Week Ninety-five: The gift of agency AND comments about Elder Wagner and Hogge

 A giant mango we found

This week I learned a lesson about how frustrating it is not being able to make peoples decisions for them. All the time I have been here with Elder Hogge we have been working with a lot of less active members and have found some promising investigators. We have had some weeks where some went to church and some weeks where they didnt. This week I was sure that a large amount of them were going to come because everyone committed to go. When all was said and done, no one came to church from the people who promised us. It was so frustrating. It took us a long time to get over it... well im still trying to entirely overcome it... but I am coming to understand that they all have their own free agency and it is very essential in God´s plan. Sometimes we can´t do much to help them make the right decisions, but now I understand a little better how Jesus Christ feels when we promise time after time to be better and then fail him every time.

We ate in Zihuatanejo with a member

I dont have much time this week, but heres a quick review of this week. We traveled to a small town named Pantla to do a baptismal interview, went to Zihuatanejo to go on divisions with Elder Richart and Elder Herrmann, traveled a lot, and worked a little in our area. haha i know its short, but there you have it. This week we will be going to Guadalajara for a meeting and then later in the week we will be going to Pantla again so we will have very little time in our area. 

 When we ate in Zihuatanejo with a member
(Elders Herrmann and Hogge)

My scripture to ponderize is Psalms100:22

Challenge: Smile more! A smile goes a long way and can change your day or someone elses!

Pictures: A giant mango we found, and when we ate in Zihuatanejo with a member.

AND HERE IS THE WORD ON THE STREET ABOUT ELDERS WAGNER AND HOGGE :)

Week Ninety-four: Elder Chavez visit

Heres a picture of Elder Hogge´s "Redneck GoPro"

This week we had a pretty great visit from our new area 70. In the April general conference he was assigned and it turns out that he is still serving as a mission president in chihuahua mexico and as an area 70 at the same time!!! How ridiculous is that? He came to train the stake and ward leaders and gave everyone a nice little reprehend (D&C 121:43) to both the members and the missionaries. Its always nice to have someone come and help you see the things you need to improve and change. Overall his visit was very uplifting and spiritual!

I had divisions with elder Cuenca who is from Ecuador. It was interesting to see how much he has changed since his first day in the mission. When i was still with Elder Zuniga, we recieved him on his first day and had him and another missionary with us for a full day and now about 4 months later he is a lot different. I cant imagine how much different ill be when i get home hahaha.

Overall it was a good week up until the weekend because elder hogge and i had to figure out how to involve the vision/goals of the stake, the mission, and now the new aspect of elder chavez which was actually pretty different to what we had before, but it has helped us get a better idea of what we want to achieve in the stake and mission. 

This week I am going to ponderize D&C 4

Have a great week! love you all!!!

Week Ninety-three: Post Mothers Day call

We had some more adventures with animals this week! 

I attached a picture of a turtle we pulled out of a little creek :D

This week i got to speak with my parents and grandma through skype!! Well, it was a google hangout, but we wont get into details. It went almost exactly as i had expected.. we planned my return trip hahaha. Elder Hogge is really good at reminding me how many days i have left on the mission. according to him i have 64 days left. Its crazy how fast the mission goes by. well i still have 2 months left, but the other part has flown by!

Also, while waiting my turn to make my skype call we were talking to a member about a strange fruit that grows here. In spanish its called Yaka. im pretty sure its the same in english. Basically, it looks like a giant spikey watermelon and it grows on trees! It looks super weird haha. Inside it has a bunch of pits and all the pits are covered in the edible part of the fruit. It tastes kind of funky but its pretty good. I attached some pictures.

I spent the majority of this week in another area with another elder, Elder Clifford! His companion is having some difficulties adjusting to mission life, so we went on divisions to help him out. It was fun to be with Elder Clifford, but it was tough being out of my area because i felt lost the entire time and wasnt sure who the people we were teaching are. So it felt good to get back to my area yesterday. While with Elder Clifford, we went to his wards mothers day activity! They hired traditional Mexican dancers. It was pretty cool! its hard to explain it, so I'll attach some pictures.

My scripture to ponderize this week is D&C 42:14

CHALLENGE: This week I am focusing on improving my prayers and getting closer to my Heavenly Father by praying for others and for the Holy Spirit. The challenge this week is to do the same thing. Try to improve your prayers and pray with more intent.

Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers! They really mean a lot!

Have a great week! Elder Wagner

Week Ninety-two: Happy late mother's day

Tomorrow (Tuesday May 10th, Mother's Day in Mexico) I get to call my mom!!! And its my last skype call home.... Woah, thats crazy.. Well, happy late mothers day mom! ill see you tomorrow!

Today we had a zone activity and it was super fun!
We had a bunch of mini games like flan eating competitions, scripture trivia, scripture chase, trying to put on a shirt that is frozen in a block of ice, etc.

We traveled to Guadalajara again this week for our monthly council and this time the bus ride was a lot better :) Its weird working in our stake because its sooo much different than all the other work ive done in the mission. Here in Lazaro Cardenas we are focused on strengthening the wards and branches and supporting the leaders. And let me tell you, its a whole lot harder than baptizing. 

Sorry, i dont have a lot of time this week, but i do have pictures! enjoy!

Elder Wagner

Special Edition: Photos from Sis.Egginton-Leadership Conference in Guadalajara

Week Ninety-One: Good Changes

Sis. Egginton sent me (Pam) a fun surprise Tuesday, this photo
of Elder Wagner, and Elder Hogge!
 Her comment to me: "They are in town for Leadership Council tomorrow. I was in the office at the right time!!!" 

Hello everyone!

Elder Hogge and I made some changes this week in our areas focus and saw some good changes! We started visiting different people and found quite a few new people to teach. Its kind of ironic because every day I teach people that repentance is a change that we make in our lives and that we shouldnt be afraid to make changes in our lives even though they might make us uncomfortable, and I wasnt making changes in my own life! But dont worry I have repented and changed!

The adventures continue with new creatures in our house of never-ending surprises. The other day Elder Hogge was punching a mattress in an extra bedroom we have in the house to work out and then I heard that he had stopped and thought nothing of it. He then calmy walked out and said something like "Elder, come check out this crazy bug that just came out from the behind the mattress I was punching." We went into the room and he showed me the weirdest/creepiest/scariest bug i have ever seen. Its like a mix between a spider and a scorpion. We put it in the freezer to kill it and then gave it a photoshoot. The pictures are attached. We dont know what it is, but some people here say its the "Mother of the scorpions". Im pretty skeptical because everyone here thinks that every bug is poisonous and will give you fever if you touch it haha. So thats your homework. Figure out what the heck this bug is. I might give the person who figures it out a small mexico souvenir.

We had some pretty good experiences while finding new investigators this week. Ill share one of them with you: So a couple weeks ago a family brought their neighbor to church (nonmember) and he shared with us how he got to know the church. He said that many years ago he had gone to the U.S. to work and he was treated terribly almost the whole time. Then he arrived to Utah and he said that the people there were really kind. They gave him food and work and didnt discriminate against him at all. Now he is preparing for baptism! We still have a lot of work to do with him, but his name is Victor and he is great!

My scripture to ponderize this week is 2 Nephi 25:26

Challenge: Make some changes in your life to become a better person and get closer to God. The scriptures tell us to "repent" or in other words, "change" about one bizillion times. Im sure thats not by coincidence! So make a change or two in your life and get a little out of your comfort zone and I promise that you will see good results!