Special Edition: Photos from Sis. Moe Egginton during training sessions at Zone Conference in Lazaro Cardenas

President Egginton,
 Whom Elder Wagner helped train on procedures,
when he arrived to serve as President in July.

Elder Hogge, from Kansas
 Elder Wagner's first American companion

Yes, some of these photos are ones that
 "only a mother could love", lol

Once again :)
 "Only a mother could love" lol

Lazaro Cardenas Zone
Working Hard, Playing Hard 

Week Eighty-six: HE IS RISEN!

I found this photo of Elder Wagner on Facebook :) 

This week we had a ton of opportunities to teach about the atonement and the true meaning of Easter. We also started to sing hymns in our lessons and i have been learning a lot through singing them. Elder Hogge is my first companion who is a good singer so its really nice to have someone sing over me instead of me trying to set the tone and messing up haha. But honestly it was a really powerful week full of the spirit and lessons about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This week we also baptized Eloisa!

This week we also baptized Eloisa! She is the daughter of a recent convert. Her mom was baptized a little over a week ago and is now the relief society president!! The baptism was great and a lot of members went. Almost all the ward went. The ward is pretty small, but it was still impressive! I got to confirm her on sunday. She got to church pretty late, so we confirmed her after all the talks had ended. but its okay because she got there late because she was trying to get her husband to come and he did! hes not a member.... yet. Were working on that haha.

We went on splits with some elders in our zone who are in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero. Their area is really touristy and also has the city "IXTAPA" in it. its a super popular tourist attraction. it was absolutely beautiful. ill attach a picture of the sunrise.

My scripture to ponderize this week is Moroni 7:46

Challenge: Get ready for general conference!!! In less than one week we will be able to listen to prophets seers and revelators. Prepare some questions so you can find the answer during the conference!!!

Feliz semana!!!

Elder Wagner

Week Eighty-five: One week in the hot land

We found an iguana in our back patio

This has been the funnest/most interesting week of my mission by far. We found an iguana in our back patio, a stick bug, tried new fruits (the fruit in the picture is called noni. it actually tastes horrible but is supposedly really good for you), and its been really fun. Oh and today we went to the beach with elder Zurita and his companion Elder Maas.

a stick bug

The fruit in the picture is called noni

Today we went to the beach with Elder Zurita and his companion Elder Maas.

Things are going really well to be honest. Tuesday we are going to have a baptism! The church here in lazaro cardenas is in a different phase in its growth, so i have to adjust a lot my style to work with the ward and its members. The people here are a lot more humble, but very kind. In Guadalajara there a bunch of white people, but here in lazaro, Elder Hogge and I are pretty much the only ones haha. Actually, in the entire stake (22 missionaries) there are only 2 other americans and one of them is Elder Zurita who looks like a mexican haha.

My scripture this week is Doctrine and Covenants 81:5-6

Challenge: Share this video on your facebook page to share the good news that Christ has risen and because he has risen we can return to live with our Heavenly Father one day! You should also watch the video and explore the website, its really amazing.https://www.mormon.org/easter

Thanks for your love and support! Have a good week!

Elder Wagner

Week Eighty-four: Goodbye Guadalajara, Hello Lázaro Cárdenas!

Well, after 18ish months in the city I have been transferred to the furthest zone of the mission!!! It is super hot and humid here. In the city, the climate is very mild and nice, but here its hot and sweaty! Its going to take some time to get adjusted, but im excited! The ward im in is named Palmas (if you want to look it up..... mom).

Pam's note: I looked up the area, and added the above photo and map :)

We finished my last few days in my old area with a baptism!
Livier and her daughter Valeria were baptized and confirmed Saturday and Sunday.
 It was a really spiritual experience and we felt the spirit really strong :D
Her parents (members) gave the opening and closing prayers and couldnt hold back
 the tears of joy they had. it was a really touching experience.

Luis Mendoza and I!
This is a young recent convert from the Reforma ward who went with us to teach lessons 2-4 times every week in preparation for his mission.
 Im gonna miss this guy!

My new companion is Elder Hogge! 
 A while back when i was still with Elder Martinez, we visited Lake Chapala and Elder Hogge, who was there at the time, gave us a tour and is now my new companion.  (Zach re-sent these photos from Week 77) Its the first time ive had an american companion and is really weird speaking English haha but its good because now ill be able to speak a little better when i get home!

My scripture to ponderize this week is John 16:33

Challenge: Find a new way to apply the atonement in your life. Sometimes we think that its just to forgive us of our sins, but thats not true. Read John 16:33 and think of how Jesus Christ and his atonement can help you in your life.

Have a great week!

Week Eighty-three: Lazy?!

This week we did a service project at a less actives house who is blind
and doesnt have anyone to help him. His house is TRASHED.
We had to use face-masks and still came out coughing and dirty.

The other day a less active that we are working with invited us over for dinner and while we were eating with him he asked me if i went to high school and if i went to prom (hes kind of an odd fellow). when i said yes, he said with who? whats her name? i said "Laci" my companion started laughing and said "her name is Lazy?!" hahaha people who are native Spanish speakers have a hard time with the difference between the Z, C, and S so for them everything sounds the same hahahaha so they think i went to prom with a girl named lazy lol. Sorry Laci!!

Livier went to church again!!!! This Saturday her and her daughter are going to be baptized!!! Thats the plan at least. So this week were going to be really busy with her and Valeria preparing them for baptism this Saturday! Pedro on the other hand did not come to church because he had car troubles the night before and arrived home extremely late. So hopefully we can keep working with him and get him ready for baptism soon!

Here is a photo from our zone meeting this week

On Thursday we found a literal GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR. We were walking super fast to get to one of our appointments when all of a sudden someone started whistling at us. Normally when that happens we ignore it because its usually teenage girls or drunks, but for some reason my companion felt impressed to turn around. When he did he saw a middle aged couple walking there dog around. We started talking with them and found our that they had just moved here and were trying to find out where the church was. We told them where it was and then asked if they were members. The husband said "i am" and his spouse said "Im not, but i want to be!". and then asked if we had a book of Mormon to give here because she had forgotten her other one in the other house. it turns out that she had already received all the lessons and was completely ready to get baptized, but then they moved. Sounds like a golden investigator to me!!

The work is progressing a lot here in our area! Elder Zuniga and i are really excited and are excited for the upcoming baptisms. both these 2 this week, and a couple other possibles in the next few weeks. But next week are transfers.... part of me wants to get transferred to get to know more of the mission because i have spent all my time in the city and only left one time for a training meeting of 3 hours. The other part of me wants to stay here and keep seeing to progress of our area. well see what happens.

My companion, Elder Zuniga

My scripture to ponderize: Moroni 10:32

Challenge/Thought: This week we did a service project at a less actives house who is blind and doesnt have anyone to help him. His house is TRASHED. We had to use face-masks and still came out coughing and dirty. *photos attached. These people are forgotten too much! Please, if you know someone who has need of your help, HELP THEM. You will make their day and maybe just change their life. Also, read Moroni 7 and learn about why we need charity to become more like Christ.

Thank you for all your love and support! youre the best!

Elder Wagner

Week Eighty-two: I'm terrible at putting clever subject lines

I feel like this is going to be one of the more boring letters I've sent since leaving the offices, but oh well haha sorry!

We have been working a lot with Pedro and Livier and Valeria. They all came to church, along with some other investigators, but neither of them have progressed toward gaining a testimony... I think this is the first time I've had investigators who complete with going to church (normally the hardest part) but don't do the small things like read the scriptures and pray. But we're going to keep working hard with them and hopefully they can be ready for baptism in 2 or 3 weeks!

We had a special training this week that talked a lot about the difference between minister and administer and how the leaders of the mission need to master both. It was really good and I learned a lot of stuff that will help me both in and after the mission. The offices helped me a lot with the administration part haha.

My scripture to ponderize this week is D&C 122. Last week I only picked 3 verses, but this week I'm going to see if I can memorize the whole chapter!

This week we spoke with a woman who was very lost and unhappy. We knocked on her door and she told us that she had already spoken with a lot of churches and that she only got more and more confused and that she had given up and was just going to go back to the religion that her mom taught her and give up. We tried to help her, but she was so distraught and sad that she didn't let us leave her a pamphlet or anything. It was really sad for me to see someone so unhappy and lost. the hardest part was that she wouldn't let us help her. 

CHALLENGE: Let God into your life, or if you already have, help someone else do the same. Just because the trials seem too much and it seems like God has abandoned us, he is always there with his hand extended waiting to help us. Let him help you and heal you through the atonement of Jesus Christ. (D&C 122) There is also a video about this on LDS.ORG called "Gods Light" look it up!

Thank your for all your support and prayers! I love you all! Especially you mom! I don't think I said that to you in the emails I sent you haha. Have a great week everyone!

Elder Wagner

Week Eighty-one: You win some you lose some

La luz del mundoTemple of the church of "The light of the world" 

This week we had a few days that were amazing and others that were supposed to be amazing, but didnt turn out so well. On Tuesday we had 6 appointments and went on splits with the members, but we ended up having just a few lessons and only one of the appointments was home. Saturday was the complete opposite. We had almost no appointments, but we went on splits with the members and ended up having a lot of lessons and we saw a lot of progress in our investigators. We saw the most progress with Pedro. He has a long time listening to the missionaries, but has never read the scriptures or prayed. After the lesson we had the other day he said "Ok i think im getting to understand this now. there a 3 things i need to do. 1. Read the Book Of Mormon. 2. Pray 3. Go to Church." Yay! he finally understands!! He came to church again on Sunday and brought his mom (Who is insanely catholic) and a friend!!! 

Here in Guadalajara is the capital of a church called "The light of the world" (La luz del mundo). They have a massive temple here next to our area and we decided to visit today. Ill attach a picture. All of the women in their church wear skirts down to the ankles so its super easy to see if they are from that religion haha. 

My scripture to ponderize this week: D&C 122:7-8 Remember that opposition is part of this life and it is to help us progress!

CHALLENGE: We have visited a lot of less actives in these last few weeks and we have found that the #1 reason for people to not go to church is PRIDE. We as humans get offended very easily because we are naturally prideful. Put off the natural man and become holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ (Mosiah 3:19) Remember why you go to church and the reason why you are a member of the church and nothing Satan throws at you will affect you!

My scripture to ponderize this week: D&C 122:7-8

I love you all! thank you for your prayers and support!

Elder Wagner