An I... What?! an ... IPAD

Something some people have been asking me is "Sister Wagner are you getting an iPad ever? Well I finally have an answer for you.. YES I AM. When you ask? how about on FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is right. The work here in the GKLM is going to EXPLODE with the help of mobile devices. We had a training about it and it is going to be amazing. we are not "iPad missionaries" Instead we are the same people with the same purpose that is just magnified and supported by the use of a mobile device. We have manuals about the iPads and the things that are made possible.. the people and places we are able to reach are endless! I have a firm testimony that the whole reason why we are blessed with such devices is so that the gospel can be preached and become more accessible and approachable to others. So does this mean I will be on facebook....YES. It does. Don't be surprised if in a couple weeks there is a post from me about missionary work..don't be surprised. And YES i am allowed to keep all of you as friends so you can know what I am up to here as a missionary!

This week Sister Matthews and I were able to go on an exchange, she went back to her old Area, Mt. Vernon to be with Sister Goodrich and Sister Lloyd came here to be with me. It was funny because it was our exact set up last transfer..we were both in our area with an old companion. It was like a back flash. It was too funny! So sister Lloyd and I had a pretty good day! We were able to do a lot of finding! After Sister Lloyd and I had a chat we went to talk to this one lady. I was standing back a little giving sister Lloyd the chance to talk with her, once things got started I came in. This lady was awesome! She was so open to talking and she even took a book of Mormon and said she would read it. She asked who Mormon was and what we did as missionaries! It was such a cool experience to meet and talk with this lady, even though she wasn't interested in learning much more. There are people out there that are just waiting to hear what we have to say!

 Exchange with sister Lloyd! She came back for a day!

So this week Sister Matthews and I, in desperation to find some people to teach decided to knock some doors. and for all of you who think that is all that missionaries do, you are mistaken! In fact.. my mission has hardly included tracting up to this point. But! Really if a missionary is knocking doors it's because they felt the need to or they LITERALLY had nothing else to possibly do. And if they knock on your door..it was probably because the spirit told them to. So Sister Matthews and I just started going around some streets and knocking some doors we felt impressed to go to. As we are at one house we stop and wait and then we see a head...with a towel on it..and then they step back and we see a lady who had JUST gotten out of the shower looking through the window at us..how odd..She walked away from the door..and then we just wait..and then a woman comes from around the back comes up to us and asks what we want. We offer service and to see if there was anything that we could do to help...She said they were okay, as we begin to tell her about the book of Mormon we hear a voice from inside the house "We are great where we are, we go to church every sunday we are not interested you can leave now" as we turn to see who this person is, it was the girl inside the house...still with a towel on her head and still wrapped in a towel..listening in!!! 

QUOTES:
"snap peas dipped in ice cream, it's like fries dipped in ice cream, pretty much the same thing"
"my dad just loves to people watch..but at disney land it just got creepy"
"if we cant have a lot of meat, how come I had a triple at wendy's?"

SHOUT OUTS:

THANKS MUM FOR THE PACKAGE!! IT WAS PERFECT ! and yes! i got your letter too!

THANKS PAPA FOR THE LETTER! :D

I LOVE YOU ALL! I hope that you all had a good week! If there is anything that I can do for you from a long way away...let me know! And always be happy and just share the gospel with everyone you know!

This week Mormonchannel.org put out an awesome video. Sister Matthews and I have been sharing it up the WAZOO! So Why not share it with all of you too! It's about service and how it can make a difference not only in the lives of others, but in our lives as well.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/lift-the-power-of-service

--SISTER WAGNER

Our lovely district!

I climbed to the top of this lovely tower!

Mallory and Clarissa and I at the top of the tower!

Sister Matthew's is a bit scared of heights and stopped half way.

View from the top of the tower!

From a couple weeks ago!

Sister Jenson and I!

Sister Parker and I after biking all day!

Fly away little Bird! (from 5/18)

This week like all the others has been a journey. Something to always remember. Mostly because we lived this week in a car. traveling to the ends of the earth it seems like. Driving on back roads to get to locations 2 hours away.. Im not sure why our lovely GPS decided to do that...but it was surly the scenic route so that was kind of nice. Also a blessings because when I drive for that long anyway on a highway I get super bored.. and if I had been bored it probably would have resulted in falling asleep at the wheel. #missionaryexhaustion

Where were we headed? We went on exchanges in Charlestown Indiana and Jefferson Indiana. Before you understand this next story you must know that the birds here in Indiana must have gotten into something that has made them all delusional. They come out of bushes at the most inconvenient time.. live in the smallest most pathetic bushes possible just to fly out at you. And then they tend to not fly like a normal bird. They turn at weird times and they dont fly in a straight line.. You can judge for yourself what is wrong with this birds but I have my own theories. ANYWAY. As we were going down the road singing some songs..Out of no where this shadow SMACKS into the windshield. I freak out and look out the rear view mirror just to see a bird bounce into the dust on the side of the road. It was gone. The bird died. I feel so sad that I was the cause of this birds death..but in reality the bird was stupid and flew into my car.. it was not fault of my own. So I can still sleep at night. Sister Matthews and I just about died laughing. SO now together we have killed a squirrel..and a bird. What will be next?!

So this week I had the pleasure on being on a bike..ALL DAY. It was an adventure. Jefferson..AKA Riverside is a bike area.. and I had the pleasure of getting stuck on a bike while Sister Matthews joyful was in an air conditioned car..For those of you who know how it was at the beginning of my mission when I was forced unnecessarily to ride a bike..with a companion that I'm sure to this day was trying to kill me... you all know that I DISLIKE it with a burning passion and I would just about do anything else before biking. However as I am in this bike area with Sister Parker the Lord blessed us with great opportunities to share the gospel with others! We were able to talk to 31 people and find a few people that want to hear about the gospel! It was fun to continually share the gospel with those who we biked by and it wasn't even too hot that day! We were flying on those bikes!! Like Birds!!! however..we know how to steer and go in a straight like when the birds here don't. GOD MAKES HARD THINGS POSSIBLE....he got me through that day on the bike..imagine what he can do for you.

This week we also dropped by and visited the Braedens! They were the couple that we lived with while the member we usually live with had company. They are the sweetest people EVER. The cutest couple you could imagine. Im so grateful for them. Sister Matthews and I thrive off going to their home because of the peace that is felt there and the laughter because the Braedens are hilarious! :)

We also were able to find 2 new awesome investigators! :D It was such a miracle! We decided to go and visit this potential investigator that we had an address for! there was just a #1 referring to an apartment. We thought that there would be just one..#1..but it turns out there was like..5.. confused we just decided to knock on all the #1 doors! As we are headed to our 3rd number one door these 2 guys holler at us. We turn around and they ask if who we are. When we tell them we are missionaries they reply with "Well what's your mission?" We proceed to tell them about the gospel. And we hand Brother Jonah as we now call him a restoration pamphlet. He then says.. Can I have one of those too? as he points to the Book of Mormon! IT was so cool! We then Set up a time to see Brother D and Brother Jonah to come back and teach them the next day. When we went back we were able to have an awesome lesson. At the end we ask Brother Jonah to pray. He tells us that he only likes to pray in a couple places and not in front of people and how he is weird about his prayers..and after about a minute or two of rambling (without any probing from us) he says "Okay fine I will pray" I know the spirit was working on him and helping him to know that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. It was such a cool opportunity! Not to mention he realized that for the past couple months he had been praying to know what church to join in his spot in the woods. Sounds familiar...like maybe the experience of Joseph Smith!

QUOTES:

"I will always remember you..as that indian woman."
Brother Breaden said this with a concern look on his face..." Have you missed wild Bill." A Fake statue.. in the closet

"Why dont you ladies wear lip stick... (Sister Matthews)"Brother Breaden i do... look its called Baby Lips.. ( Brother Breaden)"Oh He'd like that."

" i will never forget you.. i will remember you as that Indian women."

"if i lived in a nursing home.. i'd be one of those old people saying.. kill me"





I hope you all have a great week...and that you write me..because I havent gotten any mail. BUT! Other than that I do love you all..  but there is this thing..called paper....and a pen....and they work awesome for writing a letter to someone..and then you just put it in your mailbox...and put up the flag..and then you dont even have to worry about it and you make me happy with little to no effort.. so yeah!


 LAUGH MUCH!!


--SISTER WAGNER

Pictures from 5/11 email!

 Louisville livin!

Smoothie king soothes our soul!

 

Adios Louisville!

 

 

Bridge connecting Louisville to Indiana!

With humidity....we nearly died.

 Nice view after a long day!

 Sister Training Leader living.. #suitcase #airmattress4life #blanketsgalore 

With Sister Lee for the Day!

ZZZZzzzzzz

Where did the week even go. It is all a blur to be honest with you..and both Sister Matthews and I are going crazy...apparently my prayer couldn't be understood when we woke up this morning..and she swears she said something to me...and I'm nearly positive that she didn't reply.. But who really knows who's crazy here..

We have been living out of a suitcase.. and sleeping on air mattresses. Our week started on Monday when we got a teeth cleaning from our Bishop! He is a dentist and cleaned our teeth for free! IT was so nice to walk out of there with No cavities! :D Thank goodness. That was really an adventure!

Monday night we WERE headed to Hanover Indiana..when we realized WAIT! WE HAVE A MEETING IN LOUISVILLE TUESDAY. What a blessing it was that Hanover was on the way to Louisville and we usually spend the night In Louisville anyway. SO we were already prepared and packed. Thank goodness. But it extended out week..Good thing we were able to change the day we were going to see Hanover to another day.

WEDNESDAY---- The next day after the meeting we headed to go to Salem Indiana where we spend the day going on an exchange with Sister Jarman, and Sister Reed. Sister Matthews was with sister Jarman and I had the Honor to spend the day with Sister Reed! Sister Reed just came out on her mission about a month ago! But she sure knows her stuff! We were able to set 4 baptismal dates with this group of friends they had been teaching. The spirit was so strong as we taught them the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how there is a prophet on the earth today. It was a great blessing to be there for that moment! We did some walking in the scorching heat though...that wasn't as fun! But I think I was blessed with a bit of a tan!

As we go inside at night with the Salem sisters we realized..the Air conditioner.. Was not working.. JOY. SO we tried to fix it by going to flip the electrical breaker..so we go down stairs to the cellar which is through a door that is outside and we only have flash lights and the floor is dirt and it smells a little..and it is muggy and damp down there.. and it was awesome! What an adventure..I felt a little like Indiana Jones.. Sister Matthews was too scared to go down.. she was freakin' out a little bit so her and Sister Jarman just waited at the top.. Not to mention it was pitch black! And it didn't even fix the AC...so we slept with ice packs..literally.

THURSDAY---- Hanover Indiana..we finally made it after having to move around a bunch of things.. BUT IT WAS AWESOME! I was with Sister Lee and Sister Matthews was with Sister Jensen. And we were in this cute little college town in the middle of no where... seriously. So Sister Lee and I go to try this person..only to find that no one in his house know's where he is.. And we go out and we see this man sitting outside asleep with a beer in his hand..and we try to say hi and he jerks up for a second and then just kinda looks at us and starts nodding off as we are trying to share with him the gospel. haha The man we were looking for was his brother.. but he had no clue where he was. BUT! We found him! And we taught him a lesson all in parables that we just made up! while sharing scriptures from the book of Mormon along the way. It was really fun!

SO PLEASE NOTE THESE LOCATIONS ARE 2 HOURS AWAY FROM JASPER

Needless to say after these few busy days we were sooo tired we couldn't function. We had one night in our own beds before...

FRIDAY-- When we went to Evansville.. an hour and 20 minutes away from our house for a zone meeting! Which was completely amazing. We really had a great time. and got a serious spiritual boost..but all the time in the car was killing us.

When we got home..we had to quick and pack up again because the member we live with was having her son visit..and her guest bedroom was on the same level as us, and so we had to find some where else to stay..so we went to another members this week where Sister Matthews and I were treated like Queens. We have been feed Dinner, snacks, and breakfast. We have had the most beautiful large shower you have ever seen in your life. The B Family are just the sweetest people ever and make us laugh all the time. It was certainly a blessing!

It was a long week and we are still feeling the effects of it..but the atonement of our savior Jesus Christ has lifted us and carried us. Thank goodness for prayer.

QUOTES
"a vulture, thye must know we are dying"
"are you okay sleeping here with wild bill? who is wild bill they open the closet and there is a cowboy statue lying on pillows.
how pig collector conventions work: "all in favor say oink, all opposed say moo"
"i can afford to spend a couple hundred dollars on pokemon cards.."
"im at the time in my life where i have money...but no time"
"okay fine, I will give her a car. but she is going to have to register it."
"tell her everyday she doesn't smoke brother Evans will give her a pokemon card"


HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE! I hope all you mothers had a happy mothers day!

I LOVE YOU ALL! and MISS YOU TONS! ...send me mail....please..

-SISTER WAGNER

Uhhhhh.. Sister what was that?

Another week come and gone! WOWSERS time goes fast when you are on the go and you aren't always in your area! #meetings #exchanges Another Monday is here!

SO last Monday..some of the funniest things happen right after we email.. We were out and about teaching the gospel in the evening time and Sister Matthews is driving. We go on a little bit and she goes.. Sister...What was that? Do we have a flat tire...NO SIS! that isn't the sound of a flat tire....So what is it? We keep driving for a little bit and then sister Matthews is like... okay get out and check that tire.. I get out.. and am like.. "Uh Sister..You hit a squirrel..." What did I see as I got outside the car you ask? I just saw squirrel guts splashed so delicately on the side of the car...as I looked closer on the tire I see a foot...a smashed animal..and a little rodent foot... It was so sad. It was stuck to our tire forever...so this whole week we were saying.. " Oh I think I hear Squeakers" Yup we named our road kill.

We have had the hardest time finding people that want to hear the gospel. You would be surprised. Missions aren't all fun and games. People don't just readily accept you because you are young and in a skirt. I'm sorry people that just isn't reality. BUT! When they do want to listen.. life is good! So a couple months ago Sister Lloyd had talked to this guy with her last companion who was kind of interested. So her and I had gone back and talked with him but he was going though some medical things. BUT! This week... Sister Matthews and I felt prompted to stop by and talk with him. As we were talking, we asked if we could teach him the gospel, and how it would bring him peace in his life. We are now teaching him! His name's Liam and he is great! We taught him the restoration of the gospel And the spirit was there and he recognized that it could improve his life and he has the desire! What a tender mercy from God that he wants to listen and is ready to learn!

This week we went on an exchange! I was spending the day in Evansville, IN with Sister Rickords! She is super sweet and I learned a lot from her! It was so fun to go and talk to people when the weather is nice and people are outside. The power of the Book of Mormon is real. We set a goal to use the book of Mormon when we were talking to people, and the spirit was so strong in every opportunity we got! It was so cool! And many people listened. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and I know that it is the word of God! We got the chance to go and talk to a member who told us to go and try this lady at the end of the road. So we walked down and we said hi to the lady! And she was cleaning her car! She was a young mom and she was so cool! She has a strong belief in Christ. We got the chance to talk to her for an hour! And we have her a Book of Mormon! Members are so important in the work! So for all you members reading this.. if you know ANYONE you might not even know of their name...just send the missionaries if you think they might be interested. The Member that sent us to this woman could only tell us where her house was. But she told us, and that woman now has a chance to hear the gospel!

Changing pace a little, last week we talked this guy named Michael, and he was really cool! But totally uninterested in the gospel. But we talked to him and he told us that he worked at Los Bravos the best Mexican restaurant in town. This week we got the chance to go to Los Bravos with a recent convert in the are. Mallory...who is a complete firecracker in the gospel! And so who happens to be our server? MIGUEL! He touched Sister Matthews head a couple times..it was weird. like kind of scratched it.. But it was hilarious! He is a complete crack up!

Also...Indiana shuts down when the derby is happening.. The sun is shining..it's a Saturday...and...no one is out.

QUOTES:
"I knew it's be successful, It was just annoying how long it took them to figure it out."

"She was dancing...like.. Jezabel dancing.."

while talking about black licorice "These things make your poop green"
" Dont mind the mess the dogs got a hold of a diaper and a cup."

" Dad are we poor... "no".. then why didnt i have enough food in my lunch"

" If only we had a few more slices of pineapple.. then we could build sponge-bobs house".

"We are so sorry we didn't sing ( we sing to thank the cooks after zone meeting) .. ill sing to you.. but i only know one song.. which is happy birthday.. ( Starts singing) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU... ( President Brough after zone meeting)

" President is horrible at role plays... he is always crackin some kind of joke." ( sister Brough)

" The thought of wearing a skirt for 18 months scared me... but now the the thought of wearing jeans frightens me.'

"There is a lot i want to say.. and a lot that i shouldn't say"... ( Elder going home)

SHOUT OUTS:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIUD TOMORROW!! AND HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO! HAVE A GOOD ONE!!!!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THOSE SPECIAL WOMAN IN MY LIFE WHO HAVE MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY! ESPECIALLY YOU MOM! YOU ROCK! I LOVE YOU ALL!

 Have a great week everyone! I love you all and miss you! Dont be down..EVER! Always choose to be happy because it really is the simplest way!

-Sister Wagner

(Names have been changed)