We'll both be here in kearns through january 2011!!!

HELLO!

 

We had a great christmas in the field! We all went to the mission office for christmas eve, and the stakes in the valley had all provided gifts for the missionaries. I came away with 10 new pairs of socks!!! And 1 new tie! I never thought i'd ever get excited about a tie, but mission throws a different light on christmas. We also got overloaded on chocolate and candy. On christmas day we visited a whole bunch of families all over the valley from areas we had served in before. Elder usevitch and I sang some quick christmas hymns and shared a christmas message and went to the next one. It was a really fun busy day.

 

The rest of our week was awesome too. The day after christmas, one of our investigators, Ritchie Ramirez, was baptized. We had been working with him and his family for a little over a month. It was a little slow at first, but after a couple of visits he really started digging in and reading the scriptures. After one visit he had read the enitre 89th section of the doctrine and covenants without us asking. His wife asked us a week before the baptism how long it would take him to recieve the priesthood. They are a super cool family and his testimony is so strong and has lots of room to grow.

 

Neither Elder Usevitch or I were transferred so we'll both be here in kearns through january 2011!!!

 

Happy new year

Love,

Elder Wright

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas,

By the time you get this it's probably way past Christmas.  I hope it all went well and you got some time to take a break and relax a bit.  I got the slippers and pajamas today.  My multiple sets of pjs never fail to amaze my companions.  I also got the massive green shirt signed by the ward.  Tell them all thank you for me.  I'm especially looking forward to opening the package from the youn men.  Who knows what will be in that one...
This Christmas season has been flying by pretty quickly.  We've been pretty packed with appointments day and night.  We haven't had much time to relax much.  Food even sometimes gets left by the wayside.  A couple of nights ago, dinner consisted of dry Apple Jacks, Doritos, and  Oreos as we drove from appointment to appointment.  I think we need to take some time to catch up to ourselves.  Christmas will be good for us.  We had our Christmas Conference last weekend.  Elder Holland came and spoke to us for a bit which was awesome.  There were also a whole bunch of musical pieces.  Elder Usevitch & I sang 'Samuel tells of the Baby Jesus' from the primary songbook.  It was a little nerve racking in front of the whole mission, but we had a good pianist, which is all that really matters.  It sounded alright, but we could have worked on it a little more. 
Christmas this year will be a little different.  Most people that we visit struggle to put many presents, if any, under the tree.  We visit some families that don't have much in the first place, and any gifts the do receive they are so much more grateful for.  It is a lesson to me that Christmas isn't in the giftss and presents, it is in the gratitude for what we have.  Especially the gift that we have been given of God's son for us.  It is  through the gift of Jesus Christ that we can return to Him.  It is by faith in Jesus Christ that we accept the gift.  And by giving and sharing it with others we can share the greatest of all the gifts of God to all who will receive it.  This is my Christmas message.  Have a Merry One!

Love
Elder Wright
2 Nephi 19:6
D&C 14:7

We dropped by unannounced the other night

Hey everyone,
We were kept super busy this week. We had appointments back to back every single evening. Not to say everyone showed up for the appointment, but we were going nonstop the entire time. We have been meeting with a tongan family that rcently moved into the ward, the Tahes. They said they want to start working towards going to the temple. We found out the last time that brother Tahe had spent some time in prison (We're meeting lots of those lately) and he was supposed to be there for 120 days. He said he started reading the Book of Mormon his first day, and finished it on his 21st day, and the following day, they lifted his sentence and he was released. Their entire family is starting to take the gospel more seriously. We dropped by unannounced the other night and found them having their nightly scripture study. It totally makes the difference in the Spirit that was in their home. The ward is really starting to help out. too. Some of our other contacts have been taking a little longer. to accept the things we teach, but we are starting to see progress slowly.

I have come to realize that God gives us commandments for a reason. How important it is for us to understand that because they are there, we should obey them. It is simple. They arent just guidelines to live by, but commandments. When we obey we can receive Gods blessings. By disobedience we suffer the consequence of our actions. I hope that each and every day each of you take those simple steps of repentance that help us become more obedient, and more like our Heavenly Father.
Mosiah 2: 41
Alma 34: 32-33

Take Love, Merry Christmas,
Elder Wright

He knows first hand the difference between good and evil

HI!

Well We havent had a whole lot new this week. The weather has been warming up a bit, but that just means we get to wait for it to get cold again. The snow shoveling season will start up again.

President Miller came out to teach with us last week. He taught us some approaches to teaching more simply. he also helped us with one of the families that we've been struggling to work with. They arent being totally unified in the going to church and reading scriptures. It's been teaching Elder Usevitch and I a lot about the importance of unity.

We had a dinner appointment with a recently activated member, who was so awesome! He had spent some time in prison, and decided to turn his life around. He started reactivating his brother's family, and his nephews received he aaronic priesthood. He knows first hand the difference between good and evil, and is making sure all his family is making right choices. Sometimes, the humble people are the most ready, but at the same time, we've met a lot of people that are bitter at the church because of their circumstances.

we found an indoor soccer place and we were able to use it for P-Day. my companion likes tripping over the soccer ball. I forgot how awful i am at soccer. i like the dodgeball thing more.

anyway, Unity it's important

Mosiah 18:21
Love,
Elder Wright

we just have to bear with patience a bit, then suddenly a miracle hits

Hello everyone,

This week was awesome! We've had some crazy snowstorms this week, we had at least a foot of snow on Sunday. We've been trudging around in it all week and we are pushing people out of the snow every day. We're both starting to get a handle on driving in the snow too. We had thanksgiving dinner over at one of our bishop's house. We didnt overeat like we did last year. Not nearly as much pie. We also had a baptism for Koki Pace on Sunday. It was really a white baptism with the snow falling and everything outside. The entire baptismal service was in marshallese, so we had no idea what was really being said in the talks. The Pace family is slowly making it's way to the temple. We're going to try and help them out as much as possible. They say they are going to be opening a marshallese branch in the valley sometime soon too! Anyway, we see a little bit of everything here in Kearns. We ran into a guy named Leslie Whithers last week who was baptized in Kansas a couple of months ago, and he has a burning testimony of the gospel. He came back to utah when he realized he needed to help his family out, and we're helping him get to know the ward here a little better. he also has an unbaptized son who is 10 who we will probably start teaching here soon too. President Miller came out to teach with us last night, which was really cool, and we got some pointers on how to improve our teaching.

We've had lots of experiences lately, some up, some down. It seems that whenever we hit a low point, we just have to bear with patience a bit, then suddenly a miracle hits, and we can keep going. We are picking up several new investigators, and a lot of them are really interested and ready for baptism already. A few others have some challenges to overcome, but I've never been so aware of the Spirit and how it affects people. I've felt that when I first came to this area I was struggling to get to know the people and get down to work, but Elder Usevitch has kept me going strong, and I now I love this area. Nothing compares to seeing our investigators understand the principles of the Gospel and feel the spirit. It really does change people. 2 Nephi 32:5

Love ya much,
Elder Wright

It was EPIC!

Hello!

Things up here have been chugging along as usual. We've had some pretty crazy snow storms up here this last week. Last night they shut down the whole valley because of a blizzard warning. The mission grounded all the cars, so we were on foot for the storm. It was EPIC! On the bright side, everyone was home. We've had a really early winter, and the temperature is dropping into the teens in the evenings. Thanksgiving is supposed to be in the single digits. Hopefully it warms up a bit before christmas or it'll be one long winter. We also had a zone conference at the mission office and we were instructed mostly on improving our teaching skills. Elder Usevitch and I have set some goals to improve our teaching appointments. We've found some of our wards have some pretty old families that seem to have lived there since the beginning of time. One ward has a family that spans 4 generations all in the same neighborhood. We've been trying to teach our investigators more simply and clearly, and some are progressing quick, but others are taking their time. One member family, the Hallowells, that we've been working with had been struggling to come to church, but they've been recently activated and we saw brother Hallowell get ordained to a priest on Sunday, which was really awesome. Some of the fruits of our labor arent in baptisms.

I've been digging down deeper into the scriptures lately. It opens up so much more if you go into the scripture study with the intent of finding something that you didnt have before. Instead of just reading, i've been trying to seek out the hidden treasures. They come, but not without work. D&C 88:118

Love,
Elder Wright

We've been exhausted EVERYWHERE we go

Hey all,

We've had a bunch of awesome things happen up here this week. We had transfers, both Elder Usevitch and I are staying here in Kearns. We had to organize a lot of the transfers this time, because the mission is making some changes in how transfers are done. It pretty much ended in us driving elders around all morning. We have some great new elders and one new sister in our zone. Two of the district leaders are brand new, so we will have some leadership training to do. Other than that we are looking forward to another great trasfer in Kearns

 

We've been exhausted EVERYWHERE we go. Sometimes Elder Usevitch and I are a little slap happy and we just laugh when things dont go as planned. It all works out in the end. We have a couple investigators on date, but some of them we are working with have slowed down a little bit and want some more time to take it all in. One couple we've been working with are golden. Ritchie and Julie Ramirez and their 4 year old son Mason. Julie is a member and has been coming to church pretty actively for about a year, and now we started teaching Ritchie, who is not a member. He said he would be baptized, but he cant get sundays off work yet, so we're helping him along until that happens.

 

We were raking our land lords yard for service yesterday and everytime we got it somewhat clean all the leaves from the tree/roof/yard-down-the-street blew back onto it. We just laughed and did the best we could. I'm glad we're raking leaves and not shoveling snow. We've also been doing a whole lot of exchanges with Zone members, helping them out with all their work and all. Other than all that, missionary life goes on as usual. We had our usual zone dodge ball activety this P-day again. We all end up too sore afterward but it's all worth it.

 

Gospel's true. Dont let other people decide for you. Choose yourself.

Love,

Elder Wright

By the way, it's freezing up here

 Hello!

 

This week has been pretty interesting. We've had lots of success, in finding new investigators, though some of them will take a little work to get them to baptism. As well, we've had some great experiences with some of our investigators. Some of them are prepared for baptism but just a few hold ups. Michelle Aguilera was going to be baptized this coming saturday, but she says she wants to do it with her daughter, Kiana, who is 11. Kiana interestingly enough says she wants to do some more searching before she makes the jump into baptism. I've never heard a more mature response from an 11 year old. We asked them to read and pray every day to know the Book of Mormon is true. We are praying that she will recieve an answer in the next few weeks.

 

We've been going on a lot of exchanges with elders in the zone this past week. I got to go with Elder Costa, who is from Brazil. From his own mouth, he is the most american brazilian anyone would ever meet. You has no accent and has perfect english. We had a lot of things in common and we got to teach a whole bunch of appointments that night. As well, we are going on another exchange tomorrow, and i get to speak spanish for a day. Our zone is half english, half spanish speaking missionaries.

 

By the way, it's freezing up here. It's currently snowing, and it's all going to be downhill from here. I just have to hold out for *count on fingers* 5 months... WOOOO!! I'm so excited. We do have a car though, which is a huge plus. Last winter we walked everywhere in that mess.

 

Our P-day sport is now dodgeball!  We all end up super sore by the end of it. it's the best.

 

Con Amor,

Elder Wright

It took 6 missionaries to get him there

Hello everyone!

 

I've got a lot to tell this week and a little more time this week.

 

So Kearns is interesting. It's the exact opposite of any of the other areas that i've been in on my mission. I went from Cottonwood, to Draper, to Daybreak... to Kearns... It used to be an old military town and everything has been pretty much to the ground. I think our area is the only one that has more non-LDS churches than LDS buildings. We have a section of government housing that we work in a little bit, We've been tracting, and we've run into our fair share of anti mormon people and also some plain crazy ones too. We have to be ready to stumble through a spanish conversasion if we run into any spanish speaking people. Elder Usevitch is pretty good at his spanish and we try to work on little phrases when we drive around. We have one of the mission trucks because our area has so many dips and gutters. The ward and stake leadership needs a little push. Everyone here is so busy with work and other financial problems that the leadership suffers a bit. The bishops have it really hard dealing with welfare and a ward that is 75% less active. We've been working slowly with the ward councils to help them to do the ward mission process a little better. Some arent doing it at all, and even one bishop told us his ward wouldn't do it.

 

We are teaching a few people, not as much as i'm used to, so a lot of our time is spent finding new people to teach. One of the ones we're teaching is a 9 year old boy, Koki, who was adopted by an active family. He's from the Marshall Islands! He speaks Marshallese, which sounds like a mix between an African clicking language and gibberish. He has a half brother who lives there too who translates for us. We're picking up some simple marshallese words but the boys laugh at us when we try to say anything. We have two other investigators, both who are really close. Michelle Aguilera, who is preparing to be baptized on the 30th of this month, and as well Jaime Fitzgerald. We've been working with a fair amount of less active families, which seem to be overwhelming the wards here.

 

I was able to attend a baptism in Cottonwood for Ralph James, a man that we had taught for a while. He had been attending church for a year with his wife and we couldnt get him to budge. He's originally from England, and he's lived here in Utah for a few years. He kept his baptisimal plans a secret from his wife and surprised her when she thought she was going to another members baptism. It took 6 missionaries to get him there, but he finally understood the importance of it all. We have a couple of baptisms this weekend in Draper. It's funny, becuase i've had at least one baptism every weekend this month somewhere in the valley.

 

All in all, things are going pretty well here. Zone Leader is alright, but there are little problems that pop up all over the place, and it cuts into our P-Day time pretty bad. I'm learning lots of big lessons sparatically as we handle all the situations in the zone. Elder usevitch has been a Zone Leader for one transfer before i got here, so we're both learning quick.

 

Not much else to report, Read your Book of Mormon. It does wonders!

 

Love,

Elder Wright

He's my 5th companion from texas

Hey everyone,

OK so a million things changed and I have almost zero time left for P-day so I'll try to get everything in. 

I was transferred out of daybreak, and now I'm in kearns. It's a BIG change. Not so much leadership support. Lots of crazy people. We've run into a couple already. The people are definitely more humble. We just keep running into less active members and anti-mormon people. My new companion is elder Usevitch. He's my 5th companion from texas. He's really really good. Super obedient and diligent. We are getting up early to go running. It's wearing me out and I feel totally exhausted all the time. I'm also now a zone leader here for the kearns zone. It's not too much new stuff, but it's exciting. Also, One of the people we were teaching in Daybreak got baptized last weekend. I was able to perform the baptism whcih was a really great privelege. He had some pretty big drug problems in his past but he decided he wanted to be baptized and go on a mission! That was super exciting! I'll mention some of the other people we're teaching in my next letter. I'm all out of time. Hope to hear from you soon!

 

Con Amor,

Elder Wright

 

P-day is now wednesday so I'll be emailing then.

New Assignment Zone Leader

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Utah Salt Lake City South Mission

8060 South 615 East

Sandy, Utah 84070

October 11, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Wright,

I am happy to inform you that your son, Elder Rudy Wright, has been called by the Lord to serve as a Zone Leader in the Kearns Zone of the Utah Salt lake City South Mission.

In this assignment he will supervise from ten to eighteen missionaries.  In this responsibility he will oversee the activities of District Leaders and in a general way encourage and instruct all the missionaries in his zone.

You should be pleased with his progress as a missionary.  I am sure you will see in him many good changes and much positive development.  He is a great missionary.  Please continue to give him your encouragement to magnify his calling as a proselyting missionary, and as leader also.

May the Lord's blessings be with you.

Sincerely,

Bruce E. Miller

Mission President

There was this guy snoring right behind us during the whole thing!

HI!
We had a pretty awesome week. It really flew by. This whole month flew by. I swear yesterday was august. We have been teaching lots and preparing a lot of our investigators for baptism. We have two this upcoming weekend, and one of them, Jordan Long picked ME to do it! He's been taught by a lot of missionaries in the past and has struggled a LOT with commandments, but he wants really bad to be a better person. I also loved conference this weekend. I'm not so sure elder Huber has a huge appreciation of it yet, but it'll grow over time. I loved all of the talks, and I'm really starting to appreciate the words President Monson gives us every conference. We were able to go downtown for the saturday afternoon session of conference which was super cool. We saw our old mission president, president Laney, as well. There was this guy snoring right behind us during the whole thing! Someone got up and shook him to wake him up, but he was out cold again in 5 minutes. We also ran into a couple prostesters on temple square. They called us 'dead men walking' and 'a big zit.' We sang a hymn at one, and he couldnt scream over all of us. Anywho, it was a real good experience for us to be at conference.

Anyway, Life's good around here. I pray for you always.
Mosiah 5:2

Elder Wright

I also had the chance to go to lunch with the mission president

hey everyone,

We had a pretty good week. Some things were a little disappointing. Lexi Reay was planning to get baptized this past saturday, but her mom went into the hospital, so we have to push the baptism back a few weeks. On the flip side we had a really surprising event on tuesday. right after district meeting one of our investigators, Jordan Long,  called us and asked us to come visit him. It was a little odd for him, because he wasnt really interested at all in coming to church, or in reading the scriptures we left him. He had been struggling with some drug problems for a long time before missionaries had met with him, and even while we had been meeting with him. And when we went by after he called he had a total change of heart. He told us he wanted to serve a mission! We told him he needed to get baptized first. Now he's planning to get baptized on the 9th of october. He even got up on Sunday and bore his testimony in front of the whole ward, whithout anybody asking him to. He really started to see where some of his friends that were getting into bad stuff were headed, and where the gospel could take him. He had definitely been humbled a bit, and he was ready for it. What made it even more funny for us, is that he was the last person in the world we expected to call us and tell us he wanted to get baptized, and better yet, go on a mission. People are prepared, or being prepared. Our only responsibility is to find who the Lord has prepared for us.

I also had the chance to go to lunch with the mission president with Elder Pizzey, another district leader in our zone. that was pretty cool. We got to talk about a lot of thigns happening in the mission right now. I went on exchanges with the zone leaders, (they are spanish missionaries)  it was fun. I understand about half of what's going on when they were talking so I wasnt totally lost. I got to talk to Elder Burleson about some things that would help out my district and our zone. Not much else this week. Daybreak is all really young families, a lot of less active part memeber families and unbaptized kids. We have some things coming up here pretty soon that i'm getting excited for.

Love you all,
Elder Wright

1 Nephi 10:19

we'll have 19 wards to work with. WOOOO!!

Molly Case Baptism



Hey everyone,

We had a pretty good week. We had been able to teach a bunch of our investigators, but none of them came to church this week. That was sad. But other than that, we've been working with all the ward leadership a whole bunch. 2 of our wards will be splitting right after general conference, so, we'll have 19 wards to work with. WOOOO!! I've almost met with all the ward mission leaders and bishops. I was able to go back to Draper for a baptism, for Molly case. Hopefully we have a few more here in the coming weeks in that area. I was able to stop into the Salisbury-Hurst family while I was back there. They're the CRAZY family that we were able to attend the wedding for last month. They need the most help they can get ;) Also, we were able to speak in one of our sacrament meetings yesterday. I am working on perfecting my talks written the morning of. This one ended up being written on two sticky notes. It lasted me abut 10 minutes and I even had to cut a bunch of stuff out. I am getting better at it slowly, but I still dont enjoy it very much... I spoke on bearing testimony and being a good example. Also, they built a new building in one of our stakes, so we were able to attend that and be there for the dedication. Also, part of the south-western part of the valley caught fire yesterday in the herriman area. they evacuated over  1000 homes. It reminded me a lot of all the fires in California a couple years ago.The wind here is pretty bad so that was fueling it pretty good and making everything super smokey.

We are working hard. I have been refocusing my efforts on my studies. I have come to really value the time we are given to study in the morning and and there is so much knowledge to gain. It always seems like 2 hours isnt enough time to get in everything. We are feasting upon the words of christ every day, to treasure up in our minds continually the words of life. (D&C 84:85)

I hope everything is going well at home, I love you all,
Elder Wright

PS The mission president approved board games on Pday so we have been cracking down on some killer bunnies!!!





Greenies biking through Daybreak



We had some emergency transfers this last week

hey pops,

The report sounds good from home. School and corn. My leg is feeling a lot better now, but the bruise is still pretty dark. I'm glad ricey is taking care of the landcruiser for me. the district is doing... ok.  It's been an interesting week. I'm starting to understand the area a little better now, and we're starting to work more with leadership. we also had some little changes in the mission recently that we hope will help us out, but I feel too many people are relying on structural things in the mission to increase our performance rather than the simple things like you said, obedience, humility, diligence, and faith. Elder Grow of the quorum of the seventy came and spoke to us this last week which was really great. Elder Huber and I are working hard to help the members in our area to do missionary work.

Elder Wright

I managed to crash into a light pole on my bike

Hey everyone,

I dont have a whole lot of time but i'll do my best. We had a pretty slow week. Things seem to be tapering off like crazy, maybe with school or something, but we're trying to keep the pace going. I managed to crash into a light pole on my bike. I'm surprised I came out of it with no broken bones, but I got pretty bruised up. I was trying to go crash free on my mission but it was unavoidable. The rest of the week was contacting and going by leadership in all of our wards. We taught a few lessons but our focus has switched to finding at the moment. A lot of the people that we are teaching have been taught for a long time and haven't been making many steps forward. We have a couple baptisms scheduled later this month, we're just praying hard that they will stick with it. A lot of this week has taught me how much this work depends on the Lord and our faith in Him. We are simply his instruments, and we need to be be ready for when we are needed most. It has been really tough lately in this area, with new companions, and a new district, but if I work hard the blessings will come in time. It is yet another test of patience and diligence.

I know this work is the work of the Lord. I embrace every moment of it. To share this gospel can bring the greatest joy to anyone just as it has to me, The gospel of Christ is the truth. 2 Nephi 25:26

Love,

Elder Wright

SOOOOOO, I got TRANSFERRED!!

Hey all,

SOOOOOO, I got TRANSFERRED!! I left draper, and I'm now in the Daybreak area on the west side of the valley. Our area is pretty tiny, and we're on bike again (NO CAR!) it's alright though. If you ignore the hills all over the place and the constant wind, it doesnt take too long to get places. it really does seem like it's uphill both ways sometimes. Some days we have to work pretty hard to go downhill. The Oquirrh Temple is in our area which is really cool, we ride past it every day on our bikes. the area itself is very very organized. it's a pretty large track housing development, so everything looks the same. I'm slowly getting used to the area and finding my way around, but it's so easy to get lost when it's all so similar.

I left the Riverview stake which had 9 wards, and now we have the Daybreak stake, and the Founders Park stake which total 17 wards, so I have a lot more leadership and bishops to catch up with the wards are tiny, sometimes only 2 or 3 blocks. I have two companions again, wooooo! Elder Huber, from Amarillo, Texas, he's pretty quiet, but he has random outbursts at times. Also, Elder Franklin, from Lehi, Utah, He's waiting for his visa to mexico, so, whenever he gets it, we'll probably be back down to 2 missionaries. The two of them have been out for one transfer (6weeks) so I'm still doing that whole training thing. The two of them are like one missionary. They finish eachothers' thoughts and do everything together. I'm also still district leader, which is alright so far. I dont know any of the district members yet but I will soon. I hope the district does well, but in the past the companionships have struggled a bit.

As For the work here, there is a bunch to do. I hope to keep the same pace going that's been here in the past. we had a baptism this past Saturday for Kenzel Estanol. I didnt teach him a whole lot but we plan on helping his dad work towards baptism. I'm also getting to know our investigators slowly. We're working with a lot of children, which I love to teach. We spoke yesterday at a ward as well and i was given the lovely subject of the Gathering of Israel... I did alright for a talk written the morning of... (I still dont like speaking in church and i put off writing it until the last minute)

Anywho, that's all i have for this week, I love you all, keep the faith, always be an example of the believers 1 timothy 4:12

Love,
Elder Wright

We gave them a book of mormon and they gave us some indian dessert and milk

Hey everyone!

We had yet another excellent week! it was amazing. We had another baptism this week for Ariel Thorup, who we've been teaching for about 3 weeks now. She came home from girls camp and told everyone that she knew the church was true and she wanted to be baptized. Elder Neilson performed the baptism (his first one) and i did the confirmation. We kept busy throughout the whole week. We picked up a new investigator, Robert Newhook, who is from eastern Canada. He and Elder Neilson were talking about all the weird things that americans do. he talks really canadian. We also, ran into some people from India. It was interesting to talk to them, they were what they called, fundamentalist hindu. We gave them a book of mormon and they gave us some indian dessert and milk, and a Hindu bible, called the Bhagavad gita. we cant read it but it was interesting to talk to them about reincarnation and karma and stuff. there are quite a few similarities in the basic doctrines of their belief and ours.  We were also walking through an apartment complex and we saw a lot of Jehovah's witness stuff in the doors, so we started making a collection of it all. 

WE got hit by a massive rainstorm on thursday morning, but about 2 hours later it was bright and sunny and over 80 degrees. Utah weather is weird.

Well, we have transfers coming up in 2 days and we have no idea what's happening in our area. We are sure stuff is going to change in the district, but i have no idea if i'll still be here in a week. I might miss this area though, there are a lot of things that started to become a lot better than they used to be and it really started to take off.

I love you everyone, i hope you all have a good rest of your summer. Do good continually Mosiah 5:2

Love, Elder Wright

there were new investigators falling into our laps

Hey everyone!

I've officially been serving for 1 year! happy day. we celebrated by having a BAPTISM! We started teaching Judy Keane 3 weeks ago and she wanted it so bad. She's talking about going to the temple in a year now. She is definitely one of those prepared individuals. As for the rest of the week we taught so many people this week and there were new investigators falling into our laps. There is a black family that we were asked to stop by, and now they are all preparing to be baptized in september. Transfers are coming up in a week, and i have no idea what is going to happen. We also had a wedding last week that was super cool. We met a Bishop edgley of the presiding bishopric, which was cool, anyway, we're out of time so we have to go.
Love you all, keep the faith
Elder Wright

Omni 1:26

New Mission President

Dear Brother and Sister Wright,

We have just had the wonderful opportunity to meet Elder Wright and we look forward to serving with your son in the coming weeks and months.

As we begin serving as Mission President and companion of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission, we would like to introduce ourselves to you and express our desires to love and take care of your son or daughter. Transitions in the church are everyday occurrences and we will do our very best to make this a smooth one.

We come from Fountain Valley, California on the coast in Orange County. We have seven children, six of whom are married and providing us with 29 grandchildren. Our daughter, Melanie, who at the age of 41and a special needs individual, is excited to serve with us as a “missionary”.

Our three sons each served missions and so we feel we have walked in your shoes and know of your love and concern for your missionary. We recently served a mission in Australia. We express our gratitude for all you have done to bring your son/daughter to this point in his/her life. During the next three years we have a sacred trust to safeguard each missionary from spiritual or physical danger. What these missionaries become while serving their mission appears to be the launching pad for the rest of their lives and we are very mindful of this. It is inherent in our call to have a sincere love for each of these young men and women and we look forward to serving with this strong valiant army of our Savior in this part of His vineyard.

As you continue to communicate with your missionary on a weekly basis, we also ask for your prayers on our behalf as you pray for your own son or daughter. Each missionary brings unique qualities and talents that will bless the lives of many who live in this area. Encouragement and support from home will always be a boost in the mission field. Letters from home are always a joy and strength to the missionaries. We will do all in our power to lead and guide this mission under the Lord’s direction. If you have any concerns or information that would help us better serve your young man/young woman, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,
Bruce and Elaine Miller

'The Great Green Jello Festival'

yo everyone,

A bunch of stuff happened this week. I'm not sure if i mentioned this already but we have a new mission president, President Miller, who was just called about a month ago. We recieved a bunch of new trainings from the first presidency and quorum of the twelve, which are supposed to help us refocus on Preach my Gospel and helping us invite the spirit into our discussions. All the district leaders and Zone leaders were trained for 4 days straight at the mission office. We spent each morning and afternoon relearning everything, and i feel it will really help our missionary work. The district leaders now have to take all the new information and convey it to the rest of the missionaries. It's been a REALLY LONG week with the meetings, and with everything else going on in our areas and in the district, but I feel really prepared for the coming months.
Our stake also held what they call, 'The Great Green Jello Festival' It's pretty much like our stake's Pioneer Day. But anyway, there was lots of food and lots of green jello, and a lot of people. We decided to set up a missionary table and pass out stuff to the members but not everyone was super interested in our stuff, especially when there was rock climbing and face painting and stuff. To attract more attention we started preaching to everyone. I got up on my soap box and started yelling at everyone. We talked to a whole bunch of people and encouraged all the members to invite their friends to learn more about the church. If anything, we simply got our faces out so people know that we are there to do work. Anyway, It was loads of fun and we received several referrals from it.

The Gospel is true. Live it. Follow the example of Christ 2 Nephi 31:10

Love,
Elder Wright

In reply to an email from home regarding a question to how he feels the last year has gone Rudy wrote:

the one year mark thing is kinda odd. I dont feel like i've really been out that long and i dont feel that much more mature or anything, but at the same time, when i look back at who i was when i came out, i see a whole world of difference. Especially when i think about my leadership responsibilities. Leadership is wearing on me. when i was district leader before all the members of the district were experienced and obedient. Now it seems like all the elders in my district are taking steps backward. there are a few that strive to 'be anxiously engaged in a good cause' but there are others who must be 'compelled in all things.' We dont use any negative encouragement to get elders to be obedient, but sometimes i feel so frustrated because that seems like the only thing that will get them to be. It takes a lot of love and patience. everyday is another trial. I wish there was a one fix solution to all of this but of course, it wasnt meant to be easy. anyway, more to come in another email.

Anyone can go off the deep end

Hey everyone,

We have been pretty busy this past week, we picked up two new investigators: Judy Keane from california, and Patricia Rivera from Columbia. Judy is catholic, but a lot of her friends have been taking her to church and she is really open about everything we are teaching. We will probably invite her to be baptized during our next meeting. Patricia is married to a member, Jose, who actually was a counselor to a mission president in Columbia, and a bishop and branch president in california, but then stopped coming to church when he moved to utah. It goes to show that anyone can go off the deep end. anyway, Patricia is open to the church and she comes to church pretty regularly with her husband. We have one baptism planned for this coming weekend, Mikayla Mann. She had been taught FOREVER! Hopefully it will go through this time. The lack of communication with the whole family isnt helping the whole situation. I think the ward might be wondering why we cant get anything to happen there. Anywho, I attached some pictures of this last week, we went minigolfing on P-day, we weed-pulled for service. I got to use a machete, which didnt really work very well at all but it was fun. Also, our landlord's dog had puppies and they went out of town so we took care of them this week. They are about 2 or 3 weeks old now. Their eyes just opened yesterday.

We have been striving to have the Spirit with us everywhere we go. It really does come through faith and diligence. We have been praying and studying for the spirit to be with us always, because without it we cannot do anything. D&C 42:14

with love,

Elder Wright

We are slowly but steadily improving the area

Hey everyone!

We had a pretty great week! We are slowly but steadily improving the area and the amount of work we have here. It's insanely hot around here. We have been teaching more and i have been working a whole lot on my teaching skills because they arent as good as they could be. We had a baptism planned for Saturday, but we got a call the morning of saying they wanted to put it off for a week. It was dissapointing because we had been looking forward to it all week long, but mikayla is set for this coming week. We are trying to look for more committed investigators, and leave better commitments with those that arent super exctied about anything. We went and did exchanges during the week. I got to spend some time with some other missionaries in the district. They are doing alright but some need thelp with obedience. I also was able to go on exchange with the zone leaders, and I did 3 baptisimal intervies in one day. one of them, nealius gerber, from south africa, has such a strong testimony, especially for only having read the Book of Mormon for one month. My companion said that nealius knew more about the church than he did. I laughed, because he was such a strong convert.

Anyway, i love you all, let me know what else is going on at home.

Elder Wright

study scriptures DAILY! it works!

Merry Independence Day!!!

We had a pretty busy week, considering it was a holiday weekend. People were home, and we picked up 3 new investigators. Keeley Hartin, who is 9. Her family is less-active but she wants to be baptized. Her family just needs to bite the bullet and come to church. the other two were Meagan and Kelsey Robledo Dunn. they also have a less active mother, who wants both of them to be baptized. Our final goal for all of the families is to come to church actively, but there are so few people with that commitment level, especially when it comes to sunday mornings. all 3 of them have baptisimal dates for the 31st of July. Because of the holiday though, we didnt succeed at getting them to church. We have some others that did attend though, and we have one baptism coming up this weekend: Mikayla Mann, who was actually taught here in this area when I was here in September. Our area picked up some even though most of the mission dipped a little bit. For the 3rd of July (The fourth wasnt celebrated at all on Sunday) we had an activity at a church building with a bunch of missionaries. We watched a movie and played some dodgeball, which was awesome to play something besides basketball for a change. Especially when we could get 20 guys in on one game. Our district is doing well, and I'm focusing on helping them develop a love for study time and WORK!

It sounds like everything is going well at home. Take care. study scriptures DAILY! it works!

ciao,
Elder Wright


 
hey dad,
 
I'm glad all the priests in the ward are heading out. Some of the priests up here in Utah struggle a little bit. I feel that's one of the challenges of Utah, is that youth really dont have to fight for their faith, it's just around them all the time. But when push comes to shove, some young men opt out of going on missions. If you pass through draper, stop at in-n-out. it's in my area!! :O I wont be there though, it's too crowded. on your way up, my area is on the leftside of the freeway, right when you pass ikea, all the way to when you pass wal-mart.

We had dinner at the duffins, which was really cool. I never knew him myself, but he knew people around like the chamberlins and the hadas.

Our dishwasher exploded because i put too much soap in it

Hey everybody,

Life is pretty good around here. Not too much exciting stuff going on. We had 2 baptisms planned for this last weekend but they both got put off for a couple weeks. It was a little disappointing but we figured they will still happen so we werent too bummed about it. I think we could have been more on top of it, because our investigators baptisimal dates snuck up on us and nobody knew about it. Some of the New investigators that we planned to pick up this week also bailed on our appointments, which was also took its toll on our moral. It's been a trial of our faith definitely, and we are both looking for new ways to pick the work back up in the area. Elder Neilson is learning fast, and he has a great attitude about the work and obedience. The district is also improving slowly, and I'm trying to help every member of our district in different ways, but it's wearing on me, especially when I cant figure out what to do in my own area.

Our dishwasher exploded because i put too much soap in it. woops. we also picked up some sweet stuff at a yard sale:waffle iron... crock pot... batman mask...patrick doll... It was a good week!

Outta time! The church is true!! Live it good. 3 Nephi 27:21

Love Elder Wright

Happy Father's day everyone

We had a little bit of a slow week. A lot of our appointments fell through and a few of our investigators decided they didnt want to meet with us anymore. Our baptism that we were planning for today was pushed back for a few weeks which was a little dissapointing. I've found that the longer i've been out the more tired I am. getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder. I know that if i'm obedient though the Lord will bless me. There have been a few set backs recently, but I am pushing forward and trying to be diligent. Training a new missionary is also been very tiring, but I know that he will be a good missionary only if i put in my best efforts to help him to be. He is adjusting well to missionary life. He was very excited for the Laker's win this last week. Hopefully now his mind will be a little more focused on the work now that basketball season is over. The other missionaries living in our apartment will be moving out soon so we'll finally have the place to ourselves. It's tough training someone when there are so many other influences around him.

I know this missionary work is the work of the Lord. His eye is always watching for us, even if this is our time to be tested for our patience. If we press forward with enduring faith, he will bless and support us through our trials. Through our obedience and diligence he shows us miracles. I would not be anywhere else right now but serving Him.
With Love,
Elder Wright

hey pops,

Happy Father's Day, I hope it was enjoyable. You got to spend it with the missionaries! thanks for the chocolate souffle recipe. If I have time in the next few days I'll see if I can bake them up. Our oven is a little old/ghetto. It also seems to nuke whatever we put into it so i'll just try to keep an eye on it. The dishes I got are the exact same ones we used to make the souffles in, so we'll see if they come out alright. tell Ricey goodluck on her finals. I'm glad glenn is serving strong on his mission. Are he and julia still a 'thing'? I'll send some pictures when important stuff happens. not much exciting lately. we're teaching a gay investigator. surprisingly he is our most steady person at coming to church. we're giving him a law of chastity talk tonight. it's going to be so much fun! anywho, more in an email in a bit.

There was Elder Wright!

Joe & Paula Platt are in our Ward in Mission Viejo.  They sent us this email.

Hello,

We are in SL on business. Paula went to the Quirrah Temple. On the way in she sees two wind blown Elders coming out. There was Elder Wright! He looked happy, handsome, and radiant. "Tell my parents hello" he said. Paula cried of course.

It was a joy.

Joe

He's never been this tired all the time in his life

Hola!
 We had an pretty exciting week. I dont have much time again but i'lll include the important parts of our week. We taught a whole bunch of lessons and we have been able to put a couple of new investigators on date. A few of them came to church but we are still working on that one. One of our investigators Luna & her boyfriend wants to get married but we found out that their parents want to have a traditional wedding, which wont happen for at least 2 years. NOT COOL! We will keep working with them and help them to build a testimony. Elder Neilson is learning fast how we work as missionaries. He says he's never been this tired all the time in his life. I must agree. I feel a nap coming on later today. Elder Neilson also loves the Lakers, so he's been all distracted by the past few games. I think I got food poisoning last night at this health nut's house. This morning was not fun at all.

I am working to help build obedience and diligence in our district. I'm trying to show my love an concern for them in their missionary lives and to see if I can help them in any way. I still feel really inadequate when it comes to actually being a district leader. I had a great experience with a baptisimal interview the other day, a family of 3. All of them were so prepared and had firm testimonies of Christ. It had taken them years to recieve the answer to the prayers that they were looking for, but it is just testimony to me that answers do come, we just have to be patient.

I think about and pray for you all,

Love,
Elder Wrght

I'm also training a new missionary straight out of the MTC!

HAPPY JUNE!

I'm almost 10 months out now. That just doesnt seem right because it feels like I just left a month ago. But a million things happened this week. I dont have super amounts of time but I will include all the good stuff. Elder Collins was transferred out of here. He's in West Jordan now. I was consequentially made district leader. woopie. I forgot how much time it takes to be district leader. I enjoy it, but getting to bed early is non existent anymore. I'm also training a new missionary straight out of the MTC! His name is Elder Neilson, from Cardston, Alberta, Canada. He's a pretty cool companion. He's very mellow, but he's funny. He is learning fast and he is a very good teacher. He doesnt like riding bikes a whole lot, just because it's been 10 years since he has ridden one. I'm trying to help him learn obedience and diligence, but it's been difficult while living with 2 other missionaries. I'm also trying to break him out of his quiet shell when we talk with members. We also had a couple baptisms this weekend. Chasten Okada was baptized back in my old area in Cottonwood, which I got to go back and see. We also had a baptism for Roark Thompson here in our stake. The Ward was all there to support him because he's been a investigating the church for years. He was a full tithe payer and everything for a year before he was baptized.

I've been relying more and more on faith in the Lord and in prayer the past couple of days especially with these new responsibilities. It's been tough, trying to budget time between my district and also my new companion. This time is so important for him as a new missionary because it will influence him for the rest of his mission. I am only beginning to understand all the lessons of leadership, and I am trying to do my best to help everyone around me.

I send my best wishes, love you all,

Elder Wright

I am quite possibly the worst golfer in the history of golfdom

Hey, I dont have a lot of time but i'll include the good parts of the week,

We tracted this week and we found whole bunches of people. There is some student housing in our area in one of our apartment complexes, and we found 3 people this week that were ready and willing to visit with us. tracting has been so ineffective in the past but holy cow, the Lord prepared so many people for us to find. We also filled up on lessons this week, which was totally out of the blue, we thought we would struggle to get 8 lessons for the week but miraculously we had 7 lessons plan themselves on Sunday alone. One of our investigators even came to church without even being asked. He just showed up! We will probably talk about baptism with him the next time we meet with him.

We also spoke at a couple wards yesterday. We were each planned to speak at different wards along with a high councilor, and so i spoke at our first assignment at 9, but when we arrived at the 1 oclock assignemnt the high counsilor wasnt there, so the bishop asked me to speak again. then as elder collins started his talk the high counsilor walked in, and so elder collins ended his talk early so the other guy could speak. Elder Collins laughed at me afterwards because I spoke the most in the ward that i wasnt even assigned to speak in at all. anywho, it gave us a good laugh.

we're planning on going golfing today. We went last week and I found out i am quite possibly the worst golfer in the history of golfdom. it's fun though, I was consistenly trippling the par. Hopefully today goes better.

Lvoe you all
Elder Wright,

Blessings to the max!

hello everyone,

Not much new in Draper. We had a couple really great experiences this last week, we havent been teaching very much, just because everyone is so busy. We have been able to find more investigators this week though, which will hopefully help us teach more lessons in the future. We decided to go tracting saturday afternoon which is usually not very productive, but we didnt have anything else to do. We knocked on this girls's door and she seemed sort of interested and told us to come back the next day. We needed someone to come with us, and we tried calling a couple people but nobody could come (mothers day). We happened to see this guy at church who lives in the same area as the appointment and asked him to come along. He came and it turns out they shared similar interests in horses, and she needed to find a place to keep her horse, and he happened to have an extra space available for her. It was amazing to see the small and simple things that can bring about great things. We will teach her again today and hopefully we can extend her a baptisimal date, but we might have to work on helping her get married to her boyfriend first before she can. She is very humble and willing to accept the gospel. One of my only experiences that I have had tracting, and it is such a blessing, especially when we needed more people to teach right now.

One of our other investigators actually told us during one of our lessons 'you know, i've been talking about baptism for a long time, and i think i should just stop talking about it and just do it' He's going to be baptized on the 29th! blessings to the max!

I love you all, happy mothers day

Elder Wright

He responded by pulling all the plugs out at once

Hey everyone,

Not a whole lot going on this week. I got this huge fever early this week from the wind and the cold, which put us out of commission for a couple of days. It was really cold all week long and it seemed to be snowing a little every day, which made it really hard to ride bikes, especially after being sick. We are trying to improve how many lessons we are teaching but we need to increase our teaching pool first.

 Elder Collins is having a tough time as a district leader, and I'm trying to help as much as I can but we just have some struggling elders in our district. We had some pretty harsh words spoken in our apartment last night but it all calmed down in the end. We are striving to become more unified and obedient as companions and as a district. One of the elders in our apartment has some trouble getting up on time so we are trying everything to get him up. we had 8 alarm clocks going at once on friday. He responded by pulling all the plugs out at once. We're not giving up that easy. We have more plans to get him up.

 Not much else, love you all,

Elder Wright

We only cover 9 wards now in 1 stake, instead of 13 wards in 2 stakes

Hello everybody,

GUESS WHAT!!!! I got transferred! I served for 7 months up in the cottonwood stakes, and now I'm back in the Riverview stake in Draper. It was a really weird switch, especially because I served here for 3 weeks back in september. I remember a whole lot of the area, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on here. The mountain point stake that was part of this area before is now part of another area, so we have maybe half as much work as we had before. There are also some investigators that we were working with 7 months ago that are still being taught... I've enjoyed getting to know the area a little better now that I have a few months experience down, and getting to know some of the people a little better. We only cover 9 wards now in 1 stake, instead of 13 wards in 2 stakes, so it's a little easier to manage but at the same time we don't have many contacts. My companion is Elder Collins, who has a track record of not being able to hang onto companions for very long. A lot of people say they cant stand him, and I admit, he's a little quirky, but he's better than some of my past companions. He wants to work as well, and he has about 18 months experience. He's the district leader, so I'm back to being the good old district leader companion again. Our apartment is really cool, our kitchen window has a view of both the jordan river and oquirrah mountain temples. If we didn't live in the basement we could probably see the draper temple from the front of the house. There are 2 other elders living with us as well, but they are looking for a new apartment in their area. They better find one soon because it's way too cramped with 4 of us. We also have a car which makes sundays and mondays much more manageable, but we still ride bikes on other weekdays to save miles.

 

We did a whole bunch of service on saturday and helped our landlord's son move out to west valley. We also spoke at THREE different sacrament meetings yesterday! Elder Collins likes speaking so it looks like we might be doing that a lot these next 6 weeks. We've been checking with the different auxiliary organizations to get to know the wards a little better lately, and to find out what kind of work is going on in the wards. Some of the members remember me, and I recognize faces, but trying to remember names is impossible.

Nothing much else to report. I dont know what kind of info you guys want so let me know.

Peace and Love,

Elder Wright

A pretty exciting week for us

Hello all!
A pretty exciting week for us. We did a whole bunch of service for the Pike family. We baptized the two boys a long time ago, but they've been struggling to come to church. We helped them weed their garden space that had been overgrown for a few years. We offered to go back next week to help them plant all of their veggies, and we hope we can get all of them to come out to church more frequently. We also went on a few exchanges this week. Elder Bergmann in my district came here and we taught a few lessons. He was really good at using and applying scriptures in the lessons. It motivated me to look for more scriptures to use in teaching situations. Also, The Zone leaders did an exchange with me this week. It was interesting. Elder Ames came here and he taught me a lot about teaching with questions and remaining focused on the goal at hand. This whole week i've been preparing Elder Lundwall to take over the area in case I leave. Transfers are this week, and none of us have any idea what could happen.

Sorry I couldnt write more this week,

Love you all,
Elder Wright

Hey dad,
For sacrificing lunches last week, we could manage eating out/not eating out because my companion sacrificed giving up going out, instead of giving it up altogether. So we would head back to our apartment and I would study for an hour while he ate. Some places still give us discounts. One of our high councilors over missionary work has a son in the helsinki mission and we get stories back from him every once in a while.

I'm glad that some people are finding work at home. Tell Ricey to take care of that beach cruiser. It's my favorite. We had a guy offer to fix up our bikes. When we got them back, he called my bike, 'the bike from hell' because it wouldnt go back together again. He asked if God was punishing me to ride a 'tank' like that. It is half the size of my companions bike, but twice the weight. I love it though. free 50 free. I just need to get some new wheels and tires and the rest will work fine for a couple of years.

It was a small miracle in my mind

Hey everyone,

This week was pretty solid. We worked hard and we pushed through the week. One day we decided to bike up the heughs canyon ward up on the mountain. It was a nice little climb. We took some pictures at the top. We've been trying to seek more opportuniteis to teach in the wards that we havent been in for a while. We are trying to let all the wards know we are there, even though there are two of us and 13 different wards. We've been helping a lot of less active people lately. One of them, Terry McNeal, has been going through a pretty rough time. He lost his job a while back and he's been unemployed for about a year now. We tracted into him and started teaching him a while back before christmas. He knew NOTHING about gospel doctrine even though he was a member, and we re-taught him the lessons and then got him to come to church and he eventually was ordained to the aaronic priesthood. His testimony is growing so strong, and he loves to learn more of the gospel and he asked us a whole bunch of questions about general conference this past weekend. We also just decided last night to go by the Martinez family to see how they were doing. Sister martinez is a member and her husband is not, but when we got there she was so glad to see us and she asked for a blessing. It was a small miracle in my mind because we were just stopping by, but we were placed in her path to be able to help and serve her.

I'm trying to learn more as a leader but i still feel so inadequate when I have such strong district members already. Sister malave in our district is planning on going home this next week, and we have been so grateful for her service. She is the boldest missionary i have ever met. This transfer has flown by, and I have no idea if i'll be staying or leaving next week. I'll keep you updated.

Love you all,
Elder Wright

hey pops, currently I am studying Alma ch 42, moving my way through, along with PMG CH10 and CH2. Also studying the missionary whitehandbook, and studying missionary trainings for district meetings. I dont read my scrips en espanol, and if I did i would do it during non-study hours. usually at night time if I had free time, but that has all but evaporated since being a DL. We do our studying from 8-10 in the morning. My companion is doing alright. He's starting to get the area down and come up with new ideas for teaching. He's starting to get to know the area a little better so I may or may not be staying here next transfer. He's a little ADD, so we have to refocus studies a lot, but part of that is my fault hehe... He's also sufferng pretty bad from allergies, but he refuses to take medicine for some reason. It's also kinda funny because we are in cottonwood, which is known for the cotton pollen that's supposedly coming this spring. We finished our sacrifice of sweets a couple of days ago. It was hard. especially over easter break. We saw blessings throughout the entire week coming from it. We decided to have new sacrifices this week. I'm not eating lunches, but elder lundwall couldnt do that to himself, so he's not going to eat out anywhere, just at the apartment. he's also sacrificing his lower gears on his bike. (impossible).

that's all i got

We decided to sacrifice all sweets and music

Hey everyone,
This week was a little jumbled around. It was getting close to 60 degrees at the beginning of the week but then right in the middle it decided cool way down and to dump 3 inches of snow on us. Hopefully it'll warm back up again but it is expected to snow again today. Elder Lundwall also came down with bronchitus, which slowed us down for a couple of days. I spent one day studying the bible dictionary. It's more fun than most give dictionaries credit for. Anywho, we were able to watch general conference at members homes. It was all AMAZING! I think my favorites were the first presidency's messages during the preiesthood session and also the focus on the Ressurrection during the Sunday morning session.

This week we also decided we need to put more people on date to be baptized, because right now not many people are progressing very well. I'm trying to work on our focus and our goals more. We decided to have a personal sacrifice this week so that we would be able to achieve the goals we set. We decided to sacrifice all sweets and music. It was tough getting through all of easter without any chocolate. Every 5 seconds people would offer us dessert or candy or something, but we perservered. We still have most of this week to get through... We'll see if we can make it. Elder Lundwall is having music withdrawals. Not much more to report. Oh, we decided to ride up to the Heughs Canyon ward in one of our stakes on Tuesday. Holy Cow! It's about 2 miles away from anything else in our area, and it's on the mountain side. And at the end it decides to just take off straight up the mountain. We're planning on going again sometime soon when Elder Lundwall is feeling a little better.

All is well,
Love you all,

Elder Wright

Hey pops,
I'm glad the yard is coming along. and that you had an easter egg hunt. good luck planting anything in that square called bedrock. I am doing fine with my reassignement, dont worry TOO much about me. I really do enjoy the work here. Tell cameron and kurt congrats on their calls!

Edub

Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve!!!! It was amazing

Yo everybody,

Hey this week was spectacularly slow. We are trying to pick back up on the work but some of our investigators are starting to lose some interest. We're re-evaluating our efforts. We also had an amazing experience! This last Friday we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve!!!!! It was amazing. For a couple weeks they told us to study these talks that he had given. One of them was Ask in Fatih, which he gave in a General Conference a couple years ago, and the second was a talk entitled 'Seek Learning by Faith' which he gave at a CES educator fireside in 2006. I strongly suggest that everyone read (study) the second one. It is really enlightening. But anyway, the mission told us to read those talks and study them a coupel weeks ago, and then they told us last week he was coming to talk to our mission! It was awesome. Elder Bednar spoke almost entirely about faith and agency. He was also cracking jokes right and left. Most people wouldnt think it but he's hilarious. It was more of a discussion than a talk. He asked questions and looked for responses. He called it a 'revalatory experience,' not a meeting. He brought out a lot of very good points about the Faith and how we apply it and help our investigators apply their own faith to develop their own testimony. Anyway, it was amzing. I spoke yesterday in a sacrament meeting entirely on his talk learning by faith. It was a good talk, but I couldn't do Elder Bednar's talk justice. Oh well. Read it for yourselves.

Not much else to report. Elder Lundwall is still learning the area and how to talk to people better. I'm still trying to help him in his confidence and making his own decisions. He really comes down hard on himself after we teach lessons and he keeps doubting his ability to teach. I'm trying to help him develop a sense of independence.

Two dinners last night. UGH! downsides of salt lake mission. TOO MUCH FOOD! I guess it's a good problem.

I love you all. dont change too much while I'm gone!

Elder Wright

A lot of changes this week.

HELLO everyone!

 I have lots of news this week. first...

I was permanently reassigned to the Salt Lake City South Mission. It has been dissapointing to know that I wont ever be leaving for the other side of the world, or in fact that I wont be leaving the Salt Lake valley at all. But when I applied to to be a missionary, I did so knowing that it did not matter the people, or the place to where I would be serving. I know the Lord has different purposes for me. I will serve Him and His people wherever I am called.

 Second, we had Transfers!!! Elder Swanson was transfered about 5 minutes south. I am now companions with Elder Lundwall. He's a huge change of pace compared to Elder Swanson. Instead of 5' 6", he's about 6' 6". He's kinda quiet, he has a REALLY deep voice, and he's a little monotone. He doesnt express his emotions much. He's been out about 4 months. His past companions havent been the greatest, so it feels like I'm teaching a new missionary. He says that I'm the first companion he has has companion study with. He's also not too super aware of his surroundings. He has had two bike crashes and been hit by a car in the 5 days that he's been here. He's learning his new area quick though. I'm trying to get him to memorize the streets and the wards and the people here. I'm helping him improve his confidence, which he doesnt have a lot of. He's a good companion though, he wants to work, which is the best thing in a missionary. There are too many lazy missionaries and it is a blessing to have one that can get up on time, that can study, and can work.

 Third, I was made district leader... Wonderful... It's interesting. I dont do a whole lot. The biggest thing, I give trainings (lessons) every tuesday to the 8 other missionaries in my district. I feel like a really young district leader, especially because there are a couple missionaries senior to me in the district. I also go on an exchange with the each companionship once during the Transfer. I take calls at night time to check up on each companionship. It's really humbling to be a leader of missionaries that are all working so hard, and I have to somehow lead them when they are all already going a million miles an hour.

So, A lot of changes this week. I'm trying to deal with them all at once but it's tough. This last week was really slow, party because Elder Lundwall doesnt know our area, so I cant really rely on Elder Swanson like I used to. I thought this last week I felt really lonely through all of this, with nobody to really voice any of my feelings to without scaring Elder Lundwall. I feel I must rely on the Spirit and on the Lord to be able to accomplish the tasks I have been given. I hope to magnify all the aspects of my calling.

I love you all, I hope everything is peachy at home

Love,

Elder Wright

we had jason pyes baptism, I almost forgot. He's awesome. When the Zone leader interviewed him, the zone leader was awe struck and said jason would porbably be a general authority. score for the win. the strongest convert I have had the opportunity to teach on my mission so far. he had lots of return missionary friends that helped him a lot.