Week Sixty: Transfers

New companions
Elder Gonzalez and Elder Wagner

So last week President Egginton told me he was going to have me train, but i didnt say anything in the other letter because sometimes things change, but now its for sure!!

His name is Elder Gonzalez and hes from northern mexico near texas. HE LOOKS LIKE A MEXICAN AUSTIN FOLSOM! and everyone here says we look alike and i totally see it too haha so he really is my son!! (mission slang for trainee)

Before receiving elder Gonzalez i was reassigned to the offices for a few days and now i am assigned to a new area named Bosques (forests). I dont know the area at all and neither does my companion, so its an adventure!! We somehow found the food appointment today and thats a pretty dang good start!

Also before receiving elder gonzalez i got to say goodbye to elder and sister guillen who are going to finish the mission in about 3 weeks :( im gonna miss them a lot.

I also got to say goodbye to a lot of friends from
 my old area "Cruz del sur" in the offices.
Ricardo Esparza and Enrique (i think) Espin

Last week after writing we went to a market called "San Juan De Dios" which is the biggest market in Guadalajara. i was really excited, but when we got there a guy was fixing a parking meter and when he saw us he said "Elders! youre in the wrong place!" that may or may not have startled me a little bit haha but we went with a member so that made me feel better. While there i bought a bunch of stuff to send home for christmas and some other stuff. Dont worry mom, i already sent the package and it should get there within 2 weeks i think. All throughout the mission everyone always told me there was a wrestler (literally luchador like from nacho libre) whos name is Doctor Wagner, so naturally i was always looking for his mask. I FOUND IT!

Luchador- Doctor Wagner

Challenge: get out of your comfort zone. you cant grow if your in the comfort zone and you cant be comfortable in the growth zone. thats just how it is. the natural man doesnt like change, so get out of your comfort zone and do something that you wouldnt normally do. this is what im going to be doing with elder gonzalez and i know hes going to grow a lot, so join him and take the challenge!!

Thank you for all your support! i love you all!!!!!

another picture of the doctor wagner mask and a sweet mexican hoodie i found.

me and the second counselor of the bishopric in my last area
 brother jesus zertuche

burn line from playing soccer in the sun for too long :(

my son (elder gonzalez)
and daughter (elder zurita) because i trained him in the offices
(mission slang, when you train new elders)

Special Edition: VIDEO'S of Elder Zach from the Mission's Facebook page

The AP's randomly asked Elder Wagner how he gets his hair to look so nice, haha.......

Elder Wagner ends with a humorous quote from the movie "Nacho Libre".

Sister Egginton wasn't able to attend the conference, as she wasn't feeling well

so their zone sends her a special message:

The missionaries from the Bugambilas Zone,
 I suggest you start at 30 seconds and watch til 45 seconds, 
then skip forward to 3:55 minutes
for a friendly good-bye from Elder Zach :)

Week Fifty-nine: 1 Year in the Mission Field

 (This is a frame-capture from a video that was posted.

He looked so happy I just had to share it! -Pam)

This week we had a zone conference the 16th and i realized that exactly one year prior i was in the same chapel at the same time to receive my trainer and i was assigned to the same area!

Bugambilas Zone Conference Sept 16, 2015

haha Are those posed Circus elephants in the back on the right?

Also, the 15th of September was independence day here in mexico, so everyone was lighting off fireworks and partying. but to be honest, we do it better in the states and have way better fireworks.

I got to go downtown with Elder Hostetter to sign visa papers and all that good stuff. I had to go to the offices for half the day to help out and so we decided to go Thursday night and sleep with the secretaries so we could help out in the morning and not loose our study time. it just so happened that the rest of the missionaries from my district in the MTC did the same thing because they had to sign their visa papers on Friday! so we ordered tacos Thursday night and the next morning we all got up early and played soccer. it was really good to see all my buddies and play soccer with them! i have some pictures, but i cant upload the pictures in this internet place :(

(Pam got this photo of them, off the Mission FB page from Elder Dance's mom, rumor has it they also enjoyed going to Dairy Queen together :)

We have been visiting a lot of the people i was teaching the first time i was here in the area and we have visited Ernesto and Mercedes a few times. A lot has happened in their life and they have been going through a few deaths in the family. We visited them earlier in the week and Mercedes was really frustrated with God and confused as to why she had so many troubles even though she is a good person. we were able to teach the plan of salvation with her and explain that everything that is unfair about this life  is made fair through the atonement of Jesus Christ and that all her relatives who have died will be waiting for her on the other side and she can do their temple work and we finished the visit by giving her a blessing of comfort. when we entered the house she was upset and frustrated, and you could feel it in the house, but when we left there was a feeling of peace in the house and it was amazing to see how much the spirit can do and change a situation if we invite it.

Challenge: Invite the Holy Ghost into your life/home. Try to focus on finding the Holy Ghost in your life by eliminating distractions and temptations in your life.When we look for the Holy Ghost and invite it into our lives, IT COMES.

Love you all! thank you for your support and love!!!

Elder Wagner 

                 

(Waving (video) to all the missionary's families and friends,

  this is a frame-capture from it. -Pam)

Photo's from 2015-2018 Misiòn Mèxico Guadalajara Este Facebook page: Elderes de Zona Bugambilias...

           Hermana Egginton the Mission President's wife, posted these photos on the 

2015-2018 Misiòn Mèxico Guadalajara Este- Facebook Page

Zone Conference-Bugambilias 

(comments by Pam)

Love that mischievous smile and boy!!!

Who's that photo-bomber on the back row?

Think he's glad to be out of the office?

Elder Wagner's new companion Elder Antuna!
(notice the double name tags on them, must be so you don't have to be
changing it from your suit-coat to shirt pocket, back and forth....
and so your suit-coats don't get switched by accident)

What are they all smiling about, on that back row? 
Must be up to something.....

Elder Petersen worked with Elder Wagner in the office.
(back left- Elder Wagner being "normal" lol)

Snack time! Bottom's UP!
"Where's Wagner?" :)

LOL maybe they need to put him...BACK in the office! :) 
When I asked him about the photo bombing, he said: 
"the assistants made us stop because we were 
actually doing a lot more crazy stuff haha"

Week Fifty-eight: The return!

Old Photo previously sent- of Patria, the area he is now serving in

This Thursday i got a call from the zone leaders and they sent me on "Special divisions" to my first area again!!!! there was another elder here who got injured, so they sent him to the offices with Elder Zurita and now im back in Patria where i was trained!! i am sooo excited to be here again! A lot has changed, but at the same time its really familiar. so ill be here until we have transfers on the 28th of this month and then well see what president does. my companion is Elder Antuna. he already has 3 transfers here, so its possible that they keep me here next change and to be honest, thats exactly what i want! we have been visiting converts and members and everyone who recognizes me says that ive changed a lot and that before i was a lot more serious, but then when i explain that i didnt understand anything they told me while i was here the first time because i was really new haha. Its crazy to realize how much can change in just 9 months!

I am now getting to work with the people i taught 9ish months ago and its great! i honestly cant express how excited i am to be back in this area.

Old Photo, previously sent-of someone he worked with 9 months ago, Mercedes.

So hopefully the rest of my letters from here on out will be just like this one and i will just be super excited all the time haha. 

Yesterday was a really special day for Mexico. The temple of Mexico City was rededicated and they turned all the church buildings in mexico into "Extensions of the temple" and we all got to participate and watch the re-dedication.

Challenge: Realize the importance of the temple. the re-dedication of the temple has started a spark in the members here in Guadalajara to go to the temple more often. So, the challenge is to go to the temple, get a recommend, or find out more about temples (depending on your current status: member, non member, etc)

I love all of you and hope you have a great week!

Week Fifty-seven: The chapel flooded!

 Elder Marion
(who was with me in the same ward when I was being trained)
is now my zone leader and its awesome!!!

Yesterday around one hour before church was going to start we got a call from the other missionaries and they told us that a water pipe had broken and the chapel had flooded and he needed our help to dry it up. We have a sister missionary in our ward who is still kind of new in the mission and she was trying to explain the situation to us and she didnt know how to say "flooded", so she said, "elders, come to the chapel! the chapel..... umm.. well.... its like a lake!!!!" hahaha and she was right. there was a good half inch of water in all the lower level of the chapel. the good thing is that all the chapels here have tile floors, so all we had to do was squeegee and mop up the floor.

Friday, a sister from another ward gave us hamburgers and the next day we were all really sick. so the only full day we would have had to work in the field we were in the house and offices because we got sick :(

We also had a zone meeting this week. Elder Marion (who was with me in the same ward when i was being trained) is now my zone leader and its awesome!!! 

My Zone

The mission bought a bunch of copies of the movie Meet the Mormons, so we watch it while we work in the offices and i think ive seen it about 5 times already haha. its great! you should all watch it!! So this weeks challenge is to watch Meet the Mormons! its a great way to learn about the Mormon faith and see some really cool stories of people around the world!

Sorry for the short letter, we had our zone activity and i dont have much time to write :(

I love you all! Elder Wagner

Facebook Humor from Hermana Egginton

"Hey is that the back of Elder Wagner :) ?

After looking at this photo, knowing that Elder Wagner works in the office, I thought that there was a chance that Elder Wagner, was the person in the background on the far right, behind the Pres, so I asked Sis Egginton, Monday at 11 am, "Hey is that the back of Elder Wagner :) ?" 
 she replied "Actualmento, no :) Lo siento!!!!       
 (I had to go to google translate....."Actually no. Sorry!!!!") 

  "It's Elder Wagner's BACK!"

 The next thing I know Tuesday afternoon she posts, Moe Egginton to: Pam Young Wagner: "It's Elder Wagner's BACK!" 

 My Reply: "ROTFL! You Are So Funny! THANKS!  It's good to see that...
 "You've got his back!" :) 

LOL Another BACK shot of Elder Wagner on the right

It's Elder Wagner's FACE!
(on the left, back row, second in)