Week 20

Oh my gosh Skyping was so awesome! i am so grateful for the time i got to talk to you guys!! 

well this week had its ups and downs!

UPs: 

i am not home sick at all, but i was scared that i was going to get really home sick with skyping but i didn't!  In fact it just motivated me to keep going even harder, honestly. 

On Christmas Eve we went to the plaza in Moquegua and got to sing for everyone there and share the christmas spirit with the people there! we also had a video playing called "el es la dadiva" or "he is the gift" from the church website! i know christmas has pass but i invite all of you to look it up! it will bless you!

Then we had turkey for christmas!!! yay not chicken, haha!!  it was really good turkey too!! 

we had a family home evening on friday with a young couple in the ward and we had paneton and hot coco! ya I know HOT coco, even though it was super hot here 😁.  i dont understand these people some times, but I guess you got to drink it sometime! 

Then christmas morning we went to the stake center and had french toast, played with water guns, exchanged gifts, cleaned the church and just hung out! 

Then i got to Skype the family! woooooooooow it was awesome!! i thought i was gonna die of sadness or somthing after,  but really i dont feel sad at all! i was just so happy to see them and then so inspired to get back to work! i miss you all a ton but this is where i am supposed to be! i am so happy to be here!

then later boyd got to baptize a sister in central! that was an amazing experience! i am so glad i got to be there to watch that! 

ok the downs: only one Down really.. people don't want to talk! i really cant understand whats up with that, but we will be working hard to try and fix it!! we are doing our best, the people might just not be prepared right now! its pretty hard but we will be ok!

Sorry so short, but we are headed to Ilo today to play soccer and spend time with the missionaries there. 

have a wondeful week!! God bless you all!:) 

Elder Wagner

(Selfie of Cluff)

Week 19

Merry Christmas.... Feliz navidad 

(At the concert last Saturday) 

well, this week wasn't as solid as last.... but hey we worked hard!!!! we leave each morning and walk all day, then teach as many people as we can! its not an easy job! but with the lord on our side it is possible!  so we will be just pushing on like always!  we did have 2 cool experiences!

 1} boyd and i were sitting on a bench eating some chips and this lady walked passed and i said "hi" and she just walked up to us and started talking.  I asked if we could teach her and she said "ya, right now!"  haha so we sat down with her and taught her for an hour!! it was an amazing experience because that day was super slow until then! she is going to Arequipa cause her son is in the hospital, so we wont see her for a while but we are going to be trying to find her as soon as she gets back! it was super cool!

  2} we were walking up a hill with a member and i was like, why dont we just knock this door real quick? so we did and the man whipped opened the door,  invited us in and talked to us.  we found out he investigated the church when he was 10! he was super super interested! he had lots of great questions and was really wanting to learn more! it was awesome, i cant wait to go back!

 

All week we have been practicing our skit for our christmas party on Saturday! the party was in tacna, we went there and talked to everyone for a while and then we listened to the president and his wife speak, they were great!  then we ate lunch which was pollo a la braza!!yummmmmmmmmm we played a bunch of games! for example dressing our zone leader up as santa with paper for a competition! haha it was super funny! then we got stockings from sister Zobrist with chocolate and we did our skits!  they were super funny!! After we went to the plaza to sing, but we couldn't because there was a band there, so we quickly sang a couple songs and went back home!  It was an awesome experience to be together and enjoy our time with other zones.

Our zone leader.... Pretty good, right?

The competition..... 

one story that I read this week was in the book of Daniel 3 in the bible! its about meshach, shadrch and abed-nego!  it talks about how they stood up for thier beliefs and had great trust in their lord! i invite you all to read it and ponder on what you can do, too better your confidence in the lord and his spirit!! It's an awesome read and has helped me a lot! i hope it helps you too.... 

mommas Qs

1.  How about the mouse bite??? Did you get it checked out? The mouse could of had diseases or something!  Just really watch it.

1. mouse bite is fine haha! didn't draw blood!

2.  How was your week? Did you teach as many lessons as last week?

2. not quite as many lessons but a good a mount! 

3.  Details on Christmas.... I'm assuming you have them or you better!  Do you need my skype information? Anything different for Christmas?
3. umm nothing different really just hanging with the zone Thursday morning and then skyping the family and working hard!!:) 

4.  What are your plans for pday today?

4. playing soccer and freesbee!

5.  Any more discussions with the avocado mans wife?

5. ya we did but she is really catholic... its getting harder.... Still teaching her.  Things are going really slow, but that's ok. 

6.  Did you buy your pension a Christmas gift?  You probably should... At least something little.

6. ummmmm no, not yet.  i might give them an oil vile because he doesn't have any! 

thats alll i got for this week..... 

god bless you all, love you, 

Con Amor! Elder Wagner

Some pics from last weeks food of the week.... The best cuy ever!!! (Yummy right?). Here is a quote from last week "also bishop invited us to lunch the other day and we ate cuy! ohhhhh my gosh it was sooooooo good!!! i loved it!" it was cooked soo good!!  boyd said it was the best he's had on his mission! it was absolutly delicious!! new favorite thing to eat! mom gotta learn how to make that;) it is defiantly the food of the week!"

In the middle of town.... Found some shade for a nap!  It's crazy hot and after a hard days work, we all need a nap like this! 

Week 18.... On fire!!!

(Sorry no pics this week, computer problems)

well what an amazing week!  last week i said we were changing a few things and holy cow we did! and holy cow poop it worked!  we didn't really change how hard we worked, cause we already are working hard, but the way we did it changed!  we decided to put our goals higher than ever and above the mission standard, it was hard but we met almost all the goals!!! we taught in total 21 lessons this week!!!! gosh and we found new people and had amazing lessons with old ones!!  It was truly an amazing week!!!

    One lady we are worked with is named amanda, she is the wife of the avocado man! she is a die hard catholic, but one lesson when we were just teaching her she just changed!  we taught her how to pray and when she prayed.... wow!!! she said, "father i have been catholic all my life,  i was born catholic and i dont know anything else, but if it is your will for me father i will change!!" AHHHHHHHHHHHH  boyd and i looked at eachother like what just happened!!!  it was sooooo crazy!! we are still teaching her and gosh i am so happy she has this desire to know the truth! she does everything we tell her and she is progressing really well!! we are so happy! she's like our golden investigator!

our work this week was on fire!!

also bishop invited us to lunch the other day and we ate cuy! ohhhhh my gosh it was sooooooo good!!! i loved it!" it was cooked soo good!!  boyd said it was the best he's had on his mission! it was absolutly delicious!! new favorite thing to eat! mom gotta learn how to make that;) it is defiantly the food of the week!

    There is a tradition in peru to burn clothes when some one dies.  so one of the members asked if we could do it for him!  Of course we were happy to help, so boyd and i took the man's dads clothes way out in this dump place and burnt it all!!  it was awesome!! good times.....:-)

     then, that night when we came in our room i saw a mouse and so boyd and i were scrambling around the room trying to catch the mouse!! i grabbed a bag and put it on my hand and i was sliding around the room and i finally got it by the tail and i took it out side and it bit me!!!!!!!! so i dropped it and it ran, boyd kicked it and then, I hit it a few times with my hands, we ended up burying it in rocks! the next morning....guess what.... it was gone.... duh duh duh! haha we don't know what happened to it or where it went, but it was fun to catch it!! 

     ok the washing machines here in peru take 2x as long as washing by hand! we will never do that again! haha washing by hand is way better and faster!! 

     we had a service project this weekend painting the house of a member!, it was fun until i stepped in a bucket of paint... Then i was painting again and i stepped right back into it!! hahaha it was terrible! but its ok now i got it out of my shoes!  After we got to play soccer with little kids, it was fun! 

     On Saturday we had the music recital, called El Nacio.  It was super good! lots of people came and we sang well and the spirit was so strong! It made me reflect on the birth of my savior.  i know that my redeemer lives and i am so grateful for this season and that we have time to reflect on his life and his love for us!  i hope everyone takes the time to sit and think about what your savior has done for you!! he loves you and so do i! 

Mammas Q's:

1.  I'm soooo interested to see if there were any changes on transfers.  Part of me hopes you stay with elder Boyd and in Samegua, I know that change is good, but I just feel comfortable with you being here and with Boyd.  

1.  no changes!  we are still here for another transfer! we are gonna set the example and work hard! Boyd is the new district leader, so this is a good opportunity for me to learn! i am exctied!!

2.  Elder britcher said he was going to monqugua this weekend for a choir concert.  Did you see him? 
2.  yea i saw birtcher! it was great to see him and president! it was awesome!

3.  Visit the avocado farmer again? 

3.  ya we saw him, but we taught his wife cause he was drunk! but it was a great lesson!

4. I need details on Christmas!  When do you think you will find out??  Some moms posted on the Facebook page that some of their sons got to call the day before to set up a time to call.... Get the details.... Please😉 

4.  i don't know right now but next week we will have all the information! sorry momma

5.  did you put up the nativity vinyl set?  If not give it to your pension to put up in her house. 

5.  YA it is up in my room! i love it!

 

(My sister ask Tanner about a topic she was given to talk on in her sacrament meeting, below is his response) 

What did your savior do his whole life here on earth? did he sit there and think, "Should i help that person" or did he go without hesitaiting to help his fellow brotheren? i think about how much of an example he is with service! he gave his life serving! also one of my favorites is joseph smith, that man is the spitting image of a servant of God! he never put himself before anyone! did you know that when a family came into Kirkland while they were building the temple, he stopped the work on the temple, to build this family a house!! gosh that helps me soo much when i hear that! i love to serve and when i serve others i know that i am serving my God! those are some thoughts! hope they help!

Con Amor 

Elder wagner

P.S. wanna give a shout out to my cousin jacob! we are gonna have two elder Wagner's and two sister Wagner's in april!! one in peru, England, Kentucky and Canada! he is gonna be a great missionary! love you man! keep up the good work!

Week 17....

well another of one of the most frustrating weeks of my life! gosh,  i cant believe how much the people here don't want to work! no one will help us! all the leaders of the ward make up so many excuses and it makes it super hard to get much done.. we are working sooo hard and aren't seeing much progress here at all... boyd and i have been thinking that they will be closing the area down to only one set of missionaries because 4 isn't making a difference... i have learned a lot about patience, because we literally are working soo hard and serisouly its sad that we have the lowest numbers in the zone... i know its not about the numbers, because they aren't just numbers they are souls, Gods children! but they wont listen! our numbers of progress doesn't show how hard we work every week!  it's really frustrating... but i know with all my heart that i am supposed to be here in Samegua right now! even if it was only to plant some seeds of hope and love! It wont bring me down! I am just gonna keep following every freaking rule and do my best to work my hardest all the time! 

we have some plans this week to really try and do our best to change this situation around with our ward and area....  i dont know if it will work but we will see!!

My companion and i are doing really great together!! we get a long really well! it is truly a blessing to have elder boyd as my comp! we will be finding out if there changes this week at transfers.  saturday we will find out if we leave and if we do where we go! we dont know what to think right now! haha we have our guesses on who is leaving and stuff, but its not for sure! i will let you know all the details when i figure it out next week! i am kinda scared, to tell you the truth!  i will miss Boyd if he leaves, a ton! he has become really one of my closest friends and has impacted my life in so many different ways, I truly can't describe it in an email! i love that guy a ton! 

anyway, some things that happened this week:

well we beat the latinos at soccer again!! hahaha,  we went in there and tore it up! it was way fun! they got mad and they had to buy us pop! it was legit! us greengos really rock it at soccer! 

   we went exploring in the fields down the hills in our area and we contacted this guy named freddy rojas!! he is awesome! he is 74 and he has a huge avocado orchard and works it all by him self, cause he doesnt trust people to work for him! anyway he taught us about his trees and then we taught him about the gospel, and he wants to learn more! we visited him and his wife.  His wife is a hard catholic and a nun even live in their house but he feels like he has been searching for someeting more...so that is good for us!! his wife is super super nice too and wants to learn more about us! so its cool to talk to them! he is a great guy for sure!! 

(Irrigation system)

     oh and i puked again:]!! haha it was a good storry actually! i wasn't feeling too hot all day and finally at dinner i couldn't barely move! i didn't eat and tried everything to feel better, but nothing worked!  I was just dying!  i couldn't take it, so i said a prayer and asked for help to do something that would make me feel better! the spirit told me "stand up, and turn around." so i speedily followed that prompting and right when i turned it literally flew out of me into the toilet!!!!! i felt everything from my stomatch leave!!!!!! holy cow, it was the craziest feeling.  I only puked once and that was it! i felt sooo good and i was so hungry after!!! luckily in my christmas package i found some tuna:) sorry momma... hehe and i ate that! gosh it was amazing!!! i love tuna!! but, ya so that was a crazy testimony builder of the power of prayer! i know my savior is watching over me and has felt everything i have felt!! i love that i have the ability to communicate with him even in times that seem odd!! i love my savior with all my heart!

mommas Qs 

  1.  Soooo had you talked to Celeste father anymore?  Are you continue ing to teach her, even though she can't get baptized?  

1. she cant talk to us at all... she can't even leave her house at all... she is like locked up... Really sad

2.  Are transfers coming soon?  It seems to me they should be next week.... 

2.  ya this Saturday is when we find out!

Today for pday we went to the local waterfalls again... It was great and fun to spend time as an area/zone.  

Food of the week is lomo saltado, beef shreaded with fries and rice! its super yummy!

(Not actual pic from tanner, but from the Internet of his "food of the week")

Scriptures:  Everyone check out Ether 12! it is a great and talks about faith, charity, and hope! it helped me a lot this week!!

well, i think that is it for this week!

con amor 

Elder Wagner

Week 16!!!!

This week had its ups and downs.... But let's start with the ups!:) if you want the downs start at the end! haha 

This past Pday was great! we got to bbq real hamburgers and fries! as you can see in the pictures they where nice and juicy and yummy!! it was super fun and then we got to watch Como A Capacitar Tu Dragon 2!  it was great! all in spanish of course, but still good!  

Then throughout the week we did a lot of walking and had some great lessons with less actives.  Their progress is going good and they are going back to church!  It's awesome!  One example is last week, we stopped teaching a lady.  We had explained to her it was because she wasnt progressing and seemed stuck not putting forth effort or seeming interested!  Well, I guess that kinda made her mad at us and told us we don't have patience.  anyway, guess who showed up at church the next week??? Yep... I think she showed up just to make us feel bad! it doesn't make us feel bad at all! its great, we were so glad to see her there!  Now, she has come to every activity and church just to prove us wrong! hopefully she keeps it up!!  Also, this sunday Boyd and i were asked to give a talk right before sacrament!  I was freaking out and trying to write stuff down and i had two themes picked and then Boyd said to me "hey man, just relax and let the spirit guide you." So i sat back, said a prayer, closed my scriptures, and went up to the pulpit and just talked! i gave a couple minute talk, completely guided by the spirit. nothing that i said was anything i planned or even thought of saying!  i talked about repentance and how we all needed to repent daily in order to better our lives.  it was an amazing experience and i felt so empowered by the spirit! the words in spanish came from my mouth like smooth butter!! after i sat down boyd asked how i thought my spanish was, i said, "it felt pretty good." he said, "dude your spanish was almost perfect!"  I only messed up on one word! the gift of tongues is real!!!! i know my savior is watching over me always and that through my baptism,  i can have the holy ghost with me to guide me and work through me! it was an awesome experience!  Saturday we had an awesome service project at Pedro's house! we fixed his chicken coop, shoveled dirt, moved rocks and did all kinds of stuff! it was super fun!  the smile on Pedro's face as we were working... priceless!!! It's amazing the happiness that service can bring others!!  Pedro was shining and i was just overwhelmed with the love of my savior for him! We are all children of God and i know that to be true with all my heart!! 

     OK now for the downs.  Well, to start out with the sadness... we didn't have a baptism... celeste was doing so good! she passed her interview with the bishop and was super excited to be baptized, but when we needed a signature from her father, he shut down! I guess he didnt think she would ever really get baptized.   He said she will die a catholic... so that really stinks!!! We were sad for her... But we will keep sharing the gospel with her and pray that her fathers heart softens!  Then we had sports activity all set up for Saturday night and it was gonna be super fun!! We got the basketball court and soccer all ready, the ward was supposed to come with teams and play the missionaries and bishopric.  The deal was, if they won, we would buy them a pop! but guess what?! not ONE person showed up.. not one. it was so sad.... so we just played basketball and soccer for a while... gosh dang that would have been awesome!! But next time... We have to figure out what will make them come out to activities.  I know it sucks, but you know.... what would I have learned if everything always worked out for me?  NOTHING!  So, i am thankful for my challenges and glad i have the opportunity to grow from them!!

Mommas  Qs

1.  Any mail yet???

1. yes i got the mail!! i haven't opened the Christmas one, but Boyd went through it and checked it all out... I got my christmas one from you momma and then i got the halloween one from grandma!!!

2.  How was the baptism?  

2. no baptism.. :(

3.  How old is Celeste and does she have a family?

3. celeste is 14 and has no kids! haha she lives with her dad. 

4.  Do they have pinatas in peru?  

4. not very often at all, the piñatas are very uncommon! 

5.  Any details on Christmas?  

5.  No I think we are going to tacna. 

Food of the week! 

i don't have a picture of a new food this week, but I have to say our hamburgers this week for pday were darn good!  Also, Rice and chicken every day lunch and dinner....it is getting so old! oh and grandma sent me skittles in my package and oh my goodness!!!! that made me sooooooooooo happy!!!! i love those things!!! love you grandma and papa!!!!

Well that's all for this week.  Love you,

 Con Amor 

Elder Wagner, Samegua

Week 15

(Tanner and his little future missionary buddy)

What a week!! gosh missionary work is so hard... it is really hard when you walk to every single house, and they are there... but dont have "time" to talk!!!  we had appointments too!! they all fell through!!! soooo lame... But we just kept working!  Elder boyd and i were thinking of what we could do better and one thing that came upon us is to increase our studies! we do our studies but on the days we have our meetings sometimes we don't have time to finish all of them and we just go to work.  so we decided to make sure we get in all our studies everyday, then get to work! wow what a change!!  i know that might seem like a dumb little thing to do, too make such a big difference, but it did!!  just think, we are given all these simple things to do everyday, like read your scriptures and pray, that can just take 20 minutes! thats it, and i think then of the blessings you recieve from those few minutes, in my case PEOPLE ANSWER THIER DOOR AND WANT TO LISTEN!! hahaha what i am trying to say is we have all these simple commandments that take little from us, but God blesses us more than we could ever imagine!! why are we not all taking part in that deal?!  i promse you that if you push your self and strive to become a disciple of christ you will be sooo blessed! its the small and simple things that keep us going and make the biggest difference!

(Taking a break from the heat) 

     Well anyway, back to the week!! i dont have the squirts anymore!! so thats a plus!!:) i am doing great health wise and drinking lots momma:) this last pday we played in the stadium here in Moquegua and it was pretty fun! it was really disorganized... but it was fun! we got to play soccer with ILO and we won! 8-3! ya we kicked some bootie haha! 

my bud elder birtcher came down from arequipa!! it was sweet to see him and talk! we went to pizza and then i talked to him at the district meeting for a bit, but he's a busy man being the assistant to the president!  it was really good to see him!  they are all coming back for christmas too so that willl be sweet too!! oh and my comp and i are getting along really well! we work hard and we have a good time too!!  

    Got Some news! 

we got another rescue!!!!  Hermano Pedro has decided to come back to church! he is such a great guy!! i love him, he is my bud! he is probably 50 something years old and loves learning, it's so great!! then we gave a blessing to an hermana in our ward and she was perfectly healed the next day!! it was absolutly amazing!! i am so grateful for the power of the priesthood in my life!! it is a blessing that i cherish close to my heart!!  

our baptism is still on this Saturday!! YAAAAA!!! I am so excited!!! i am baptizing, i am nervous but i cant wait!!!! it is going to be awesome!!! she is progressing well and we are helping her along!! i will send pics next week of the special day.

MOMMAS Qs

1.  Are they doing anything for you guys on thanksgiving?

1.  i dont think we are doing anythig for thanksgiving... its sad... 

2.  How often does someone from the mission home come and see your zone?

2.  not very often! it seems like once a transfer.

3.  Any mail yet?

3.  haha no mail yet.-....  i am getting impatient!!! but i hope it gets here soon!!!

4.  How often do you meet with the president?

4.  ummm we dont meet with him very often! just when ever he is around he will come! it isnt like a set time ever!

5.  Any news on how Christmas works?  I'm kindof excited for that....can you tell

5.  ok ya you need to make a skype for christmas and then it will probably be in the after noon cause we have meetings in the morning! i cant wait!!!!!

FOOD!

ok first of all never eat cow utter!!!!!!!! ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! hahahaha its nasty!!! We had it this week and let's just say it's not one I would choose to eat again.

also i had cuy (guinea pig) for the first time!! it was really good!!! i like it!! 

we had a pot luck this weeek sooo i got to try a bunch of different foods!!! my favorite was the Rocoto relleno! sooo good!!! It's like a filled pepper!! yum

This drink is called a chicha, they use a bag instead of cups😊 and yes I'm sweating... It's hot!

love you all,

Elder Wagner