Monday, June 22, 2015

RAINFOREST OF THE UNITED STATES

This week started out really interesting. Jasper Indiana is a VERY
German-Catholic town. Therefore, when you say that you are SISTER
whatever, they instantly think that you're a nun. When I first came to
Jasper.. Someone asked me if I was staying at some place in Ferdinand.
Confused I just say no. Come to find out...Ferdinand... has a place
called St. Benedict. and it is this HUGE housing facility for nuns..
and it has a huge catholic church in it. Last Monday, Molly, a
recent convert, who's name I'm sure you have all heard.. brought us to
this place! and we were able to walk around!!!! And there were TONS of
nuns. And contrary to popular belief..they do not wear all black with
the thing over their head...except for this one that we saw...

On Monday also! We went to a pig farm! Molly's family has TONS of
pigs of all different sizes. The iddy-bitty ones were really cute..all
the others were just super duper fat and smelly. But they are just
animals..they cant help themselves! It was a pretty fun P-day last
week! πŸ–πŸ·πŸ½

This week were were out of town what seemed like FOREVER. We started
off our week of hard work in Hanover Indiana with Sister Lee and
Sister Jensen. I was able to spend the day with Sister Lee :D Sister
Lee and I had the chance to teach a lot of less active members. Those
who are members of the church, but aren't coming. And it was so heart
breaking to me because they knew it was the truth, and they knew that
they needed to be going but because of one reason or another, they
weren't! One of the families we went to was the P.. family. It was
so weird because both of them looked so familiar to me, as if I had
met them before. Their mannerisms and everything! It was freaky weird.
We testified of the importance of church and how it can bless their
lives. It was clear that they had heard it 100 times. But the spirit
directed us to be bold with them and help them see the importance. The
spirit was so strong as we talked with them and as they listened to
the inspired things we were saying to them. When we left we knew that
the spirit has carried the lesson. I really hope that both of them
activate themselves and get over their concerns. Because they were so
sweet and they really do know what is right. πŸ‘¨‍πŸ‘©‍πŸ‘§‍πŸ‘¦

We also went to Salem this week with Sister Jarman and Sister Reed!
Last time I was with Sister Reed so this time I was with Sister
Jarman! Sister Jarman is a straight up crazy amazing missionary. We
had a day filled with miracles! We knocked on a couple doors and were
blessed with one woman who really wanted to know what we had to say
and how it could bless her life. She was instantly open, but was on
her way out! so we set a return appointment. It was great! But the
biggest miracle of the day was this: We decided that instead of biking
we would walk to our desired destination. As we were walking and
testifying to others on the way, we see this guy, stilling on the side
of this building. (if we had been biking I'm convinced there was NO way
we would have seen him) And we stop to talk. We find out his name is
Nate and that he works at the T-shirt printing shop. After we talked
for a bit he said that we could share with him more...THAT NIGHT...AT
THE PRINTING SHOP. So fast forward to that night. We go back to the
shop! and there he is! With is friend. who wanted to sit in..Then he
goes to tell his boss what is about to happen with us teaching them
about the gospel and all that. Then his boss decides to sit in for the
lesson. So there Sister Jarman and I are... in a t-shirt printing shop
that also sells magic cards teaching these 3 ginormous men the gospel
of Jesus Christ. After a little while, the three guys got interrupted
and we are just sitting there awkwardly thinking to ourselves..OH NO
THIS IS HORRIBLE. Just to have them come back together with their
little restoration pamphlets and say come one back....SO now we got
these men standing around a table..in the back of a printing shop
teaching them as they flip through the pamphlet and read a long with
us. BUT THE MIRACLE DOESN'T STOP. At the end of the lesson they all
said that if they found out it was true, they would absolutely be
baptized. It was amazing and it was a definite blessing to be a part
of. πŸ‘• πŸ‘΄πŸΌπŸ‘²πŸ»πŸ‘¨πŸΌπŸ‘©πŸ»πŸ‘©πŸ½





That same day however... Sister Jarman and I were told that we don't
worship Jesus Christ.and that we need to look into our own religion to
see what we believe....#2hoursofstudyeveryday #checkoutmynametag
#churchofJESUSCHRIST. It was more humorous than anything. It's even
more funny because when sister Matthews and I got back to our area we
knocked on this guy's door and he went on and on about how we are a
branch off the catholic church and that he doesn't agree with what we
believe. When we asked what part..he couldn't tell us because he "hadn't
looked into it much." #prayaboutit




JASPER FLOODED. It was absolutely insane... It was crazy storming
around these parts and the roads were crazy and so many farmers crops
are now all a mess and have to be replanted because of how bad it was.
2 trees got struck by lighting....included one right in front of the
house sister Matthews and I were about to go into...#Godprotects it
honest was like no rain I have ever seen before in my life. It was
epic.



That moment when...
-a third grader tells you their investment plan.
-you cant get home because the water is too high
-when you have a heart to heart with your comp by a "flashlight fire"
during a storm
-when you'd rather get wet than hold an umbrella that could get
struck with lightning.
-the elders have to research your car model to see if it is safe to go
through high water
-when you turn 20

On my birthday it was a normal day of work! But we had a member take
us to Orange leaf which was a serious blessing! and I got to go to a
delish Mexican restaurant and get sung to while wearing a sombrero and
eating free ice cream!  #perks It was a great time and we actually knew
our server! M...we talked to him forever ago by the river walk in
Jasper and he wasn't interested..but now every time we go to this
place... he serves us and touches us weirdly. We got free virgin
margaritas last time we went.. #connections. Even though he is a total
creeper.

To celebrate my birthday my lovely companion got me some killer body
wash #obsession and she wrote me a nice message on the mirror! I'm so
blessed to have a companion like I do!





Lovin the free birthday ice cream!
Left is sister Matthews right is me...we might have a problem.. Bath
and body had a sale...

QUOTES--
"Where's a stinkin fanny pack when ya need one?!"
"Come at me bro, I gotta flip key!"
(While on the phone with a district leader) "hold on a sec sisters,
hey Elder! Will you watch the rice and beans?! Okay I'm back."

SHOUT OUTS-- (sorry if I forget I got a lot of mail)

THANKS MUMMA AND FAM FOR THE PACKAGE!

THANKS JORDAN FOR THE CARD!

THANKS NANA AND PAPA FOR THE CARD!

THANKS SISTER HOLT AND RESENDEZ FOR THE CARD!

THANKS ELISE, ANGIE, MATT, ELIUD, AND DAD FOR THE BIRTHDAY EMAILS!

For all those that i might have forgotten/ are waiting for still I
will add to next weeks email :)

Thank you all for your love and support through everything :) And for
making my birthday a special one. :) keep being the amazing people you
are and have a fantastic week!!!!!

-Sister Wagner

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH!

This was a good week filled with Miracles and A LOT of heat. It got a
little crazy with the weather. Now I want you all to imagine for a
moment with me.. Humidity 10 times as bad as the humidity in maine...
and then 93 degrees on top of that....now lets keep this going for a
bit..imagine biking up a hill in a skirt....while you forgot your
water bottle, and your companion forgot hers...in the car...
#pitstainsfordays 😰🚴🏽 It got pretty intense. But we did it! And we
were blessed for it! #blessingsofthebike__ we were able to meet this
wonderful woman named Lucy...or something. She was so sweet and
totally open to hearing our message. And if we hadn't biked that day,
we would have never met her!

On Tuesday Sister Matthews and I had a meeting in Louisville with the
other leaders in the mission, and our mission President. It was so
spirit filled. The spirit was like a wall. It was amazing. The
Assistants to the President gave such an inspirational message about
being bold and telling people straight up how it is and give them a
clear choice about what it is that we offer as missionaries. And for
those who don't know what we offer as missionaries here is it: We are
offering salvation. Joy and Peace. We don't represent just another
church, but we represent the Church of Jesus Christ. After centuries
of being lost, our loving heavenly father again called a prophet to
restore...not reform the church that Jesus Christ himself organized.
And in his church is God's authority, his power to bless and uplift
all men. The evidence you ask? The Book of Mormon, another testament
of Jesus Christ. Not something to take away from the Bible. or add to
it..but stand next to it as another witness that Jesus Christ is the
Savior of the world. It is something that we can hold..ponder and pray
about and see if it came from God. SO all those that get this email..
that is what I invite you to do. Because this is Jesus Christ's church
and can bless your life and add to the faith you already have. We as
missionaries are not meaning to take away people's faith...but to add
to the truths they already love. If you have questions....seriously
please ask. It is truly life changing.

Wednesday we spent sometime in Charlestown with the sisters there!! We
had a blast. I spent the day with Sister Webb who just came out on her
mission about a month ago! She's from Idaho and lives on a dairy farm
with 10,000 cows...She is AWESOME! We had such a fun day! We put into
play the training that the assistants gave us about being bold. It's
truly the recipe to success!! We were able to set 4 baptismal dates!
And find 3 new people to teach! And 3 of those dates...came from the
first lesson we had with the people. Sister Webb may be new to the
mission, but she is a fire cracker and she really knows the gospel.
She is ready to teach and testify at any given point and was ready to
be bold. She was so sweet as she expressed that this was the best day
on her mission so far and I was so happy to have had the chance to
spend it with her! The Lord really blessed our efforts because we
never slowed down! It was such a good day and I was able to meet a lot
of wonderful people. People want this message. There are those who God
has prepared to know the truth!!! πŸ˜„

Thursday, that was the day we were biking in the outrageous weather.
We went to this apartment complex. We felt like we should knock on
this certain door, so we did. And this man comes out. yells: HERMANAS!
ANd then goes inside for a second... we just kind of stand there and
are like oh no..and he comes back with an "El Libro de Mormon" (the
book of Mormon) and starts speaking really loud spanish...and stoping
and asking us if we understand.. and we just shake our heads...this
man speaks zero english and is just going on and on..😧in a
panic..Sister Matthews just kind of nods at him as im despritaly
texting and calling the Hermanas that are serving about an hour from
us to try to get what this guy is saying because we are really lost.
In the mean time he is bringing out a map of the US and all his
ties.....They finally answer and they are on the phone with him for 30
minutes...speaking spanish...and this guy is like yelling into the
phone and then he finally gives us the phone and the Hermanas tell us
what he was saying. First they tell us he is Cuban so his spanish
sounds like yelling..and then they tell us.. HE IS A MEMBER! and
joined the church recently in Louisville and moved up here and had no
idea where the church was at and no one that spoke spanish knew where
the church was at and he couldn't find it or anything!  Although we had
no idea what he was saying the whole time it was for sure a miracle.
We go back on sunday to show him the way...and it was the same
situation. This time we called up a member of our ward that speaks
spanish and we find out that he didn't feel well but wanted to follow
us to the church to know where it was. When we got there he got out of
his car.. looked up at the church and just bowed his head and prayed
to himself. The gratitude that was on his face was unmistakeable. What
a blessing it was to help him!

Sister Matthews and I were really searching out those who are ready..
and in our hunt for those people..we decided to knock some doors. πŸšͺ
It was fun! we make it interesting that is for sure! The other day
when we were knocking this man answers and we start talking. (SIDE
NOTE: we always carry a book of Mormon in our hand) after a little
while we offer this man a book of Mormon and he gladly accepts. So
Sister Matthews and I both go to hand it...then we both put it down
because we see the other one...we both offer and take it down probably
5 times.. The man just laughs and says: STOP. Pick a number between 1
and 5...what why? because you two need to settle this. Pick a number.
Not to mention as we were wrapping up our conversation we both say, at
the same time: "do you have...." we stop and just start cracking up.
and he is like...let me guess what you are going to say...do you have
a day time phone?" haha yes that is exactly what we were going to ask.
Then he says, if you all aren't starting each others sentences you are
finishing them. haha it was a fun time that's for sure. We go to
another door and we start singing kind of softly harmonizing for fun
with each other. 🎀 ..then this guy opens the door and gave us the
funniest look ever...We are pretty sure he must have heard us....
Obviously we weren't that good because he wasn't interested. But HEY!
We tried!

We found a celebrities house this week! We don't know who's house it
was...but we are pretty sure they decoyed it to look like no one was
home... The house was huge and was this gray brick and was like 3
stories high and one whole side of this house was
windowless......suspicious right? We just keep knocking the thing to
see if someone comes out....we may or may not have peaked in the
window...it looked abandoned....we also asked a neighbor if someone
lived there..they said yes but that they were gone most of the
time....All signs point to famous.

THat moment when you see this picture of tinkerbell and think it is a
picture of the first vision...oops...#missionaryminded

Or that moment after a door knock when you say "peace" to the
person... #didntmeanto

That moment when you realize your time of being a teenager is nearly complete..
#realadult #20onthe20th πŸŽ‰πŸŽŠπŸŽπŸŽ‚πŸ˜³πŸ˜† I cant believe how time flies...

FUNNIES:

"It's like Good cop bad cop...but better because we're serving Jesus"
-The Elders....

"I should tell my wife to learn spanish...she'd be good at that..she
is one of those freaky smart people"

"Maybe I will get frog eggs and grow a bond with it"

"My friend Hayley had a bag in her throat..and if she talked...she
would die. If I had that..I would want to talk..just to see what would
happen"

"What happens when siri takes over? I am pretty sure she will and we
will all die."

"She hissed at me and it really hurt me heart"

"George...he was my imaginary friend last year, he died of Eboli."
-------------------------------
SHOUT OUTS:

THANK YOU MARISSA AND ANGIE FOR MY BIRTHDAY PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU DAD AND BRENDA for the late easter package! ;)
--------------------------------


I hope you all have an amazing week and you do some fun stuff! Summer
is officially here as of Sunday! and it is only going to get hotter
from here! So stay cool! ...literally!

-SISTER WAGNER



Hanging with the minion! (thanks angie&marissa!)


Sister Webb!


HEADED TO MLC (the leadership meeting in Louisville)


After biking all day!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Doing some sweating

How in the world are we 8 days into June already????? I'm very baffled.
And confused about how time can go so fast. I have a theory that
missions are on a completely different time continuum than any other
part of our lives and that there is a very real possibility that all
missionaries live in their own little bubble with their own measure of
time. Because we are pretty much done this month..okay that might be a
little drastic.. but in all reality time has NEVER gone this fast in
my life. A common phrase used by missionaries everywhere : The days
feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like months. #truth
#summerishere-we'redying

This week we were back to exchanges and blitz's It was weird to be
back to STL living. On Tuesday I spent the day with Sister Stephens
here in Jasper! It was awesome! Maybe not awesome teaching lessons
wise because all our plans fell through but we were able to talk to
tons of people! It was awesome! Something really awesome happened
while we were walking around! We hear the voice of a little boy say
"SENORITAS SENORITAS!!" We look back and don't see anything so we keep
walking, we hear it again and look back and see two 8 or so year old
boys looking at us, they mutter some things in Spanish, and we shake
our heads to indicate we don't understand, then they yell.. "ARE YOU
LADIES FROM THE CHURCH!?" Confused but excited, we walk up and begin
talking to them. He said he would go and get his dad, who didn't  come
out because he wasn't interested. But we stood and talked to this group
of 4 boys. We told them who we are and what we do and they were so
excited! They wanted to learn and we told that they would have to talk
to their parents, they hung their heads and just said "I wish you
could teach us more about Jesus, we would really like that" It was so
sad to see that there are little children who are prepared but are
kept from of the truth because of outside influences. We gave them
each one of our cards and told them to give it to their parents. We
also gave them a book of Mormon and they lit up like no other. They
passed it around and flipped through it and thought it was the coolest
thing ever! As we say good-bye and walk away they yell "We had the
best day ever all because we met you!" It was such a sweet experience!
πŸ˜€

On Wednesday Sister Matthews and I were livin' in Evansville for the
day! It was great! I spent the day working with Sister Bunker! We had
a blast! We just jumped from appointment to appointment and spent the
day teaching the gospel to everyone that we possibly could! It was
great! We got to see some really funny old ladies! And they are just
so sweet! It was a really awesome day! We were teaching a Lady named
Jane, she's a riot, and we shared with her a video on our handy-dandy
iPads, and it clicked! and she began to understand the things that we
were saying to her. The iPads are amazing that way. They have a way of
breaking things down and painting a picture for these people so they
can understand. IT IS AWESOME. πŸ“±

SO a miracle that happened when Sister Matthews and I were actually in
our area: We decide to stop by at one of Our investigators house,
Dean, We were stopping by unexpectedly and we were really wanting to
meet with him because it had been a little while! SO we knock on the
door and his son comes and tells us that he was just going to sleep.
As we walk away a little disappointed we hear "WAIT! He wants to meet
with you!" MIRACLE! We were able to talk with him and he apologized
for missing our last appointment so he couldn't miss us again. It was
such a tender mercy that we were able to see. God's hand it most
certainly in our lives!! πŸ‘‹πŸΌ

Also update on roadkill...Sister Matthews killed a bird. Well..the
fact if it was killed or not is unsure.. but! It was hit...and there
was a bump... #indianabirdprobs 🐦

So during a lesson with Clay, a recent convert.. we were sitting
there talking (SIDE NOTE: we are not allowed to laugh in his lessons
because he is paranoid and things anytime anyone laughs it's at him)
And we look out the window and what to we see, this dog...pooping..and
it was struggling...hardcore. not really sure what was happening but
sisters Matthews and I think poop is hilarious and we just start
cracking up! And then we freak out because we think that he going to
get all upset so we are trying to catch ourselves and apologize about
a million times for the out burst and we had to explain that we were
laughing at a dog trying to poop. #poopprobsπŸ’©

As missionaries we are encouraged to serve our companions. But
sometimes it's really hard when they are clean and make their bed and
cook food and all that...so you have to get original. This
week...Sister Matthews served me by getting out my vitamin from the
jar because she knew I'd forget and she was already getting out her
own #presh #loveher πŸ’Š

This week..I also ate an ice cream cone the size of my head...Done in
25 minutes. #thanksMallory
🍦

QUOTES:

"I sit on the toilet and water would just drip on my butt"🚽
"each rainbow means I taught a unicorn about this scripture"🌈
A ladies dogs were barking during a lesson so she exclaims: "I CAN'T
CONSTAPATE!"
"I'm all about smelling good because, ya know, I got a strong nose"πŸ‘ƒπŸΌ


SHOUT OUTS:

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY ON THE 10TH TO MY NOT SO LITTLE BROTHER MATTY!!!!
I LOVE YOU BROTHER, (say it back!!) WHICH I COULD BE THERE WITH YA!
*sister squeeze here*

THANK YOU HEATHER HOOVER FOR YOUR LETTER!


I hope that you all have a fantastic week and are having a blast doing
all the things normal people do in the summer! Yesterday was 91
degrees and miserably humid. πŸ˜“ We got to walk to a mister at a
members house though! in our skirts...luckily we didnt get wet at
all..it was quite frightening. ANYWAY! I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU!

*****Email me during the week too! I can get them and read them right
away so send away! I would love reading them! that means you too mum
:)****

--SISTER WAGNER

(all names have been changed for the privacy of the investigators)



we did some tie-dying!



Ice cream the size of my head!






Doing what we do

Well the time has come, if you all are wondering what exactly I am
doing right now.. the answer is this.. chilling at McDonalds..emailing
all of you. That is right. I have an iPad..I am using it! And I'm going
to be honest..this week has been a struggle for sister Matthews and I.
You think that you will just fall back into using technology..but
surprisingly it isn't like riding a bike.. You don't just pick it up all
of the sudden. We have been pushing weird buttons and it makes weird
sounds and it has this switch on the side that we thought locked it or
something so we were afraid to push it...but apparently it just mutes
it or something.. we are trying..it will take a little time to get
used to that's for sure! But we're working on it!

So this week was awesome! We stayed in our area all week which was
super refreshing and we were able to see tons of miracles! EXAMPLE:
The other day we were walking and we decided to talk to these people.
And they treated us like we were crazy. We decide to ask them if they
know anyone else in the area that could use a prayer or a message
about Jesus Christ.. they AS A JOKE were like oh yeah those people
could use a prayer and oh yeah that house too.. As we bubbly say THANK
YOU! and walk away, we look back, and we see these people watching us
and giggling at us as we go to the houses they pointed at..well the
jokes on them because both houses they sent us to were more than
willing to listen to us! And one of them is even now investigating!

That man's name is Daniel. We were able to set up a return appointment
with him and the next time we came over, he came out sat down and the
lesson began! Just after the lesson started, before we got into it,
who comes out? His fiance! Helen! WE tell her who we are and it
turns out that she has LDS family who she has always been curious
about but she hardly talks to. We had SUCH a powerful lesson with
them! It was amazing, the spirit was so strong! So what I learned from
that experience.. Even people that dont like you can send you to
people who do :) HA. TAKE THAT. I mean.. what a miracle :)

This week among all the craziness, our faith carried us as we built
our teaching pool by adding 4 new investigators. Thanks to our loving
Heavenly Father and an awesome member who had been sharing the gospel
with her friend! Miracles happen, that's for sure! :)

QUOTES:

"I got a migraine..or a unicorn horn trying to come out of my head for
the past two days"

"did you cat that evil cat?" "No. that thing's fast and it can dodge bullets!"

"a hip little family, that's all I want"

"brothers and sisters, I like to play in dirt"

SHOUT OUTS!

THANKS MUM FOR THE KEYBOARD SO THAT IM NOTHING TYPING ON THE IPAD SCREEN!
AND FOR THE CANDY!!!!! YUMMY.

THANKS RAND FAMILY FOR SENDING ME A NICE PILE OF LETTERS THAT CAME ON
THE PERFECT DAY! :)

I hope that you all have had a fantastic week and that the week coming
up is just as good! I know that the little things we do make the
biggest difference. SO laugh, read your scriptures, smile, have fun,
and go to church and pray, A LOT and you will find yourself happier
than you ever thought possible :)

MUCH LOVE-- SISTER TAYLOR WAGNER


Sent from my iPad

^^^^^ DO YOU SEE THAT..DO YOU SEE?!?!