"FAUTHA GAUD.. Please bless my boys out heeya in da streets!"

We have a super nice house that we share with the Zone leaders. Oh it is so much fun probably to much fun haha.   I have not been keeping to much contact with the recent converts. To communicate to any of them I have to send a letter through the mission office. I do know this though. P should be attending the temple for the first time this upcoming weekend! S is still active but has picked up smoking again last I heard. She is still trying very hard to overcome her addiction, but she is trying which is what matters. F is on fire he received his patriarchal blessing last month and is beginning to consider serving a mission! Apparently he is the only one who participates in the huge elders quorum. Which is surprising because he was kind of shy when we were teaching him. His girlfriend is serving in temple square and yelling at him to go serve a mission haha. She was always yelling at him for something. 

   Funny story time. I am almost certain that I am the only missionary in the mission who has had and will have the opportunity to serve with the only black missionaries in the mission. Both of them from the deep south. Texas and Louisiana. it makes talking to people who aren't white so much easier and more fun. So for the story. It is 8:30 at night and we pull into this sketchy apartment complex. close by we see a bunch of hood-rat looking folk joking around near where we parked. Me and Elder B left our wallets in the car locked it and went to go talk to them. As we approach They start looking real skittish. We both put our hands in the air and let them know we weren't cops, but rather we are Jesus Christs servants. The four guys chill out a little bit and begin to ask us questions about what we are doing. We told them and asked if we could share the saviors message with them. They agreed and Elder B began to pray. Note: When elder B prays his voice gets very soft. So when these guys heard it, one of them spoke up during the middle of the prayer and said "Say it like you mean it man!" Elder B pauses and continues his prayer in the same fashion that he left off in. It didn't take long before once again the same guy repeats his request, except this time a little louder. Elder B pauses and then in a loud voice starts over. "FAUTHA GAUD.. Please bless my boys out heeya in da streets!" As soon as he said those words I died laughing on the inside and unfortunately a lot of it manifested itself on the outside as a snorting laugh that was obviously a failed attempt at not laughing. The other guys hearing my wonderful snorting sounds began to do the exact same thing. We all began laughing at some point. It eventually died down and we began to teach them a little bit. It turns out they were all really sincere guys who had just made some bad decisions in life. Though they were not to interested in the message it was good to be around people who were willing to at least listen and have a funny moment with. 

   As for the rest of this week we have been doing a lot of tracting. Which this time around has not been to fruitful. Though there were a couple other worthy journal entries from it haha. There are a lot of part member families in this ward so we are going to begin to work with them as well. But part members are really tricky. If you push them to hard they will get offended and not want to meet with you, but if you don't push them they will remain in the same rut that they have been in for the last 10 years. We will give it our best shot though. 

   I only get less than a year to finish out strong. I have set some goals for myself and plan on achieving them. Thank you for all your prayers and love. Stay strong and carry on. Elder Wagner

"The darkest part of night occurs just before the sun arises."

Hey family, This week has been ups and downs. Being on a mission makes you super aware of your weaknesses. I am really effective if I know the area and I know the members. When that happens the ball is rolling really fast. However when I am moved to a new area I get really scattered brained for about 3 weeks. I forget names incredibly fast, I get lost, I lose things myself (which is why I used the credit card to pay for groceries last week cause I lost my msf card). All of these things decrease my confidence in myself which then affects everything else I do. Fortunately I am just leaving that stage, but I never like going through that process haha.

   There is a quote in batman which says "The darkest part of night occurs just before the sun arises." That has definitely been true for most of my mission. This last week we were having a pretty rough time. Then on Sunday everything clicked. We found a ton of solid potentials the kind that we pray for every night one door right after the other. It was absolutely amazing. For example, we were talking to this girl who was very interested in the BOM when all of the sudden this guy from the apartment above us brings both me and my companion a glass of water with ice and then walks off. We scheduled a return appointment with the girl we were talking to and set off to find this guy. The first door we knock on is his and he begins to tell us how the man he respects the most owns this zoo that he worked at and is the bishop of the ward there. He was delighted to meet with us! and wants to learn more.

   To cap it off though we found a young family that let us in and at first the husband was skeptical but as soon as me and Elder B got warmed up with how to begin teaching he did a complete 180. It was one of those times where both their eyes locked onto mine and they were listening with their hearts when the first vision was recited. The spirit rushed into that room real quick. From that point on it was just a home run. Such an awesome expereience. 

   Thats about it for this week here are some pics from Dale city

 P is the one that is closest to me and M his long lost friend baptized him

Me and Elder Peterson goofing off

Love the tie (Oregon ducks tie)

New Area, New Companion

 I am now in the Manchester Ward. It is by far the largest ward I have been in so far. My new companion is Elder B he actually came out with me, but at about 5 months he went home because of a family crisis or something. So now he is fresh back out with me and it is kind of weird. 7 months ago I was a different missionary than I am now. So we are both in different stages. It is kind of confusing. I am now in a house with two other Elders as well. It is a lot of fun, but I think the work goes on a lot better when it is just you and your companion that live together. That way you are more forced to get along with each other haha. I am sure everything will work out though. I have now had 8 companions and by the end of each one I have always loved my companions to death.
  Over here in Manchester we have just been trying to figure out what is going on here and getting to know the ward. It is pretty diverse. We have every class of people you can immagine. Millionaires, middle class, to straight poor and everything in between. Which is really great cause it allows for the ward to support eachother in different ways.
  I am in a car again which I am not to disappointed about around this time of year haha. Fortunately the weather has been pretty mild thus far minus one huge Ice storm. They don't have those in Oregon! Everything freezes. I mean everything. There will be about 3 inchs worth of ice coating cars, mailboxes, and blades of grass as well. 
  I will really miss Dale city I made a lot of friends and found a lot of success. No area is perfect and it is what you make of it.So I am going to make this Area my favorite this far. 
  In the mission (and probably every mission) there is this big debate about numbers. "It is not about the numbers it is not about the numbers." I was listening to President Wilson talk about this and he said " we had 5 baptsims this last week and we are grateful for it, but I Know there are so many more people who are prepared in Virginia this week than 5." That really hit me. There are 100's more willing to accept the gospel and the only thing that inhibits that is our vision and our faith to find. This involves setting goals. So I set one for myself to baptize once a month till the end of my mission. It is a pretty big goal but there are so many people who are prepared here we just have to find them.
  I loved that you guys are involverd in missionary work. It makes me happy and I know it makes you happy to though it might be hard to realize at times. members of the ward truley can hasten the work they just need the vision. 
 The Book is blue and the church is true Elder Wagner

Being Transferred

Hey all! Thanks for the Duck tie! It is just subtle enough that you can't tell what it really is till you look real close. It is perfect haha. I forgot to bring my Camera to day so I can't send any pictures.. which is really unfortunate cause I had all the pictures of the baptism on there that I wanted to show you. I'll be sure to bring it next week.

   The baptism was amazing. I had to throw it all together 3 days before it happened by myself cause my companion was unconscious. Needless to say it was hectic. For example the bishop almost canceled the baptism cause he didn't think that P had a testimony. Others were asking me to put it on another day because no one would be able to make it.  I lost the only key to the baptismal font 2 hours before the baptism. We had someone from another ward Baptizing P and the bishop was unaware of it (my fault) and he was going to make one of us jump in a suit and do it. P had to be dunked twice. One of are speakers forgot that he was speaking and all the while one of our investigators was lost on her way to the baptism. 

   Despite all of that it was the best baptism I have ever attended. Once me and Elder P were able to locate the key we had an hour to fill up a font that took two hours to fill. So by ourselves we began filling up water pitchers  in the near by kitchen and rotated between filling them up and dumping them into the font. We filled that baby up in 45mins. We personally called members and invited them to come to the baptism. The ward mission leader thought we might have 10-15 people there. We had about 30. P was Baptized by one of his best friends that we were able to track down from Sierra Leon that he had not seen in 3 years till they were reunited in the men's bathroom 10 mins before it started. He brought a recommendation from his Bishop and he was able to baptize P. The other person who was speaking unknowingly planned to talk about both topics that we needed. So it was alright that the original speaker did not show up. We got our investigator there and just in time for it to start. She had a great time.

   The crowning moment however is when P bore his testimony. WOW! It was so powerful. In it he said these words. "Elder Wagner and Elder P I want you to know that your efforts with me will not be wasted and that you are more than friends to me, we are brothers. Most of all I cannot wait to partake in the blessing that come in attending the temple both for my ancestors and for me." I will cherish that moment for ever. Life is made up with failed plans, chaos, unexpected trials, and doubt. If we endure and have faith we will be able to take part in complete joy for just a few moments that make all the difficulties beforehand worth it. 

   In other news I am being transferred and am becoming a District Leader whatever that is... I have enjoyed my time here and will miss many but I am glad that it ended right. 

 I love you all have a great week :)

I am so glad Oregon won!  The one year that I won't be able to see them win they probably will. I wish I had a duck tie to wear on game day haha.  

   One of the ward missionaries is a big SEC fan. When I brought up that there prized star got beat and that they don't have anyone going to the championship game he got pretty upset haha it was great.

   So P is going to be baptized this week! I am so excited. That guy is just amazing. Hopefully he can help us convert all of our other African friends. I will send you picks and everything. I have been practicing "I Like to Look For Rainbows" on the guitar I don't know if I will do it at the baptism, but I might surprise everybody ;) It is weird I never had any desire to be a good singer, but it is such a useful tool to use. We are advised to sing at every lesson but it is kind of hard to do when we sound like a bunch of pelicans. So I have been practicing singing. I am not much good but I am much better than when I left from home haha. 

   Transfers is this next week. I have no clue if I am staying or going, but I would be happy with both. Elder Peterson has been getting really sick these past couple of weeks on and off so we have not been able to get out much besides to the lessons that I have been trying to schedule. It really is not a good idea to be sitting in the house all day. You begin to get complacent. Which as in emails before I have indicated is the worst thing that can happen. So I am thinking I am going to get a new companion.

   Other than that not to much to report I am glad that you are all staying busy and happy I love you very much Elder Wagner

Some scarfs that members made us for Christmas. We went and racked leaves that morning

christmas

   Hey Family! it was great seeing you all for Christmas! That was the best gift, other than that the members spoiled us with a ton of stuff we weren't expecting. 
   This last Sunday was pretty interesting. First off Me and Elder P gave talks about how our parents have helped us, so I had a lot of good things to say about you guys. We also had a total 4 inv's from Sierra Leon. In our ward we only have one active member from Sierra Leon so he was really excited to see some people to relate too. Come to find out that one of the people we brought was his Niece!! They hadn't seen each other since he left Africa 8 years ago. Whats more is that the other two folk that we brought new each other too!! One had been this girls teacher back in Africa when she was 10 years old and had not seen her since she left his class. She is now about 25. All this happened in a gospel principles class in an LDS church in Virginia. It's a small world after all!
   Elder P was kind of sad this Christmas because his parents didn't really send him anything. And you guys sent a ton so I felt pretty bad. So I surprised him with a ton of gifts for Christmas. Most of it was my own stuff that I knew he liked. So I wrapped it all up and Christmas morning he had a ton of gifts. He was excited :) It truly is a lot better giving than receiving. I really like to think about creative things I can do for people and then watch their reactions when they see it. Just warms the soul. 
   The work over here is awesome. Transfers is coming up and I feel like I might be sent off, I really don't want to go though... I have grown to love this ward and to love my companion. Plus we are working with some pretty solid people. Who knows though I could be here for six more months. Where ever the lord needs me I suppose. 
   Well I love you all keep the missionary spirit up. I love your stories! Stay strong and carry on!

> 

Cool story time. We were walking around a sketchy area late at night talking to every thing that moved when we got to a man by a dumpster. We talked to him for a bit and it became apparent that he was missing something. He told us that he was in the dangerous trade of "supply and demand" and that he was content with his life. Elder P is really good at asking questions and it got to the point where he asked this man  "What are you missing in your life?" Things got really quite and the spirit came rushing in when he said "My Momma." This man had plenty of rough edges but he still clung onto the one person who had ever shown him true sincere *undefiled affection. We told him of someone who had as much love and more love for him who created a plan that allows us to be with our loved ones again. We don't really knew how he took it but he did say that he was waiting for us to go over and talk to him when he saw us walking around and that he was glad that we did. We are getting in contact with him 2 days from now so we will see what happens. I am thankful for those opporitunities that the Lord gives us to meet someone who has been prepared and is looking for truth. It takes a lot of trust on his part which leaves a lot of responsibility on our part. Always be ready to share the Gospel it needs to be on the tip of your tongue and when it is the Lord will bless you by seeing others come to Christ. I love you all and to all a goodnight -Elder Wagner