Wagley serves mission in Brazil

Staff report

CANFIELD

When Austin Wagley graduated from Canfield High School in 2013, he didn’t know how useful his four years of German would be.

He put in his application to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received his mission call to Brazil, where he would teach the Gospel in Portuguese. During his two years in South America, he also had the chance to teach in Spanish and German.

Wagley said he studied Portuguese for six weeks at the Missionary Training Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before going to his assigned area in fall 2013. He said he also learned to speak some Spanish, because in some areas of Brazil, especially close to the border of Uruguay, the people speak Spanish.

“My German actually came in handy,” Wagley said. “In one area the people speak German. It’s a dialect of German and Portuguese. The people are descendants of the people who fled from Germany during World War II and went to the south in Brazil.”

Wagley said he saw many homeless and needy people in Brazil. He and other missionaries repaired homes and cleaned public area such as parks.

“I learned to love the Brazilian people,” said Wagley. “They are really loving people. It’s super awesome to see the Lord in another country, see how much God loves all people. God loves us all because we’re all his children, and that’s a super picture.”

Wagley said Brazil is open to missionary work, and the Mormon Church has about 1.2 million members there. People are free to worship as they choose and go to church.

“It’s easy to knock on doors. The people are very friendly and receptive,” he said.

Wagley said they met a woman, Maria Tereza, who had faced many tragedies in her life. She was caring for her bedridden husband and was depressed because her daughter had died at a young age. He and the other missionaries taught her about Jesus Christ and God’s plan for his children.

“Maria said if it weren’t for the Gospel, she would probably be dead,” said Wagley. “It was awesome to see people’s lives changed like that.”

Wagley is a student at Utah Valley University this fall. He said serving a mission in Brazil and learning to love the people and their culture is the best thing that has happened in his life.

His parents are Dr. Craig and Pamela Wagley of Canfield.