of the Christ and be healed by his atonement.

I love you all. I'm honored by the privilege I have to represent Christ. I hope that we all put into practice the Gospel. Be courageous and share your testimony of Christ with someone this week and invite them to learn more about him. If you do it, the Lord will give you the words to speak and the Spirit will be with you to guide, edify and inspire you. Thanks for everything.

Love,
Elder Wagner

Technology difficulties...

Dear Family,

You've got to love technology. When it works, we are never grateful and when it doesn't work we are steaming MAD!!

And so it was this week. My ldsmail was down so I had to resort to the old dinosaur-style letter writing.

We have a good week of hard work. Sometimes the successes aren't what we want or expect but there is always something to be learned. The other day we were biking and saw an older Hispanic lady (of course her name was Maria). She was raking leaves in the yard. We stopped and started helping her. There were a lot of leaves because they had cut some branches. So it took us three about an hour and a half. She is a Seventh-Day Adventist and pretty happy with it. I talked with her about the church the whole time. At the end we gave her a Book of Mormon. I know she would've never accepted one if we hadn't done service to soften her heart.

Another highlight was when we decided to knock a street instead of eating dinner at the apartment. We were hoping to get fed by someone randomly. That plan failed but we did find a really cool 21 year old named Luis who wanted to know why there were so many churches if there was only one God. We shared the apostasy and the restoration. I asked him if he knew the church was true, would he get baptized? He said yes and we left him with a Book of Mormon.

Well, I'm running out of time. Tell Bishop Hansen and Grandpa & Grandma Wagner thanks for the letters! I love you and wish I could tell you everything- but this work is true. God lives and is very patient with us.

Love,
Elder Wagner

Riding a bike...

Dear Family,

It was good to hear from ya'll!

Sounds like Riley had a good birthday everyone is doing well. Thats crazy Uncle Mike is a bishop. Lots of fun for him. I'm glad you took your friend to that concert, Mom. Good job being a missionary. So Dad, are there a lot of Hispanics in the adult soccer league? Being here I wish I was better at soccer so I could play with all the Hispanics.

So this last week we had interviews with President Smith. He is really great. He asked me how all my family was doing with the recent deaths. He is a great example and very caring. We also had a huge Zone conference Saturday with Elder Flukiger(sp?) who is our area seventy. Him and his wife gave great talks. He taught us about the Doctrine of Christ(faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost and enduring to the end) I learned a lot. All the missionaries in the metroplex were there. The testimony meeting at the end was really great. It was nice not to have to give trainings because I'm not in leadership :)

Well our area is coming along. We've been doing lots of finding, trying to find new people to teach. Being on bikes is different. I haven't crashed yet, but I'm pretty sore. At least its not 110 degrees outside. There are so many hispanics here but it is very different than my last two areas. In the city everyone is in a hurry. The economic crisis is hurting hispanics since no one is doing construction and the economy is slow. Its sad because we talk to dads who can't make enough money to pay their bills here, let alone send money to their wives and kids in mexico. But some people still arennt ready for the Gospel even when trials have humbled them.

Right now I think the Lord wants me to learn patience. I want the work to progress and I want to see success, but it will come with time. The other night after a moderatly frustrating day of hard work and biking and talking to people who don't care, one of our appointments fell through and it was almost the breaking point. As we rode through the night to a back up plan I was tired, mad, and out of hope for this area. I said a prayer (as I was biking so I couldn't really shut my eyes) that I would have the ability to make it to the end of the day. Then we stopped by a part-member family. They were home and we taught a powerful 1st lesson about the restoration. I was so grateful for a prayer answered and God's patience with me. I know God's loves us and that he just wants us to do our best. This life is full of opposition but as we put into practice the doctrine of christ we will have the strength to endure all things.

I love you all and hope all goes well.

Love,
Elder Wagner

Rowlett 3rd Ward West!!

Dear family,

What a crazy week!

So my new area is the Rowlett 3rd ward west. Its a spanish ward and we are the second set of missionaries in the area. Its pretty crazy because its a bike area, really small and there are tons of hispanics!!! Its awesome. Its actually the area right above my area in Casa linda so I was already kinda familiar with the area.

My greenie is Elder Olson from Burley, Idaho. He's awesome. His spanish is good and is just so excited for everything! He isn't afraid to talk either. We bore our testimonies on Sunday in the spanish ward. He was nervous but gave a really great testimony.

There were 14 new spanish missionaries that came in and at least six who went home so the whole spanish part of the mission got changed up a lot. Elder Haslam (my 1st greenie) is training and so is elder Heywood. They actually made an entire spanish zone (but we aren't in it). The mission is growing and the work is progressing a lot. Getting doubled into an area is pretty difficult but the Lord is helping us a lot.

Its really exciting to be in a spanish ward again. Elder Richins (my mtc companion) is in the ward too. Its really cool to serve around him and to see how much he has grown and changed. The elders didn't have much work in the area but the Lord in changing that. We found a awesome family of seven last week (parents and five kids). We are praying to get them to church this week so they can start progressing.

This area has had missionaries in it for a long time but we just reopened it after a transfer without missionaries. This area hasn't had a baptism since march (and he's less active now) but I know that there are families here that we will baptize. I don't know how but we will. My testimony of this work is so strong. I love teaching people about the restored Gospel. I have lots of weaknesses but the Lord makes up the rest and as we exert a honest, faithfull effort, the Lord will work miracles.

The church is true, God loves us and we can live the gospel.

Love,
Elder Wagner

Ps. Happy birthday Riley!!!