Week Twelve: One Transfer Down In The Field

I cant belive i already have 6 weeks done in the field and am halfway done with my training. the other day realized that im already 1/8 the way done with my mission and my brain just about exploded.

Overall, this week went pretty well. Saturday night my companion got a nice surprise from the first councelor in the bishopric. we were teaching an active member in her little shop behind the counter and the first councelor and his wife came in to buy some stuff. he said something like "Elders of Israel! youre always prepared arent you? well how about you speak tomorrow morning in sacrament meeting? Elder Nolasco, you speak on reverence and Elder Wagner, you speak on Forgiveness ok?" we responded "...... uhhh.. sure, why not?" and he said "great! oh and each talk should be about 10 minutes long." so yeah that was pretty great. we spent our night scrambling to put together talks and then the next morning he told us that we didnt have to speak untill 2 more sundays. we were really relieved, but at the same time we were kind of mad because we had just spent the last 12 hours freaking out and then it was all for nothing, but at least i have my  talk somewhat ready for 2 weeks from now!

For some reason its really hard for mexicans to say my last name. they always say "waahner" haha its pretty funny. A few days ago someone read it, paused for a little bit, and then said "like los warner brothers?" hahaha so yeah thats acually happened a few times and theres a brother in the ward who always greets me with " Los Warner Brothers!" haha its pretty funny. Also, i guess theres some fameous musician or something with the last name wagner because a few people have asked me if im related to him and i just say no because i have no clue haha.

Another funny thing that happened this week: i was talking with an Elder who is from Baja California who is familiar with both the american and mexican culture and i was talking to him about why mexicans put chili powder in everything. seriously, chili powder is in EVERYTHING. i was saying something like "you know what would make this food better? Chili powder. You know what would make this candy better? chili powder. you know what would make this ice cream better? chili powder. you know what would make this shampoo better? chili powder." Then elder raya stopped me and said " you know, there actually is shampoo and soap with chili powder right? your companion has those" hahaha yeah thats mexico for you. if you want to make anything better, just add some chili powder.

Now that ive been out in the field for a transfer, ive been able to see a few different missionaries and how they conduct themselves and its pretty obvious to me who was ready to serve a mission and who wasnt. Future Elders: Please dont serve a mission untill you feel like you are mature and ready to be a representative of Jesus Christ. Serving a mission is a whole lot more than just going to a different country for 2 years and teaching some people about the church.  when you are a missionary, you are literally representing The Lord Jesus Christ and should be able to act in a way that Christ would. Please dont just serve a mission because youre 18 and everyone expects you to go. Make sure you have a testimiony of the things you are going to teach and if its necessary, wait a year or two or three. Elder Oaks' first talk as an apostle talks about why missionaries serve. i encourage you to read it, or listen to it, or watch it and find out for yourself why you are going to serve a mission.

Con Amor, Elder Wagner