A Beautiful Day!!

Here we are!! 219 Missionaries (counting us and our senior office couple)  with Elder and Sister Craig Christensen, Elder and Sister De Hoyos, and Elder Martinez (area authority). I LOVE this picture!!

We had such a wonderful day meeting in the chapel with the Guadalajara East Mission and learning from our leaders. We loved the stories that were told and the advice given. And now it is time to get out and put it all to work!!

But first . . . a few more pictures . . . :-)

Lining up for the picture . . .

We are now 54 sister missionaries strong!

And just after the meeting with both missions! What a beautiful sight to behold!

New Missionaries!!

We welcomed 16 new missionaries on Monday. Eight were sisters and eight were elders, eight came from the US and eight came from Spanish speaking countries--Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador.

The native Spanish speakers all arrived at 8:20 in the morning--after getting up around 1:30 to finish packing and head to the airport. Here they are after arriving and with their companions:

In the early evening we welcomed 8 missionaries from the US. Here are there pictures as a group and with their companions.

And a bonus. No, they are not companions. But they are friends from the BYU track team. Sister T on the left arrived 8 weeks ago and Sister B on the right arrived last week. They were reunited for a few minutes before they both went off to work. 

We wish everyone the best!! (So far, so good!)

Note to Parents of Missionaries who arrived today . . .

Just a note to let you know that your children all arrived safely. Those who arrived this morning from Mexico are now with their companions in their areas. Those who arrived from Provo tonight just left our house and are headed to the office or missionary apartments to sleep. They will be trained tomorrow morning and then head out to their areas.

I will post pictures on the blog later this week, but I will also email all the parents with a group and companion picture in the next couple days.

But as for now, know they are all very tired but in good spirits.
Hermana Wagner

Otra Despedida!

Farewells once again. This is always such a sad night.

We were particularly sad this time because Sister Lopez is the first missionary we have welcomed and sent home after serving her full term of service with us. We have two others who came after we did who have already returned home, but both were visa waiters in their respective countries and so came to us after already serving several months in another mission.

But Sister Lopez served her entire mission with us!! That means that we have been here more than a year and a half! The time has passed so rapidly (after those first few months:-) We wish we could make it slow down just a little.

We will miss all of these missionaries!! But we know they will do great things!

Final Transfer

Elder Mason Sanders---Mesa, Arizona

Elder Mario Alberto Pizaño--San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Elder Alejandro Zamarripa--Tiajuana, Mexico

Elder Kyle Headley--Clinton, Utah

Elder Geovanny Vega---Hidalgo, Mexico

Hermana Christiane Lopez--Palenque Chiapas, Mexico

Elder Jonathan Thompson--Tulsa, Oklahoma

Congratulations to you all for a job well done!

Also congratulations to Elder Zamarripa and Elder Pizaño for taking and passing the English Competency Exam!!

Change Day!!

I love change day. Well, to be honest, it is a long day with all that goes on, but I do love seeing all the missionaries at the church building!! Here are a few pictures!

Oh, and if you did not hear from your missionary today do not worry!! It is probably because they are traveling. We will not go to bed tonight until we know that every missionary is safely in his or her area.

 Elder D on the right with his grandson, (family picture) who is going to be training this transfer, making Elder D a great-grandfather.

 So those pictures were all outside. Here is what was inside . . . The assistants training the a new group of 8 missionaries who arrived this morning from Mexico City. (I will post pictures of that on Wednesday) At this moment they are with President Wagner at the airport picking up another group of 8 arriving from Provo.  So grateful to have them!

More Pictures From Interviews

This past week we continued with interviews (for details scroll down). We celebrated a few more birthdays . . .

Ate more granola bars . . . (their treat this round)

And in Vallarta they built pyramids in the hallway. . .

I don't think I even want to know about this one.:-)

With so many missionaries it is becoming an almost impossible task to post pictures of everyone, so in the future I will be cutting down on pictures taken and posted. However, here are some more and next week, after changes, and before we start zone conferences, I will post a few more.