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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Mission Letter Week 75 - 22 December 2014

Second to last letter of the year!! This is crazy....seriously.

I have not gotten any packages yet :( ….. buuut I know I will be Skyping at 2pm here so 4pm your time… get ready!!

The Meadows Ward is great.  I am just sad to not be spending Christmas in Tierra Bonita Ward with the L's and the D's. >:( But hearing that from J is a good boost. :) I'm going to go back after my mission, hopefully, to see them get sealed. :) They invited me to that!

Elder Angus is a pretty cool kid!


I'm in a car area again, senior companion. I’m at the point where there aren't many people that can be my senior comp. Talk about strange.

The area is pretty good, with some decent potential but the guys before us didn’t work… at all ...so there's only one investigator right now we are working with, J. His parents are converts. They are very supportive and things are going well but he suddenly dropped his baptism date cause he "didn't feel like it”.  So we'll need to give “a little kick in the pants” to wake him up again as it were haha. Other than that we are just going to try to pick up investigators that were dropped because the guys before us just didn't want to teach them... yep ... that happened. So hopefully nothing is damaged there, as far as the relationship with the missionaries goes...We shall see, we shall see!

Love you too, Emi! Talk to you on Christmas!

Braky! Good to hear about the C's! They are super awesome. :) Cute pic of Emi and Orli too! She's gonna be huge when I get back! Both of them will be so very grown up. It's crazy what you miss in two years.


HILARIOUS picture at K's as well! Well, at least JK is looking rather humorous, LOL. Good family photo though. :)

And thank you for the message from Elder Ballard, too (below). It is so very true. Even if it's not an addiction.

Gotta bounce!

Love you guys! Talk to you at 4pm your time on Christmas!

~ Elder 9






He receive #1 of 3 Christmas Care Packages we sent!
Many thanks to Sister S. who received this and made sure he got it!
We are SO THANKFUL for local residents who help us out so much!




WOOHOO!!

Just heard Elder Nine got the other two packages too!

HE'S ALL SET FOR CHRISTMAS NOW! YIPPEE!!!

I LOVE MY BOY!!!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Mission Letter Week 74 - 15 December 2014

Hey guys!!

I’m sorry emails have been rushed lately and it’s going to be today even more so due to transfer calls being on Sunday night and us having to uproot in a short period of time. You asked how I feel about it.......NOT HAPPY.  I'm actually quite frustrated at the whole thing.  Just as I settle in for Christmas they yank me out.  Bad mood, bad day. >:(  I'm still trying to just trust in the call, but it's hard when it actually feels like it's the wrong thing to have happen. So just trust, trust, trust.

(Elder Nine is learning a hard but valuable lesson which all of us disciples of Christ learn: sometimes it's hard to follow the Savior when what He is asking of us goes against our personal wishes. But Elder Nine is also showing great spiritual maturity in doing his best to align his will with God's. We pray and trust he will be blessed in this effort. While the world tells us to do whatever we want, we know that we are best served by following our Savior.) :)

On that...

EMILY!!


How the heck was the DMCO concert?!?! I saw some pics and it looks like it went REEEALLY well!! :D I'm excited to hear all about it!

Mama,

THE V FAMILY!! Tell them I love them and I can't wait to one day have more guac! :D (Brother V makes some of the BEST guacamole I've ever had! :3 )

I'll do as you asked with the mailing info. :)

This last week has been a lot of fun and has been really good for the area. E is getting closer to baptism, though still hasn’t made it to church. M (whom I don’t remember if I told you about, a new investigator,) is ready for baptism already and O we finally had a lesson with and set a baptismal date with him as well.... and then transfers. >:(  Another reason to be unhappy… but I'll try to stay focused on the good. :)  Elder Petersen and I have had a swell time together in this great ward. Reminds me of P5. Great work and great memories, great Petersons(sens) :)

I wrote you a snail mail and sent it a few days ago so you should get it soon. 


I was wondering if you could send me one of the Christmas CDs again? I accidentally broke the one with Pentatonix and Piano Guys on it. :( And I was wondering if you could include the whole new Pentatonix Christmas album ‘cause I heard they have an entire album now. :) (If it's appropriate)

I AM SO EXCITED FOR SKYPING!! This time I'll be by myself, instead of like how I did it with Elder Peterson in P5. :P Speaking of that, at the Creche, I saw a bunch of people from RV Ward and P5! Like Sister H, the M's (the folks we skyped at when I was with Peterson), the G's and a bunch of others! :D It was great to see them.

I love seeing pictures of my parents together like this. :') It just makes me so happy to see how blessed I am and my family, to have grown in the gospel, and be so strong together!

And the concert pics look incredible! I soooo want to see a solid choir performance again one day!

Emily is turning into QUITE the young lady!! If I come back and there is talk of boys, I’m buying the Brooklyn Smasher by Cold Steel........which is basically an indestructible baseball bat. >:)

(What's with boys and violence??) ;-P

Braky,


Good questions. It is sad to see missionaries go home sad. Many times it shows they didn’t really grasp the message of the good news. 'Good news' being another translation of the word 'Gospel'. :)

"Don't look back, leave it all on the track!"

I am happy to be here. To be a messenger of peace and joy. Of Christ.

I love you guys dearly. Can't wait to see you on Skype! :D

~ Elder 9


P.S.
Pics are in the Dropbox - the older couple we are with are the D's. He is the Ward Mission Leader here. AMAZING man. And she is incredible too. I love them both a ton. They will most likely call you sometime just to talk with you. :)






"Don't look at the weeping angels!" haha!






The brother in this picture below shared the following message with me on Facebook:
"Mrs. Wagner-Nine, Your son is a very unique and destined individual. He has strong leadership potential, is relatable to just about any situation and is one of the most genuine men I have had the privilege of knowing. He has made a lifelong friend here and can call upon me for support anytime, anywhere and for anything. Thank you for raising such an amazing person."




These silly Elders! :)




Photos from Transfer Meeting where Elder Nine said goodbye to Elder Petersen, his 8th companion, and hello to his new and 9th companion, Elder Angus.











This is Brother W. on the right in the picture below. Elder Nine served in this Brother's ward at the beginning of last summer and they got to know each other.
He is a dear new friend, who was patiently waiting for Elder Nine to finish the conversation before he approached him to give him a extra tight hug which I (Elder Nine's mom) had asked him to please give my son. He was kind enough to do it. The following picture brought me to tears.




Thank you, Brother W.!! 

Merry Christmas to me! :)





Heehee! Sometimes we moms feel like we're playing "Where's Waldo?" when we see so many wonderful missionaries all in one room, as we search front-back-side-side for our missionary!
So thankful for the people who send us photos!
And all their Christmas packages are waiting for them on the stage from their families! :)


Packing up to go to their new areas


 




This photo below was taken last summer, but was not shared until recently.
It is Elder Nine and his whole Zone at the time.


GOLLY GEEZ, I MISS MY BOY!

But I would not want him anywhere in the world right now, but where he is!
We are so proud of him for giving his mission his all, serving with all his heart, might, mind, and strength. 
He is such a blessing to our family.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Mission Letter Week 73 - 8 December 2014

Hallo!

Sooooooo IT'S FREAKING DECEMBER. It doesn't really feel like it here though, haha. It’s still in the 60’s-ish...though it does get down to the 50's and 40's at night, which can be nice. :)

We started reading the Christmas Advent book right on time, Elder Petersen and I.  IT'S SOOOOO FUNNY!! We are so tired at night and so when I'm reading in my "dramatic voice" (learned, of course, from my dear father) I'll mess up or something sounds funny and we just DIE laughing! XD We've been having a blast with that, as a way to wind down at night. :)


Speaking of Christmas, I thought of a present you could send to me… maybe even before Christmas...my Capo. :D There are plenty of people with guitars, but they usually don't have capos, haha. So if you threw that in the package or something like that, that would be so awesome, my face would just fall off!

YES! Elder Petersen and I helped out with the Creche and it was SO COOL!! We helped set up the decorations mostly...like the big ones.....liiiike the 12-15 ft tall tree and all the tables and other such things. All the manual labor stuff. :D My specialty! And we went to see some of the performances as well! Like The Sunday Night Singers (or something like that) who were BEAUTIFUL!! They were soooo good it would make you DROOL. From your MOUTH! Yep. And there was a Jazz Ensemble on Saturday night!! OH MY HECK it was all I could do to not grab someone and start A SWINGIN'!! They were crazy good too. :P There were many others too! All in all, the whole weekend has been magically delicious!

I did get to see the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional and I loved it! :) I always enjoy the Christmas devos and the Spirit they bring. The Spirit of Christ!

Well, this last week has been fun with the creche, and we have been just trying to meet with E and J. We finally caught E one evening and started to read the beginning of the Book of Mormon with her and she LOVED it. She keeps saying she will come to church though and then doesn’t! But her friends from church are going to start helping with that. :) And there's also O, who was an investigator before I got here but was sick and/or out of town. So we finally met him a couple days ago and did some service for him. We should be meeting with him this week again. :)

For P-day…specifically today, we are going with the H's to the "Feline Compound" where we will see lots and lots...of (exotic) cats...WOOHOO! We also sometimes go on hikes in the mountains in the Lake LA area… And I cut hair for missionaries... :D I'm doing just fine these days and am enjoying myself very, VERY much. :)

Well, I am short on time today because I'm at the L’s emailing due to the fact that the Church is occupied with Christmas party stuff, so I gotta run now. Have to let the Sisters email, haha. :P

LOVE YOU GUYS!

~ Elder 9 





At the Creche - with some people he helped baptize and whom he loves dearly, and next with his companion - 



 At a member's house - eating ice cream after they fed them dinner.
Missionaries depend on others feeding them dinner. Otherwise they go without.
So if you ever see an LDS missionary, ask them if they have a dinner appointment. If they don't, perhaps you'll be kind enough to consider inviting them for dinner. :)
Our family does tries to do the same.


Some of the exotic cats at The Feline Compound - 


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Mission Letter Week 72 - 01 December 2014

Happy December everybody! :D


Emily:

DMCO Concert time!! Emi are you excited or what?!?! I love that feeling right before an awesome concert! :D GOOD LUCK ON IT! I am QUITE sure you will do very well. :P Hopefully L can make it to the concert too! I sure wish I could watch it. :)  And yes, I did eat a TON of food!! I had a fun weekend and probably gained 500 pounds!  We actually ate 5 Thanksgiving dinners, and more than 8 desserts over the last 3-4 days.

Braky:

You cooked a Dana Turkey!! WHOOO!! Those things are AWESOME! :D And it looks SOOOO good too.  Sure wish I could sink my teeth into that!

Nice work with the projector stand too. Looks good, and functional. 


Re: "It's not Christmas until somebody cries" family motto:  And here I thought that by being in California, the holidays would have fewer tears in them. 

Cool to hear about the V's. Hopefully they don't leave like the B's did.

Love you too, Brak Brak, and Godspeed.


Mama:

This weekend was awesome. I have consumed so much food these last few days it is absolutely ridiculous!

Yes, we are spreading the cards for “He Is the Gift” around the ward and around our area now. It’s a nice little gift for people. :)

Our main investigators that we are working with are J and E. E has a baptism date for Jan. 17 and J is a brand-new investigator now. We are working with others, but these are the main two that are progressing for reals. :)

I am SO excited for RJ and S! It sounds like they are doing a lot better these days... maybe one day soon they'll hop over to S's and we can all visit. :) We shall see!

Hahaha - the pea coat is just a ‘want’, mainly because my other one is a little big on me now. It makes for a good over coat for my suit though haha. Yeah, I pooh-poohed the idea of buying one before my mission… back when I didn't have your sense of style. I have been paying attention more and thinking of all that advice I ignored over the years and started realizing... dadgum... she's good... So yeah. :) I can get it here, maybe if I slip down to Palmdale, just next door and go to a store down there, which I should be able to do on any given P-day, granted I let my zone leaders know, haha. Again though, just a want. If it’s too much, no worries. I can survive without it.

I already have a pretty good idea who’s home we will be skyping from for Christmas, so no worries there. :)

I love the Thanksgiving picture! :) Looks like a good time with really good people. I’m excited to meet the C family when I get home! They seem really cool. Especially since he was "Superman's body guard"!  That is way cool!

Wow though……. BYU-I just got a lot more attractive….. dadgum… dadgumdadgum.......

I LOVE the picture of Sister Melton!  That is hilarious!! And I very much enjoy the home-y pics of the Christmas decor!  Now to the letter in the mail...

Yep. I am definitely trunky. No doubt about it. But not homesick. There's a difference, at least in my mind. Trunky to me doesn’t really mean I’m sitting on luggage ready to go home because I’m ready to quit. It just means I think about home more and I can’t wait to go back, but I remain focused on the work and it doesn’t get me down at all. :P... Yay!

Wow... that was really cool to hear from Elder Snyder :') That really does mean a lot. We definitely had our downfalls and our triumphs, and I am grateful for what I have learned from him and from serving with him. It was a great time in my mission, and I am glad I showed up for it!

I gotta run now. LOVE YOU GUYS! BYE!!


~ Elder 9 




This photo is of Elder Nine's entire Zone in Bakersfield a couple of weeks ago. It was shared by another missionary's mother.