Week 11 Samegua

HELLOOOO EVERYBODDDYYY!!! Whats going on back in the states, i would love to hear?!  my week has been pretty bland honestly...  We have had alright success with the members!!  I want to remind everyone to never forget that there is always 3 people right with you the whole way, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost! this week i was struggling with the fact that i thought couldn't feel the spirit at all..... i broke down crying and couldn't figure out why i wasn't having any huge experiences or golden investigators or really any success..... i felt sooo lost.... i didn't know what else to do, but to pray... and again nothing..... but what i was really doing was blinding myself! i was covering my own eyes with a desire to have some huge experience! i didn't look at the small things! I figured out i AM touching people!! my mission president told me, the spirit can be with you anywhere as long as you are listening and that i shouldn't be looking for some huge thing cause it probably won't come!  so i have been focusing on the little things, smiling, saying hi, baring my simple testimony, and simply loving everyone no matter how hard it is! this is the basics of the gospel! the simple small things that build our foundation and relationship with our Lord and Savior!! 

One thing we have had is a rescue!! We have been working with a lady that has been a less active for a long time, and have reactivated her!! she had her interview with the bishop and has been at church every week and she is doing really well!! now we are working at getting her mom back at church!! but ya sooo that makes us really happy, just to help her out and bring her back to the light and help her be happier!! 

Now we have a new investigator that is progressing soooo well! she is soo nice and has even asked when she could be baptized!! we were like ummm we will get back to you on that! haha but she needs to gain a testimony first because we want people to be truly converted, prior to baptism! so we are still working with her and helping her gain a great testimony!! I"m excited....she is awesome! 

Also, we have a guy named Pedro who we are working with, he is a less active member and he hasn't had the sacrament in 4 years!!!! it is crazy because he wants to be good, so badly!! he is having a really hard time in his life right now... health problems, dad died and mom in an old folks home.. its sad.. but he wants an interview with the bishop and wants to come to sacrament meeting again! but if he can't come he wants us to bring the sacrament to him, either way its good!!  you can see the desire in him like i have never seen before! it really is beautiful to watch someone want to have change so bad and come back to the truth.  He knows these things will bring him closer to the Savior Jesus Christ!! it is amazing!

We also have another investigator who is super cool! she wants to know the truth!  she asks so many inspired questions, not just the ones to get us out of her house!  she is really new to the gospel,  but we are excited to work with her and pray for her progression!

On Saturday we got to do a pretty sweet service project! we went to a less actives house and literally cleaned the whole back of her house! it isn't really a yard... it is just a little cement patio and then dirt and rocks! we cleaned the dirt of all the chicken and rabbit poop then we swept the cement and cleaned the chicken pen! we moved rocks and garbage and metal and we made her dirt look way nicer! :) for reals though! the reason we did it is because she said she couldn't come to conference because she had chores, so we showed up and did them all for her! it worked good though and she came to conference!!

We had a super solid stake conference this week! Elder Uceda of the first Quorum of the 70 was here! he is an amazing speaker!! he is alot like elder holland when he talks, but in spanish haha! he is a really amazing man and he taught us to change our ways of not going for baptisms but for conversions! it is soo amazing !! so we are focusing a lot more on strengthening the less active and recent converts, because they need to be ones with a strong foundation for our NEW converts when we baptize them!  He also talked alot about keeping the Sabbath day holy!  Around here it is normal to go buy a drink and dinner for the family on Sunday, just cause it is what everyone has always done! So he burned that in their hearts and how important it is to keep the Sabbath day holy!  So now our pension isn't buying anything on Sundays either, so that is good. 

We are going to a waterfall today for pday!  it is going to be sooo sweet! i will send a bunch of pictures of it next week for sure don't worry! i am pumped for the hike and then a bon fire on the roof of the zone leaders house!! it is going to be a great day for sure!!!

Treat/pastery of the week! Mint Casino cookies!! holy mooollyy!!! they are sooo good!! they taste like chocolate chip mint ice cream!! it reminds me of my momma because that's her favorite ice cream! So every time i eat them i think of you momma:) but ya soo yummy!!

Elder Cluff and i are singing for Christmas program! We are doing a silent night number haha! it is going to be legit!

oh ya, my new favorite scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 122:7!  i encourage everyone to look it up, read it and apply it to your life! 

love all of you!!! hope you have a wonderful week!! 

Con Amor 

Elder Wagner

Week 10

Ok this week started out a little rough... but i have to say we picked up the slack for sure!  After being robbed last week, we just felt like we needed to move.  We couldn't find a new room, so we stayed with the other elders for two days, we were thinking about moving into this room that we found that was super cheap, but the guy was never there!!  so i got on my knees and said a prayer, " if the guy isnt there the next time we pass by, we aren't supposed to live there!" Right when i said that a white house popped into my head, i couldnt figure out what house it was... we passed by and the guy wasn't there, so i was like "well elder Boyd we arent supposed to live here!", he was like "why"?, so i told him that i prayed and he said, "ok thats fine".... so we kept looking, we went to one house that i swore it was, but they wouldn't budge on their super high price!! i was sooo sad with my self... but i knew i just had to have faith! as we walked up to the other elders house i looked at the side wall of thier house... and i was like "wait a minute..." "we need to talk to the owners of the bottom floor" and guess what happened!!!!  it turned the owner was a member, they said that we could live there!!!  They were super helpful and loving!! gosh, what a blessing and a tender mercy of my lord and savior Jesus Christ!! now we have a beautiful and big room! with two bathrooms, a walkin closet and beautiful church paintings everywhere!! we dedicated our room and i cant tell you how happy i am to be in our new place!  From now on I will dedicated every place i live, because i know that i can feel the spirit that much more, as if i am protected in my home! my testimony grew so much through that experience!

    The language is sooo hard!! haha i mess up a lot, but i think it is sooo funny when i do and i just fix it and keep moving on! I know through hard work, I will learn to be a great spanish speaker and an even greater missionary who the spirit can speak through!!

     We had an opportunity to bless a baby too! the baby was really sick and they wanted our help!  it was super awesome and i couldn't help but to be overwhelmed with joy.  Joy, that i am worthy enough to have the preisthood and use it when ever i need too.  I am soo thankful for the example of you, dad, and the manner in which you used your priesthood and showed me the importance of it! thank you so much!

    This week i got to study in the book of Daniel from the bible.  holy cow that guy was sooo brave!! I look up to him so much!  I would encourage you to read his story about the lions den and apply it to your life! its amazing! i have also learned how to forgive, not only others but myself! i have had a weight lifted this week as i really studied hard and really turned to my savior! through this i have come to realize that everything happens for experience, that we have hard times to grow from and to make us better! i am thankful for my hardships and the way it has molded me and how i will use them to help my future family and the decisions i make in the future as well! i am eternally greatful for the ETERNAL atonement and the ability i  have to always repent and make that a something that i treasure! I have also been focusing on the sacrement, making it a spiritual experience and become recommitted each time! i have felt the blessings of doing this sooo much and i know that you all can too!

 

A few things from this week:

1. I tripped and faced planted on the stairs, it was awesome!!! i couldnt stop laughing! my comp said he thought i got shot hahahha!!

2.  Be greatfull for your lawn mowers!! there was a lady cutting her grass yesterday with basically huge scissors!! she was bent over cutting away!! 

3.  Then i got a door slammed in my face haha! there was this kid that came to the door and we were looking for his brother and he said he wasnt there. so i asked him his name and he said "david, i said sweet and then i told him i liked his looney tunes shirt and he was just like "why do you guys always push your religion on people?" and i basically sat there for a second and smiled and was like, "this pamphlet is for you, its about our church." he gave a horrible glare and slammed the door on my face!!! i couldn't stop laughing!! and we decided he needs a friend, so we are going to go back every day to visit him.

Moms Q's:

What do they grow there?

1. there is a huge green valley way down a hill where they grow tons of stuff! they are known for their avacados!

This is the Alfajores pastries that i love!!!

What is your favorite food so far?

2.  my favorite is Aji De Gallina, it is like shredded chicken in this white sauce and sliced up potatoes and rice!! it is sooooooo good!!

Do you know when transfers are?

3.  changes are every 6 weeks, but i wont be done with training for another transfer, so i could stay here up to like 6 months! 

How far away does your pension live?

4.  They are now on the top floor of our apartment so we see them all the time!

How is the hand washing go?

5.  for like 2 weeks it was more of a rinse... hahah but then our pension taught us, so they are a lot cleaner.. haha!

Are you getting many new people to come to church?

6.  ummm ya a few people come!! but we need more, a lot more! 

oh and ilo was great, it's right on the ocean! i loved it!! we killed it in soccer!  i am getting way better!! i shot a shot from half field and scored it into the corner! it was crazy! Our zone is soo cool, i love spending time with them!

On saturday we went to ilo again and did a singing concert for the stake there! it was gorgeous!!  i loved it sooo much!! elder birtcher is amazing at the violin!! he needs to meet Sarah Van;) they would hit it off nicely.  

thats all i got this week!! i love every single one of you guys!!! especially the fam!! 

Con Amor 
Elder Wagner

Week 9

Well this week has been great!!  i got some good stories for sure! haha but gosh i gotta say opening an area is pretty hard! we work all day just trying to find people that we know and new people, then trying to get them to come to church! we have a lot of inactives that we are trying to contact here and man.... PERUVIANS ARE NEVER HOME!!  seriously they are never home, they are always gone at work or something like that or they just dont want to get out of bed so they dont get the door haha!  anyway ya no one is home so it kinda stinks! but we just keep working our tails off and doing our best! thats all that we can do, so we are doing THAT really well haha!  another thing, this one is for you mom, they are always at least 45 minutes late, here in peru!!! if ward counsel starts at 7, we don't start until 8 haha! it is crazy!! so you would fit right in mom;) just joking, love you momma! 

     ok now i gotta tell you about the pastery of the week!!! ALFAJORES!!! goooooodddnesssss!! sooo good! it is like two big super super soft sugar cookies with this caramel stuff they have spread in the middle and then the edges are rolled in coconut..... gosh they are to die for... those and picarones are our favs here for sure!! i am sending a pic of picarones though, they are similar to a doughnut.  

also a random fact, i have started to write in all caps on everything, just like dad and my handwriting is soooo much better! it reminds me of dad so that is nice.

   ok, i have to say right now if you have your patriarchal blessing you all should read and ponder it every single day, along with your scriptures!  i have been turning to it every morning for guidance!! i have received so much personal revelation through it, it's crazy! these are words directly from our savior and our father in heaven! we need to study it often! it will bless you beyond belief!!  I am serious!! i testify that those blessing are meant to help us, if we use them to the best of our ability, apply them and act.

   Alright STORY TIME!! 

1.  lunch with the stake presidency!! 

we had lunch at this old cheese factory out in the middle of no where and ate chicken and potatoes, we explored back in these old broken down houses and cellars!! it was sweet!! there are pictures of our adventures. 

2.  MY First break down! haha it was crazy! we went to a lesson and i couldn't understand one word that was said!!! i was prompted to share a scripture, but right when i opened the scriptures i felt the thought, " you are stupid, you cant do this, you dont even know what it means!"  but i shared it any way, i instantly knew it was satan and i fought through it. when we left i broke down in tears in frustration with the language and the feeling came over me saying, "you are just being humbled tanner." that right there was the spirit of the lord,  Jesus Christ. i know i am being humbled and with that i was instantly comforted. i cried but couldnt stop laughing and smiling! haha my comp was with me the whole way so that helped so much! i am great now!:) 

3.   english class!! gosh,  i taught english class this week and holy cow it was amazing!! i loved it soooo much!! I loved helping these people that really really wanted to learn!  i dont know why but,  i soooo totally loved it with all my heart and cant wait until this week!!

4.  we slept at the zone leaders house, had a bon fire on saturday,  talked about conference and stuff, it was a blast, i loved it sooo much!! 

5.  GETTING ROBBED:

it all changed with a turn of a key, a key to our privacy, a key to our lives, once i turned that key, we realized the unthinkable, we were robbed... we slowly noticed the things gone, dvd player, ipod, speakers, glasses, chargers, usb's and boyds tera bytes...... we flipped!! we were not happy at all and more than anything shocked!! we decided go and get the zone leaders, but right before we left i was prompted that we needed to say a prayer, we got on our knees and i couldn't talk, as tears rolled down my face, words that were not mine flowed through my mouth. the spirit was speaking words of tremendous comfort through me and we were over come with the spirit and comfort. as i finished, the thought came to us that we will be ok no matter what, they are worldy things and we are safe.  then we got the zone leaders and they talked to the owner of the place.  he said he knew who took it, he left and came back and all the sudden this little kid came to the corner of our door with tears in his eyes, terrified of the big white guys and the knowledge that what he did was wrong.  he quietly said, "diculpame" (Forgive me) and i couldnt think of anything to say but, "hey buddy how's it goin?!" in spanish. he didn't say anything but put forth the bag of all our stuff, i said thank you with the biggest  smile i could muster up..... i shook his hand and chipman (zone leader) took over from there! i have felt the love of my savior through this experince so much. I have come to love forgiving and showing kindness with christ like love, even when it is hardest!! i am eternally grateful for that experience and that little prayer that i was prompted to offer!!

Well sorry i didn't have time to email much, I'm off to Ilo for the day.  We are playing in soccer game and singing in a choir for our P-day, it should be fun.

i love you all!! 

ELDER WAGNER

This is a pizza restaurant.... Peru style. 

Week 8

HEY HEY HEY!!  well this week has flown by!! it has been hard because there is elections and so people are always busy and a lot of our appointments fell through....  satan was working on me harder than hard, trying to get me down, but i am getting through it! i just focus on the spirit and what i am here to do! that helps a ton!!  our bishop never stops amazing me!! he is such a hard worker and is always trying to go with us and visit people!! he is such a huge help especially since we are both new to the area.  we got to meet some new people and teach a few families! we work a ton out here and are happy to do it! 

It was weird knowing that conference was on and not being able to go and watch it! we were not able to preach either,  so we studied allllll day.... haha but it was super good!! There is an election here right now so we cant congregate in areas, so I will watch conference next week.  During elections there are huge parties every night, it's kind of funny, i love it!  

sorry mom i haven't got my hair cut yet, i am getting it done tonight, i promise!

ok some big things that happened this week.

1. we had an appointment fall through and we didn't know what to do, so we decided to go and talk to this lady named july and her kids.  we got to her house and started talking to her and her little kids invited me to play cards so i played while elder boyd talked, it was soooo fun! but thats not even the best part! after we were done playing we went over the restoration and Joseph Smith ( she is a member by the way ) and when we were done she said she had three friends she wanted us to talk too! so we set up an family home evening for tonight to watch a restoration video and teach them all there!! we are soo excited!! it is soo great!

2. the bishop came and played soccer with us in the morning and he was sooo funny!! he is seriously the best!!

3. we had a service project and we went to an old folks home.  I made an awesome new friend!! his name is victor and he is 80 years old!  he is sooo funny, he likes to eat cake and dance with "Abuelitas" (little grandmas) hahahahaha!!! i talked to him for a long time and i told him he was my best freind it was soo great!! 

4. another service was we went to a field, but not just any field, a field of ROCKS! and our job was to move all the big rocks so they could plant stuff!! it was hot, but a blast!! i loved it 

5. I finally experianced PICARONES!! gosh they are sooooo good!! it is something they make on the street and it is like a fry bread doughnut with syrup!! BOMB:) so yummy 

6. also we taught this lady who is inactive, named cindy.  we had a great meeting with her about her testimony and the sacrement! it was so great:) 

now to answer your Qs momma:

1.  In an email you sent to holli you said you sleep on the floor???? Ummmm why don't you have a bed?

i slept on a matteress on the floor.  my bed broke.  I was on the top bunk, haha it was funny, i jumped on then it bent really bad right in the middle!!  dont worry, our zone leaders got us a new one! 

2. Do you want me to send a mattress cover to cover your mattress with?  Are there bed bugs?

  no i dont need a mattress cover, thanks momma, i have a sheet and i havent had bed bugs yet so it's  going good with that!:)

3. Give me more details of your apartment?  Do you have your own bathroom, shower, etc?  Maybe a pic would be good;)

 my room is small with two desks, a bunk bed and a dresser! we have a bathroom with a shower and a toilet in the same place. no sink or anything like that, i will send a pic of it next week!

4.   Do member families ever feed you?

no they dont, they give us pop and crackers and the bishop buys us pastries sometimes but no meals, the pensions does that for us.

5.   The motorcycle you had a pic on, the kids want to know who's that was?

the motor cycle was just on the road and i told elder boyd to hurry and get a picture of me on it before i got in trouble haha!

6.  Did you get to watch conference?  If so where?

i get to watch it this week at the stake center and i get it in english, so that is nice:)

7.   Where are you emailing me from right now?

i am in this internet cafe and the kid next to me is screaming at the computer cause he is killing zombies!  his friends keep running over and yelling at him cause i guess he is good or somthing, haha its is sooo loud in here!!

8.   Are you hand washing all your laundry?  If so do you need a rope to hang them on to dry?

yes, i am washing my laundry by hand and no i dont cause they have the ropes all over for us to use.

9.  What's your average day look like?

ok my average day, wake up 6:15, go work out at the church, eat breakfast, go get dressed and  cleaned up, then we study for 4 hours, i love that time of the day sooo much, just learning about the gospel is amazing!! then we go out and preach til lunch at 1, then preach usually and visit members and the less actives/investigators if we have any, we go eat dinner at 8:30, after we go preach more....  we are starting an english class on thursday and going to do sports activities on saturdays with the kids too!! trying to bring the ward closer!! we get to our room usually at 9:30 and then plan read scriptures and go to sleep!!:) its a great life:)

thank you sooo much for the prayers, i feel them everyday, i miss you guys a ton and hope all is well!! tell ty to keep up the good work, tell turner i love him and miss him a ton, tell allie bear i miss my princess and love her a bunch! i love all of you guys soooooo much you cant measure it if you tried!! love you guys

con amor 

Elder Wagner