Part of me wants to stay the other part of me is exhausted

My last message home,

SOOOOOO, this is my last week in field. It has flown by so fast. Part of me wants to stay. There is still too much to learn, and I feel like I have only tapped into the experience and knowledge that I could have obtained. On the other hand, the other part of me is exhausted and is ready to depart this life. The mission really is like a miniature life. We are born as new missionaries. We have just a short opportunity to learn and grow from our experiences. There are ups and downs, but through it all we come out refined and sanctified through Jesus Christ. We get old and soon we pass on to the next life. The whole purpose of life is to prepare to meet God, and we cannot waste away our time idle, or just plain apathetic. What we make of ourselves will determine our rewards later in life. I pray and hope that I will be able to continue onward in my 'next' life to continue to progress in this Gospel that Christ has given me.

I love you all,

Elder Wright

p.s. I found this quote by elder holland, it is my new favorite : 'no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.'

If you forget for a second that it's a crawdad, it actually teasted pretty good

Hey everyone,

Life is good 'round here. It wont stop raining. We ran out of miles on our car for the month of july so we had to walk in it last night. We've also been riding our bikes all over when the weather is decent. We were biking a few nights ago, and a less-active family fed us crawdads (sp?) and watched us break them open and eat them. Then they gave us a whole bag to take home. If you forget for a second that it's a crawdad, it actually teasted pretty good. like lobster. But... I couldnt forget that it was a crawdad...

I went downtown this past week with all the departing missionaries. They all were going home the next day, but i still had two weeks. They were all done and checked out mentally, but i kept thinking about the next two weeks in the field. It was a great experience to go through the salt lake temple. We spent some time downtown, and then went back to the mission office for a lunch with the mission president. Afterwards everyone else was taking off to go with family and stuff but i just went backto work.

We had transfers, We gained a third companion Elder Wilson. He has been out just as long as Elder Cartwright. He is way excited to work and have success. He's a little distracted at times, but the three of us are working kearns hard.

Much love,

Elder WRight

We have been majorly blessed recently with people to teach

hey everyone,

Our success is still picking up. We have been majorly blessed recently with people to teach and we are receiving more member support at our lessons. there is lots of potential here in our area, it just needs to be worked hard, and we cant lose faith. A couple of our investigators are really close to getting married but they are just having trouble taking that first step. We did service for a family, and mowed their lawn in our proslyting clothes.

We went up to Park City last P-Day and took the chair lift up to the mountain. We ran out of time to do more stuff though. it's just too far away. Pioneer day is crazy up here. People wouldnt stop lighting off fireworks last night. It's supposed to continue tonight! wooppie!

anyway, I dont have much else. I have been reading through the war chapters recently in the book of mormon. alma 43ish to 60ish, and it is cool to notice that success comes when the inner vessel is cleansed first. Our inner vessels need to be cleansed first before we are to have success on the outward results. it applies to everyones situations differently, but pure motices and desires bring the greatest success and happiness.

Love,

Elder Wright

our favorite taco stand, IT WAS GONE!! devestating, i know.

hey everyone,

We are chugging right along. Not much new happening. I'm trying not to think about home too much but it's tough. Staying focused is our biggest struggle. and staying awake. The one thing i am looking forward to when i get home is NAPS! i just want to sleep i'm so tired! We have been finding some new investigators recently, some more interested than others. There is a 10 year old boy that was taught in another area that wanted to come to church, but he cant focus for more than 30 minutes before he wants to go skateboarding. Trying to tell him in the middle of church that there wasnt a skate park in the area seemed to destroy his world. We're trying to work on getting his mom to church next. Also we picked up another couple that want to get baptized, but they have to get married first, (he has to get divorced from his ex before that). They are willing and have good support at church.

On monday we decided to go to lunch at our favorite taco stand, but when we got there IT WAS GONE!! devestating, i know. so we went to another one that we had never been to before, and got some tacos. While we were there, a family motioned for us to come and talk to them in their car. They said they had just moved from california, and wanted to join the church. It was amazing! People are prepared. They dont live in our area but the missionaries who are teaching them now say they are on track for baptism. And then, yesterday, we saw our favorite taco stand back in it's original spot. If we would have gone there, we never would have been put in the path of that family. The Lord works in mysterious ways to guide us. even if he has to move taco stands to do it.

I love the Lord

Elder Wright

I think i played volleyball the entire time

Merry Independence Day,

We had a good fourth of july activity. I think i played volleyball the entire time. Anyway, i'm way outta time this week.

Life goes on, read your SCRIPS

Love,

Elder Wright

There is a prevailing theme that I have never noticed before

Hello!

Not much new this week. We seem to be finding new people to teach all over the place, but most of them tell us up front that they wont join the church. We teach them a few lessons to see if we can build any desire but some of them just want to shoot the breeze. We are trying to focus our efforts more on our purpose of baptism, but the people we teach are just non-commital.

During my personal studies I have been reading through the Book of Mormon, and I just finished the book of Mosiah. There is a prevailing theme that I have never noticed before. It had to do with the deliverance of the people of Nephi from the Lamanites. The people had to do certain things to recieve freedom. A lot of times we teach people that they need to be free from bondage, whether from addiction, or from lifestyles, financial situations, spiritual deadness, etc... The equation to recvieve that freedom from bondage, is *ahem*

(trust the Lord [FAITH]) + (serve Him with all diligence of mind) + (humble yourself before the lord) + (cry mightily unto Him) + (submit cheerfully and with patience to the will of the Lord) = DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE.

 I have been applying this to our area, as it needs to be delivered from it's unfruitfulness. We have been praying recently a lot harder for success, and the people seem to just flow to us. Faith really works.

love you,

Elder Wright

we've been pulling weeds like crazy

aloha,

Summer is here. It's getting hot. We've been loaded up with service lately too. Elder Cartwright is turning black from the sun. We helped tear up a kitchen floor the other day, and we've been pulling weeds like crazy. We've also been biking quite a bit for exercise to get elder carwright awake in the mornings. He likes it better than running which is good, but i cant let him coast too much.

As far as the work goes, we had a really good week last week, and we were able to meet with our investigators several times, this week has had cancellation after no-show after cancellation. It's getting old. We push through it though, we try to meet as often as possible, daily, but we seem to just be catching people once a week at best. We are working with an awesome family who just moved in to one of the wards. Their names are stephanie and Justin Bloxham, and they have been really open and good to teach. Stephanie is a member already, but Justin has grown up here in utah, and has been surrounded by members all his life, but he is just now taking steps to be more involved in religion. They've slacked a bit on reading scriptures, but they are taking it more seriously now.

anyway,

Alma 5:14 have ye received the image of God in your countenances?

love,

elder wright

It's like it's own little world out here.

hey all,

 

Not much new happening here. We had transfers today, but both Elder Carwright and I will be staying here in kearns. By the end of this transfer I will have been here for 10 1/2 months!!! It's like it's own little world out here. We picked up a new investigator! His name is William Tyrie. He just got out of prison.He was there for 7 years, and now he's on parole until 2038... He cant get baptized until he's off that, but in the meantime, we want to help him understand the scriptures more and to pray. He really wants to make amends and repair the damage he had done in the past. He has been coming to church for 2 months now, so we just need to keep that up for the next 30 years or so...

I also had some exchanges to go on. I sent Elder Cartwright to another area and I got to work with Elder Huber for a day. We had a lot of success and we are starting to see the area turn around. When Elder Cartwright came back, I think his eyes were opened a bit to missionary work, and he has set some new goals to improve and become more actively involved in our area. Exchanges sometimes work in ways that I never would have expected. We are still working with 4 investigators that need to get married... It's coming slowly, but we expect at least one or two weddings shortly. We've had 2 or 3 days this week where we have been double booked for dinner appointments. I'm pretty used to it by now, but elder cartwright has been suffering. My motto: DONT STOP!

Life is good. the Gospel is true. Repent. Dont justify sins. 2 Nephi 28:7-9

Love ya,

Elder Wright

packed 200 missionaries into the train

Hey everybody,

We had a pretty awesome weekend! First, on friday, President Miller took the whole mission downtown to the tabernacle, and we were able to see the Messiah in America performance. The tabernacle was really really loud. Holy cow. they had a huge choir, a full orchestra, and the massive tabernacle organ. I had never been in the tabernacle before, and i was surprised at how small it was on the inside. I think it's because i compare it to the conference center. The whole mission took the trax down there at different times, but on the way back, we all loaded onto one train, and packed 200 missionaries into the train.

Then, on Saturday, we had the baptism for Sarah Schiermeyer at noon, which went smoothly. Her fiance (now husband) baptized her, and then later that afternoon, the bishop married them! They are now preparing to go to the temple. They both worked really hard and sacrificed a lot to make it all happen.

Now here in the area we are working with a few new investigators, but we may or may not see aother baptism here in teh month of june. we'll see

Love,

Elder Wright

It rained

Hey dudes,

 

It rained. It rained some more. If it's sunny, it rains the next day. We're getting a bike for Elder Cartwright this week so hopefully the rain stops. His birthday was on Sunday, so we celebrated with brownies and ice cream. We're trying to keep momentum going. He is trying to find more ways to improve and he is putting more effort in his teaching.

We have the baptism for Sarah Schiermeyer this weekend. Her fiance, Dallin recieved the priesthood this sunday so everything is set for the baptism, and then the wedding afterwards. She and all of our other investigators seem to be out of town. It's been tough with cancelled appointments, but we look for more people to teach in that time.

Love you,

Elder Wright

We have too much food, I guess we should be grateful

Hola!

This week was a little bit of a bummer. We had A LOT of cancellations. We were also planning on a baptism tomorrow, but our investigator wants to hold off for a while. i've been trying to build Elder Cartwright's spirits. I thought it would be his first baptism, but he may have to wait one more week. Hopefully this next week will be better. We may have to enlist the wards for more support in helping to teach our investigators.

We have too much food. the fridge is always overflowing with leftovers from dinner appointments. I think because missionaries leave utah, and dont get fed very well, all the members assume that we dont get fed well either. Result: Stuff the missionaries. And if you dont eat all the food, then the members think you didnt like their food. I guess we should be grateful. Food is better than no food.

Anyway,

D&C 6:34, 36

Love,

Elder Wright

we honestly had no idea what else to do

Hey,

Not much new happened this week, We have been looking for new people to teach. Some of the ones we have been working with have been reluctant to move forward. One of them though, Sarah Schiermeyer, has been one that has worked really hard to get baptized. She has quit drinking and smoking, which has been tough for her and her fiance, Dallin. We reminded them last week that they also needed to get married before they could get baptized because they were living in the same home. They were more reluctant to do that, but we asked to them to pray and fast about it on Sunday, and then to talk to bishop about it after church. We fasted and prayed for them too. We stopped by monday and they said they are getting married on the 4th of June and that they wanted to do the baptism the same day! It was awesome. She will be out of town the next few weeks to be living the law of chasity, and then she will get back on June 3rd. It was awesome news for us because we honestly had no idea what else to do. My testimony was built in diligence, that if you do everything you can in your power, God will prepare a way for his will to be accomplished.

1 nephi 3:7 Moroni 7:33-34

Love,

Elder Wright

Life is good, I'm tired all the time, It feels great!

Hey everyone,

We had an excellent week. It was good to call home on Sunday. My last call home. Uh oh. I am staying focused on our area. President Miller was inspired when he put Elder Cartwright and me together. I thought being released from zone leader would give me more time, but we are even busier now with new missionary things and training again. Elder Cartwright has been learning quick, and looks for areas to improve. He is working on memorizing parts of our lessons, and he is doing well with it. The new missionaries that came in have been on a pilot program at the MTC so the mission is working out the kinks in training them once they've arrived. They gave us another hour of companionship study in the mornings!! It was definitely needed, so we can catch up on all the material and prepare for lessons. We've been working really hard and staying busy. I can tell elder Cartwright is starting to lag a bit in the evenings and in the mornings but I keep pushing him. I think over time he'll get used to the schedule. We have been exercising like crazy in the mornings to get our energy up during the day. We play basketball with some of the other elders almost every morning.

As for our investigators and the work in our area, we have several of our investigators on date for baptism, and they are all planning on getting married before then. It's a tough situation for most of them, and it's really difficult to teach and help them to develop the faith to take the leap. I havent had to work with this many situations in the past, and definitely as a new missionary, so I think elder cartwright will be well prepared for the rest of his mission. We are working to build the relationship of trust with our wards too, and we are running from building to building on Sundays. This last week we made it to 6 wards, gave mothers day talks at one ward, and taught an elders quorum in another. If anything, we learn to wing it and go on the fly. I know we should probably be prepared for lessons and things, but i had no idea what we were teaching when we walked into the elders quorum. woops. But it all turned out well. It's also odd as a missionary to give talks on mothers day. Even that was a little on the fly. It turned out okay though.

We started up having dinner appointments again, and already our fridge is getting overloaded with leftovers. Elder Cartwright is getting used to having food shoved down his throat at dinner time too. I prepare by eating a small lunch. D&C 38:30 'if you are prepared, you shall not fear' We try to work it all off at exercise in the morning.

Anyway, Life is good, I'm tired all the time, It feels great!

Love,

Elder Wright

ps. ether 12:4

pps. we got the truck traded for a malibu...

This transfer is going to be FUN!

Hey everyone!

We had a pretty awesome week. We were teaching Jacoby Baker, and he was baptized on saturday. His family was totally digging deep into the gospel and into the scriptures. Jacoby just one day got up in sacrament meeting, and bore his testimony and told everyone that he wants to get baptized. 3 weeks later, he was entering the water. Their family will be so blessed and they are on track and working towards the temple.

As for transfers, I am no longer zone leader. I am DISTRICT LEADER again!!! I'm also TRAINING again!!! I'm in the same area, and my new missionary companion is Elder Cartwright. He is from Piqua, Ohio. He's pretty quiet, but I think he's just a little shellshocked. He came out of the MTC this morning and we were put together at around noon. We've been together for a whle 2 hours now. My son. In my district, there are two of my previous companions, elder neilson, and elder huber. This transfer is going to be FUN! We're going to work hard too, dont worry too much.

This week we had an awesome lesson with Sarah Schiermeyer and her fiance, Dallin Larkin. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. It was a good reminder for me of the sacrifice that the prophet made for the Gospel to brought back to the earth. It inspired me to continue to make sacrifice in my own life, to give back to the Lord. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.

Love you all,

Elder Wright

It still snows at least once a week

Hello everyone!

Not much new and exciting up here. I attached the pictures from the baptisms that happened two weeks ago for angelique and for nick. It still snows at least once a week. We had a service project painting the outside of a house and it started dumping snow on us. We decided to wait it out inside with hot chocolate until it passed. about 30 minutes later it was bright and sunny again. If we just make it to june we can be free of the snow! Our work has been going well. we may have one or two baptisms this weekend. Other than that we have been chugging along. We have been trying to find more investigators after we have had these baptisms. This week we found out that a recently activated member had a daughter that moved back from texas and we started teaching her. She had originally said that she didnt want to learn just yet, but we had dinner with the family, and at the end of the visit she just said, 'ok, i'll let you do your job, teach me what you believe." She is pretty committed to learning more and she is taking her scripture reading seriously so far.

anyway, that's all i've got time for this week, love you all, Alma 41:10

Elder Wright

we had TWO BAPTISMS

Hey everyone,

 

sorry i didnt send an email last week. I ran out of time and not much happened anyway. It was aout 70-80 degrees for a few days, but then we had a three day snow storm to follow it. That was fun. That's about all that happened last week. This week though, we had TWO BAPTISMS! Angelique Talamontez (Jones)(11 years old) was baptized in the morning on saturday, and Nick Thatcher (10 years old) was baptized in the afternoon. They both asked me to perform the baptism, which was a really cool. Angelique's family has all been coming back to church on their own and Angelique told her mom she wanted to be baptized. Nick's family is coming back to the church slowly, and we are working with his parents on the Word of Wisdom. My pants didnt have enough time to dry in between so they were still wet for the second one. woops.

 

I would send the pictures but the computer isnt working right now so i'll send them next week.

 

The work has been chugging along here, but now that we've had several baptisms, we are focusing on finding new investigators in our area. It takes a lot of prayer and faith, not to mention lots of work but it comes slowly. I've been trying to read through Jesus the Christ lately, and it has been really really rewarding. My goal is to have it finished by the end of my mission. (i'm about 1/3 through so far)

 

anyway, got to go get some shopping done,

love you all,

Elder Wright

It's a good thing i'm a missionary. I dont have to worry about THAT stuff

Hey everyone,

Elder Dunlap and I had a pretty good week. It was a little slow, but we had some really awesome stuff happen. Raymundo Jalapa was baptized, and he told us the following day 'i'm a mormon now.' He has a firm drive to continue to do what is right throughout his life. Now he is looking for work and possible schooling around here for as long as he is in the states.

It was warm most of the week, almost 80 degrees, but then, saturday night, it dumped about 6 inches of snow on us, and it's been cold ever since. We just cant get a break. We had a good conference weekend. There seemed to be a lot of messages about marriage... It's a good thing i'm a missionary. I dont have to worry about THAT stuff. I especially liked the priesthood session. We were able to attend the saturday afternoon session of conference, and we sat on the front right side, where all the general authorities walk in and out. I'm looking forward to next conference already.

 

Anyway, life is good up here, we have loads of work and we are keeping the zone moving.

keep the faith

love,

Elder Wright

We invited both of them to quit smoking, and they dropped it the next day

Hey,

 

Elder Dunlap and I have been tearing it up here in Kearns. He has been in the spanish assignment his whole mission, so he is getting used to teaching english, and dealing with the problems that come in the english assignement. We have had lots of really great lessons with our investigators and the all seem to be getting ready for baptism really quick. Raymundo Jalapa will be having his baptism this saturday right after general conference. He will be such a strong convert. We have several others investigators that are working really hard for it. We picked up Sarah Schiermeyer, who has had a really tough past, but is getting married to a less-active member of the church. We invited both of them to quit smoking, and they dropped it the next day. They have been a little bit on edge during our visits since then, but they say it's been getting easier. He's working for the priesthood now, and then he will perform the baptism! It's exciting.

 

Both Elder Dunlap and I will be attending the sunday afternoon session of general conference this weekend. I'm always way excited for conference and to listen to the prophets message. It'll be my last one in the field. But, we can start working without our suit coats after its over!!! Freedom!!

 

anyway,

love you all,

Elder Wright

So we had transfers!!

Hey everyone,

So we had transfers!! Elder Usevitch finally got out of Kearns! I stayed here and my new companion is Elder Dunlap, from Sitka Alaska. We've been together for an hour and a half now... Havent gotten to know him too well yet, but it'll come eventually. Elder Usevitch and I have had a lot of success.this past week, in teaching and finding. We have been relying on the Spirit during our lessons. The work is definitely picking up in our area, and we are trying to inspire the district leaders to be diligent in their areas too. You know you're busy when dinner is a back-up plan. anyway, i'm not too good at this email thing, or at this sending pictures thing, but they'll come eventually.

 

Love,

Elder Wright

6 months in this area has gone really quick

Hey everyone,

We've had a pretty crazy week. We picked up a couple new investigators. We started teaching Raymundo Jalapa, from Culiacan, Mexico. His wife is an active member and they are going to church and reading/studying the scriptures for an hour each day. They are on tourist visas getting some medical stuff worked out at the university, so they have nothing to do all day. They spend a lot of it reading and studying the assignments we leave them, so it all works out. We also started teaching a man named Rodrigo Paloma, who has lived in utah his whole life, but hasnt had much to do with the church at all. (that's pretty hard to do, the LDS church here is like the catholic church to Italy). He's had a pretty rough past with drugs and the law, but he's willing to learn. He has NO knowledge of religion whatsoever, so we're teaching him slowly.

 

other than that, we also got yelled at by Sedrick yesterday for visiting too often. He wasnt in a good mood. So he just vented on us for about 20 minutes. we'll give him a couple days to smooth things over. transfers are in a week, so it will be interesting to see if I or Elder Usevitch goes, or if we get to stay together for ANOTHER 6 WEEKS!!! We need a change of scenery. the 6 months in this area has gone really quick though. The whole winter...

 

anyway, read the book of mormon. it'll do wonders

Love,

Elder Wright