All I know how to make is Egg Sandwiches and Fried Rice

Dear Family,

I got the package right after I emailed. Thanks for all the food. Send more cookable food and recipes. I'm starting to cook more, but all I know how to make is egg sandwiches and fried rice. Those are starting to get a little old. Send some recipes for like pasta sauces or something. I know this is weird but I don't have time for snacks throughout the day, but I need some good meals throughout.

Tell Ken I'm so glad he decided to be baptized. It's investigators like him that we love. We also had the same problem at Kinsey's baptism with the water level. It went alright. We're just working now to get the rest of her family active.

If you could send me Glenn's mission address and email address that would be really awesome.

Tell Ricey not to freak out. Driving is awesom but don't DIE! And tell Remster to keep practicing trombone and piano. I practice a little every P-day and I wish I could just play a few hymns.

I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and I actually went OVER time. That was weird.

It's also starting to get chilly around here. It's not getting above 50 at all. I'll be sending home a package next week of a bunch of stuff that I won't ever use again on my mission. I keep collecting random stuff and I have to keep my posessions low because I have to fit it all into my suitcases.

Love Elder Mijo

God works in mysterious ways.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ok, this week was kinda slow because of turkey day and the BYU-Utah game. We 
didn't have many lessons because a whole bunch of our investigators were out of 
town, and the rest really didn't want to talk to us anyway. We did find 3 new 
investigators this week which was a big bonus for us. All three are 8 years old, 
and they should be baptized in a couple months at least.

Our district decided to spice things up on Thanksgiving by having a pie eating 
contest throughout the whole day. We had two dinners (bleh) and then we ate as 
much pie as possible on top of that whenever we were offered any (BLAH!!). Our 
companionship hit 21 pieces by the end of the day. I will never eat another 
piece of pumpkin or key lime pie ever again. I wanted to die. 

On a more spiritual note, We were going by one of our referrals on Saturday, and 
they weren't home, but when we got there a guy drove by and told us to go to his 
friends house next door. We went by and talked to him for a little bit and he 
said he would be interested in taking the missionary lessons. It was really cool 
to see that even though we couldn't get a hold of the person we came for, someone 
else was put in our path. God works in mysterious ways. We as a companionship 
are working on our faith to find and teach, and we are praying each day for our 
investigators.

I'm enjoying every minute of my mission (besides the pie). I miss you all and I 
hope to hear from you soon.

With Love,
Elder Wright

The Reward for Obedience is Faith

Hey all,

This week was pretty awesome! We had a baptism on Tuesday for Kinsey Anderson.

She was the first investigator I've had the opportunity to teach from start to finish.

She is really smart and I know that she will stay a strong member of the church. We also had Zone Conference this past weekend and I learned a whole bunch from President Laney. The quote he used was "The reward for Obedience is Faith" We are striving to be be obedient to all the commandments that have been given us as missionaries, and as members of the church. WE must apply a principle, by taking those leaps of faith, before we gain a testimony of the power of obedience. We also had some in-depth discussions about Agency, and how we have the ability to choose right from wrong, and how there must be opposition in all things. We are still working with all of our investigators to get them to church, but some of them seem to be fighting against it. We think one of our investigators, Maryann Hanson, has had some anti-Mormon influence in the past, so she is scared to even step foot inside of a church building. Jason Pye though, is our golden contact right now. I'm sending a few pictures. We found a member with a leg lamp. We couldn't help ourselves from taking pictures. I'm getting along with Elder Swanson alright. I don't think I could take 3 months though. I'm crossing my fingers for next transfer.

Love,Elder Wright!

Winter has officially arrived.

Hey everyone,
The work is going as usual around here. On Saturday we decided to walk to save driving miles. We were going about the usual business when, at about 11:30, a blizzard hit us while we were on the opposite side of our area. We continued walking until about 3 inches of snow was on the ground before we were finally able to teach a lesson. Winter has officially arrived. We plan to do lots of snow shoveling for the coming weeks as part of our service. 

We also have a baptism tomorrow for Kinsey Williams. This will be my first baptism that I have seen start to finish, and I'm way excited for it. We also have a 40 day fast going on in both of our stakes right now. One family in each stake takes a day to fast for missionary work, and think about potential investigators for us to teach. Not much has come out of it yet, but we believe our efforts, and the efforts of the members will pay off in the long run. 


We are working our hardest to gain the confidence and support of the members in our area. Other than that, not much to report for this week.
Love,
Elder Wright

I spent mine (Halloween) cooped up.....watching G-rated movies.

Dear Familia,

My email home didn't go through again.  I don't think the email system likes me very much.  I'll try to do my best in a snail mail.  It's sounding like you guys are having a blast with the Halloween Holiday.  Mine wasn't nearly as fun.  I spent mine all cooped up in a Stake Center watching G-rated movies.  And, playing volleyball, that was way worth it.

Tell Remy I want to hear his trombone skills when I get back and I want Ricey to show me how to play tennis.

We had a really good week; we taught a lot of lessons but not so many people showed up to church.  That seems to be our theme here.  One of our new investigators, Jason Pye, is progressing really fast.  He has been going to church for 4 months and has read the whole Book of Mormon.  He just has to get a testimony of Joseph Smith and then he said he would be baptized.  He's going to see the Joseph Smith movie at Temple Square tonight.  One of our other investigators, Kinsey Williams is ready to be baptized on November 17th.  He mom just gave permission for her to get baptized and we're way excited.  

Some other investigators are moving a little slower.  Zach & Colby Pike are some boys whose parents aren't very responsible themselves, so we're struggling to get them to church on a regular basis.  Fortunately, the ward is more than happy to help out whenever possible.  Majerle Morgan is a 12 year-old who has wanted to get baptized for a couple months now, but her dad wants her to wait until she's older.  Her testimony though is A LOT stronger than anyone else her age and stronger than all of the less-active folk that we talk to.  It really amazes me to see so many people admit that they are less-active, but then say they still have a testimony, but do nothing about it.

We also have an investigator, Craig, who is living with his less-active girlfriend.  He said he wanted to be baptized, but he has to move out first or get married.  The only problem is his girlfriend doesn't want to make nay sort of commitment and neither are going to move out.  So,it's just at a dead standstill.  Those are our main investigators right now.  We're hoping to pick up some more this next week, but we'll see.

Elder Crowder was transferred Wednesday.  He's a Zone Leader in Sandy now, which leaves me and Elder Swanson here in Cottonwood.  I think my companion is excited to finally be in a leadership position (senior companion), but I won't let it go to his head.

I'm doing my best and I'm working hard.  I hope everything is going well at home.

Love, Elder Wright

P.S.  I'm totally making fried rice this week!  It's going to be delicious!

P.S.S.  Thanks for the stamps and the cards too! 

We totally exceeded our goal for how many lessons we taught.

HOLA!

I cant seem to keep track of the weeks here. They are just flying by. This week we totally exceeded our goal for how many lessons we taught. It was crazy because they all seemed to pop up at the last minute without warning. We also picked up a new investigator who has been going to church for 4 months and has already read the book of mormon cover to cover. He doesnt want to accept a baptisimal date yet, but he knows he will be baptized sooner or later. He just has to get past some family issues first.

We had some pretty dismal church attendance though. Halloween parties kept people up late so they didnt get up in time for church, and one of investigators sprained her ankle on the way to church. I may or may not be in this area next week because of transfers, but we'll see. Maybe President Laney will have mercy upon me and leave me here so I can actually stay in an area for more than 4 weeks. On the other hand, I do like moving around a lot, because I get to see how other missionaries work and what is effective (and ineffective).

It got really chilly last week, and we were walking around a lot all bundled up in scarves and sweaters. We had missionary lockdown for halloween and we all got put in our zone buildings for the night. Apparently, people dress up as missionaries on halloween and do stupid stuff, so they lock us up so we are all accounted for. We got to watch a few movies, like Monsters vs. Aliens, and Rocketman. For comedy deprived missionaries like us, it was amazing. We also got to play a little bit of volleyball without nets :( and frisbee. It was a nice break for us all.

Thanks for sending the gloves, they are going to good use. Please send pictures of what's going on at home!

Love,
Elder Wright