Happy New Year (Almost)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I guess not yet...but still this week is when the New Year starts. The highlights of my week:

* Monday- we prepared for Christmas by buying gifts for some of our members and investigators. And also got to have lunch on the border of our area with Sister Ramos and Sister Ipson. 

* Tuesday- did ALOT of caroling!!!!!!! 

* Wednesday- got to sing in the big mall over here called The River. It was actually a really special experience and something I would like to do again. It was so interesting to watch people when we sang. The Young Single Adults arranged an activity to go sing next to the food court and invited all the missionaries to join in. It was so cool to be able to drown out the world for some people that stopped to listen. 

*Thursday- Christmas Eve!!!! We got to eat dinner with a great little family who gave us some champurrado (hot chocolate....kind of.) and tacos. Then we spent the rest of the night inside. I got the chance to read and study about the birth of Jesus Christ. It was also a special experience. I have never understood Christmas like I did this year. 

*Friday- I was a little bit sick but we worked through it and ate with a great sister from the wars, and then I got to Skype the family. It was so good to get to see at least some of my siblings. I adore my family.....it was so different being away from them this year, but I am grateful to be here. I got to see Christmas in a new light. I got to see why Christmas is important. 

* I got to speak in church yesterday about goal setting for the New Year and a little bit of repentance. We spoke last. The elders and I took up all of the time and Sister Erickson didn't even get to speak.....but maybe next week. I am excited for her to show off her Spanish. 

* Big news for the branch, they are splitting it. So we used to cover Cathedral City, Thousand Palms, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and La Quinta....but they are taking La Quinta out and making a new Ward out of it and parts of the other Spanish Ward. Wow. That came as a shocker. We will be losing almost half of our leadership and some very strong members. But, what a great way for the branch to step it up and be stronger. 

Sister Erickson reminded me of a funny experience this week. About the beginning of the week we met a woman on the street named Petra....she is awesome and said we could come back to read the bible story of Jesus' birth with her and her husband. So we went over and they had been expecting us. We sat down and the husband said that he had always wondered what his purpose was in life. They told us that they have other missionaries come over from other religions too. We proceeded and gave a super brief summary of where we come from and why we are here and then read the bible story. They asked us to come back to talk more about the plan of salvation and we said w would. We closed with a prayer and in the process of getting up off the couch.... Someone knocked.....and guess who came in? The Jehovah Witness missionaries. The husband says, "the competition"..... Needless to say we got out of there after some brief conversation and laughed all the way the car.

I love you all I hope this week we will all take the time to make some really good goals, repent, and move forward. Next week I am sure we will have more news to share. I love you!!!!!!! This is the last week of the transfer..... Ahhhh I will let you all know what is happening next week 

Love,    
 Hermana Wright 

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!
To my dearest family and friends.

What a wonderful time of year. This Christmas has definitely been different. I miss the family, and watching Christmas movies, and sleeping in. BUT..... I get to see first hand WHY we even celebrate Christmas. That is so valuable to me, to see people's hearts, eyes and lives change because they come to a realization that there is a father who loves them enough to sacrifice his son.

A Couple of experiences-

- We have been doing a lot of caroling. We got to go with our Roommates the other night and sing to some older ladies that live in a retirement community. Every time we sang to someone, we asked if there was anyone else they would like us to sing to. After a couple times of doing that we were referred to someone name Laticia. She opened the door and we sang to her, at the end of Cantan Santos Angeles (Angels we have Heard on High) with tears in her eyes, she called one of her friends and then told her to listen as we sang Silent Night. She kept telling her friend how God had sent us. It was so awesome to see the Holy Ghost touch her.

- Another day we decided to carol to a couple of our neighbors, one who barely speaks English and just moved in, and then another named Amy who we know pretty well. When we sang to the first neighbor, she was kind of surprised to see us. We asked if we could sing one more. At the end she hugged us and started to cry. She invited us to come back and read with her the Christmas story from the Bible.

Some big things have happened this week.

-Last Pday, Maria and her sister Sophie took us to candy cane lane. It was really fun and pretty. Pictures to come next week.
-Thursday our roommates got a call from President Van Cott. He said that because of some recent changes the trio was going to be separated. The next morning Sister Romrell got emergency transferred. So we are one less in our apartment.

Love you All! I hope you have a safe Christmas! I love you!!!!!!
Hermana Wright

Mariah's Baptism

December 14, 2015

Well family and friends, we are quickly approaching Christmas and I hope you have ALL watched the video, A Savior is Born. Share it!!!!!!!!!! 

This week was really great! I don't have a lot of time, so I will be quick, but

 *Mariah got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so great and she is so awesome! Tonight she and her family are taking us to Candy Cane lane to see the lights before P-day ends. woohoo!!! I love her so much! The baptism was awesome, and the spirit was so strong. Her mom bore her testimony and kept talking about how it took so long for her daughters to want to join the church. They are so excited because now that both of the daughters are baptized, the dad will be next. 

*This week we went to have a lesson with Mariah before her baptism (maybe Wednesday). They told us that Mariah got in a car accident and totaled her car!! She is perfectly fine though...MIRACLES!! It was so cool to hear her bear her testimony about how she knew that Satan was trying to get in the way of her getting baptized.WOW!!! She is so great!!!!! 

*Got to go on exchanges this week. I was so impressed at how well Sister Erickson took over the area. I came back and she had contacted TONS of people and found some golden investigators. What a great way to help the sisters we do exchanges with. WOW!!! She is great! 

*We are preparing for Christmas over here. We are giving Christmas to a few families in need and we are going to do lots of caroling. I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO! 

We also had the Branch Christmas Party right after Mariah's baptism. It was really great, they had Posole (I think that's how you spell it, that's how you say it...) It's a really good soup. It was super delicious and they also had Champurrado (a type of really thick hot chocolate....super delicious as well). I have officially become completely Spanish. For groceries, all I buy is Mexican yogurt, tortillas, avocado, and cheese...sometimes beans and rice. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you guys for your love, support and prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Wright

 

Almost Christmas

Christmas package from home!!!

Well family and friends, we are starting week 3 of the transfer already. It is almost Christmas and I hope you are making the most of this time of the year to share your testimony of Jesus Christ with others. 

Good news: I am still alive. We actually haven't seen any effects from the terrorist activity in Redlands earlier this week. It was about 1 1/2 hours away from us....so rest assured, we are doing great. 

Also, MARIAH IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!! Her baptism is this Saturday, I am so excited. She is the sweetest and I really do feel like we are best friends. She is AWESOME! The cool part is that if she goes to the temple within the next 30 days after her baptism then we can go with her. She is beyond excited to be able to be baptized for her grandma and other family members. 

Sister Romrell & I in matching coats.

We had some more lessons with Ben...needless to say; he is the most awesome person ever!!!!!!!!! We got to finish the restoration and bear testimony of the Book of Mormon...which is my favorite part. We talked about how it will help him resist temptation. He is so great. He is really sensitive to the spirit. After I was bearing my testimony of the Book of Mormon he talked about how he could feel it, and how it helps him know there is hope because it worked for me and it can work for him. It was really cool. He complimented me how on how I said it with emotion.  He came to a baptism the next morning and the Christmas Concert the stake did that night. IT WAS SUPER AWESOME!!!!  I love Ben....he is so great, and also really prepared. 

One experience that I have been sharing with EVERYONE!!! (especially other investigators) is a lesson we had this week with Maria. We were talking with her and asked her how she has been feeling since we have been coming over? How she feels about the Book of Mormon? She told us that she knows it's true because she feels fed. She feels like it builds up a shield against Satan. She said that she can feel her faith growing. WOW....it made me so excited! Why? Because I have found someone who feels the same way about the Book of Mormon as I do! WOW!!!!! I have said it before and I will say it again, but the Book of Mormon changes lives, it changed mine! I am so beyond happy and fulfilled to know that it has helped one more person. No, not all of her life problems are solved, and no not every waking moment is filled with happiness and prancing through daisies, but YES her life is better with it. I have been able to share that experience with several other investigators who NEED the power that you can receive from the Book of Mormon, it is REAL! If you are worried that your friends won't accept the gospel or that the neighbors will never speak to you again because you invited them over to eat with the missionaries, think again!!!!! This book is power. You are offering them a chance of a life time. If they take the lessons with the missionaries and really do the things they invite them to do, they WILL feel it!!!!! 

 

Roommates

I was able to receive a blessing this week from President Van Cott. It was so personal and so helpful. We talked about some of the things I am struggling with in this area and as a missionary. He helped me feel understood and then gave me some great counsel! It was very much needed. He gave me a priesthood blessing and I knew that Heavenly Father was at my side, and not just then. He has always been at my side, always. He never left. 

*This week I invite you to ponder what you can give Christ for Christmas---an old habit, more time, service....a sacrifice. I know that as soon as we talk about sacrifice something always pops in our heads, but we tend to push it out because we don't want to give it up, or know that it would be hard. I encourage you and invite you to get up the courage this Christmas to repent and be better. That is the whole purpose of Christmas. God has given a practical gift that he would like us to use. What better way to give back to him than to use the gift he has given us, Jesus Christ. Please remember that this Christmas season, the best most valuable gift you can give is the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Doctrine and Covenants 15:6). 

*I love you all! Please also take some time this week to watch and Share with 5 other people (member or nonmember, but preferably the latter) the new Christmas video, A Savior is Born (or Ha Nacido un Salvador). It is such a powerful tool. Help out your neighbor, your friend, or even the stranger. Let's be what we are meant to be this Christmas, the salt of the Earth, the light that cannot be hid! 

*Tell your missionaries you love them, give them an extra hug, and give them someone to visit or carol to! 

 Love you!

Hermana Wright

Happy December...

We volunteer here every Thursday & have met
some GREAT people!

November 30, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving! And beginning of December. 

Bear with me as I do my best to remember what happened the last week or so.

Updates:

*We were just told that our transfer dates were pushed back a week so I am August 9th.



*Maria- Doing awesome. I have talked about her a lot. She is so awesome! I love her SOOO much. Really though, we are pretty much like family! I'm not just saying that...I mean it. We have had some really great lessons with her as of late. 2 lessons ago we talked about how the best way for her to help all of the other catholic people in the world is to do temple work. To help those who have already passed on without a knowledge of the gospel.  Yesterday we taught her (in our cars, through the windows because no one was in the church building :)) about faith. We read Alma 32. It was really good and we followed up with our last invitation, which was to pray about the baptismal date to see if it was when she needed to be baptized. She got an answer!!! She said that she felt like it was right.....BUT....now she is praying to try to convince God to give her more time :). Silly people! We talked extensively about it and she is now going to pray for understanding. It was such a great opportunity to share experiences when I have needed to demonstrate my faith even though I didn't want to, or even when I thought I knew better than God. She is doing great and will continue to progress!



Michelle, teacher at Braille Institute.

Brenda, student at Braille Institute.

 

*Mariah- Also doing great. She is also struggling with taking the final step of faith to set a date for baptism. We keep praying and fasting for her. It will be soon though, don't worry. 



* This week we gave 2 investigators to the elders. One of them was the library guy ;( sadly, but it will be better anyway.  We are also giving one of our miracle people this week to the Parkview English speaking sisters. It seems we are pretty good at funneling all the investigators to the right missionaries (no sass implied :)).



* MIRACLE-- Last weekend we got out of the car and talked to the very first person we saw, a woman named Sara walking with her son. We talked to her and eventually got her address. We went to go visit her and taught the Restoration, invited her to be baptized and got her a baptismal date of January 9th. WOOHOO! It was pretty cool. 

*We also have a new investigator named Ben (referral from a member). We had a great lesson with Kandyce Torres (who came out with us that night to some lessons). We taught the Restoration. He (Ben) loved it and cried about how he wanted to have more power in his life and how he wanted to leave his past behind. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!! So awesome!!! 

*Brendy is doing great! She is a newer investigator that is super awesome! She has the cutest little kid! She is super sincere about everything but a little skeptical. She is so cool! I will probably talk about her next week more. 



*Walking miracles. We always find little miracles when we walk and talk with everyone. Just this past week we were on our way somewhere and I just kept feeling that we needed to be somewhere else. We stopped and prayed and we decided to go to our area called Area 1 (I know...super original, you would think with my mom I would've come up with something more clever...). We walked and stopped to talk to everyone...all very cool people....but wait, there's more. We stopped to talk to this guy that was cleaning his car. We invited him to a Christmas concert. Then I asked him "If you had the opportunity to ask God one question, what would it be?" He said he would ask God why he and his wife can't have kids. Whoa...I had no idea what to say to that..... But, we talked about the Plan of Salvation a little and testified of the power of the Book of Mormon and that it would answer his question. When we went to ask for his name, his last name sounded familiar. So I asked if he knew someone name Brendy, and he said "That's my sister!"....So we found a brother and sister who live in 2 different cities, that both randomly know us and said they would read the Book of Mormon. Pretty cool. 

*Still cleaning out our pool of investigators. We have some people I just cannot let go of!!!! But, we are finding the elect. We are here to harvest the field that is white! Not to plant the field that is brown or cultivate the field that is yellow. 

Thank you family and friends!!! Love you! 

Happiest of Birthdays to my Joshy Poshy and Lyla Lou!!!!!!!!!!! 
 

Miracles happen!

Don't have time to write....

About an hour ago we came in the library to email. We passed a man and I said after we walked by that we should've talked to him. So, we went back to the car to 'get something'.....but really I just wanted a second chance to talk to him. We gave him an invitation to a Christmas concert and a restoration pamphlet with our number on it if he needed anything. We sat down to email and 10 minutes later he came back over and asked if we could explain the pamphlet to him. So we taught him about the restoration. His name is Martin. He is super cool. We have a return appointment for Wednesday.

While we were sitting here, a random lady was sitting behind him listening. Later she came up to me and said, "Can you say a prayer for me right now"....and I was like ....ok.  So, we got her name (Sue) and number and she said she would call us to come over on Saturday!!!! It suffices to say that miracles happen.

Hermana Erickson & I with Nayeli Duarte

 

I am not getting transferred. Our whole district is staying the same.  I cover the same sisters in Palm Springs except now it is Hermanas White/Hall and Hermanas Ramos/Ipson.

Love you all !!!
Hermana Wright

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Church.

 

 

Temple Trip, Zone Meeting and Good Stuff!

TEMPLE TRIP... It was so great to
go with 3 of my MTC Companions.
The temple was great. It was nice to
have a little quiet time to receive
revelation and to sit and not necessarily
worry about what we needed to do. 

This week was a great week!!!! We had temple trips and Zone Meeting and good stuff!




There are 4 sister companionships in our zone (Palm Desert Stake) Left to right-- Hermana Nichols, Hermana Jimenez (Thermal Sisters), Sister Romrell & Sister Lewis (Parkview Sisters), and us , there is one more companionship that wasn't in the picture Hermana Killpack & Martinez. 

Funny Moment/Language Moment: In Relief Society yesterday they were talking about Missionary Work. The ladies got a little off topic when they started talking about how God protects his missionaries. They started talking about how some missionaries get killed in the field..... Hermana Erickson wasn't listening 100% until that part and she turned to me with panic and said "WAIT, her son died on a mission???" and I just started laughing so hard. You probably had to be there....but it was pretty funny. Also, 2 Sundays ago she was reading from the gospel Principles book for Sunday School. In the book it talked about the 10 tribes of Israel being scattered by a battle (guerra, pronounced ge-rra--as in get). When she read however she pronounced guerra as (gwuerra). That may seem small but she taught some false doctrine. She read that The 10 tribes were scattered by a white girl.... (PS they call us Guerritas in the stores and stuff). HAHAHAHAHAHAH! IT was pretty funny! 
 

All the Hermana's that went to the temple.

Testimony Moment: This week I learned (from all of my experiences) that God loves us so much. I have been really praying for our investigators Mariah and Maria that they will be able to baptized soon. and that we will be able to help them resolve their concerns. I really do love them so much. My heart hurts when I think about how much I love them. I tell heavenly father that...I tell him that I just want to help them and that I love them so much I want them to be able to feel the happiness that comes from being baptized. The answer I kept getting was, "Don't you know that I love them too?" I 'took' them to the temple with me to seek inspiration and I was told I need to let them work it out. They will get there. 

 Lesson Moment: This week we had a lesson with Maria with our new Branch President (President Jackman). We talked about the Book of Mormon and WHY it's so important in her knowing whether or not she should be baptized. She told us that her appointment got canceled 2 hours before our appointment and she decided she needed to catch up on her reading. She was so in awe at what was happening. She said she knows it is true and that she spent half an hour praying to know what to do. It was definitely a week full of progress for her!!!! We are still praying/fasting that she will be able to receive/recognize her answer!!! 


Veterans Day flags next to our house.

Tender Mercy Moment: This week Sister Erickson and I went to the baptism of someone in our branch. The elders helped a Part member family baptize their 11 year old and 8 year old. We went because we are the only ones that play the piano. So as we were waiting for it to start, two other elders come in that are from the Fontana Stake (we are allowed to go to baptisms of people we taught). So one of them was talking with the elders and all of sudden Elder Juarez pointed at me. The Fontana elder turned around and said, "Did you teach the Ocampo's?" and I said yes, and my heart rate picked up. He said, "We found them and their Mom and Jonny are getting baptized." At that point I almost burst into tears. The Ocampos (Mario, Cesar, and Jose) were my very first converts. They got baptized and soon after stopped coming to church. A transfer after seeing them only a couple times they moved suddenly and we lost all contact with them. No one knew where they were and no one was able to contact them. Every time I see someone serving in Rialto 4th I ask them about the Boys..... I have been praying for them for a long time. As a missionary, things like that really eat at you! I can say that my heart was a little broken when that happened. I cried through the baptism as I thought about this tender mercy. The Boys were found and even better, their little brother and mom now get to join them! I am invited to the Baptism on the 29th of this month. I am so grateful!!!!!! My eyes even tear up a little when I retell the story! WOW!!!!!



At the River Mall on P-day.

Thank you so much everyone for all of your prayers. THEY WORK!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for praying for me and my investigators. THEY WORK!!!!!!!!!!! We are thrusting in our sickle over here, and we are making it a November and December to Remember!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!   Hermana Wright

Exchanges, Training & the Power of a Sneeze

Dearest Family and Friends: 

This week was full of eventful things....a few highlights to update you:

* We had to move Mariah's baptism to the 20th....but she is still going strong. She is so prepared it's not even funny. In our last lesson she asked if Hermana Clarke could come back for the baptism. I almost cried.  If you all don't already know....I miss that Hermana a lot. 

 *Did exchanges with the Hermanas in Palm Springs. And Sister Ipson stayed with me in my area. If you have been an avid follower in my blog, that name should ring a bell. Yes I got to be with my dear old Rialto buddy for a day. She is doing great with Hermana Ramos and they are working hard. 

*I went to MLC (Mission Leadership Council). IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Since it was the first time it was a little stressful....but it was so great. We talked about being ON FIRE to share the gospel. We talked about what that would look like and how to become like that. There is a lot more that I could be doing....so we all know what that means....repent and be better. So we are working on finding-talking with everyone and asking for referrals 100% 

* We finally got to see the Rodriguez family after 5 billion years. They are so awesome and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. We had come by the night before to have a spontaneous lesson but they couldn't meet with us. They told us how impressed they were with our diligence and never forgetting them. So they set up a time for us to come back the next day. When we got there the Mom had read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and basically taught it to us. We asked them to be baptized, they didn't say yes or no. We are going back on Thursday to follow up though. I love them SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!

*When I was on exchanges with Sister Ipson we were walking in this senior citizen apartment complex. We saw a lady cleaning up from the big yard sale they had and we offered to help. Her name is Blanca and she made me feel like I had no muscle. Maybe it's because she could lift the dresser by herself the whole 50ft we carried it without setting it down. But in the end she invited us over to share a video about Jesus Christ the next day. When we went over she said she was busy, but that we could come over on Monday. She said she would bring her other friend too. When we asked for referrals she gave us 3 people right off the bat.....it was so cool!!!!!!!!! 

*Also today, just now, when we got out of the Grocery store we were walking to the car and I sneezed. Some lady said 'Bless you!' and we started talking to her. Her name was Gloria and she kept telling us how we made her day. It was so cute.....so if you don't know how to get someone else talking, sneeze and they will say Bless you.....and look at that...they've already started the conversation! 

Well folks.... I wish there was more to share and tell, but that is it. I love you all! Have a great week. This week is Temple Trips...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Hermana Wright

Alvaro's Baptism and other Great things!

Had to be home by 6:00pm on Halloween!

Hello family & friends!
Things here in San Jacinto have been relatively the same. It feels different only because we've been listening to Christmas music in the car. Also....we started November-- which is one whole month closer to Christmas!!!!! YEAH!
Interesting/ Highlight Moments:

*I forgot to tell you all, but last week we got the strangest call during Companionship Study. It was the Assistants to the President (AP's). They said "Hey Sister Wright we have your sister training leader assignment..." My heart literally almost came out of me. The first thing I thought was that I had a dream about this a few days earlier. So, turns out the AP's forgot to tell me at transfers that President called me to be a Sister Training Leader over the Palms Springs area. I cover two companionships (one Spanish and one English).  I just get to go on exchanges with those companionships during each transfer.



*This last week we went on exchange with Sister Peterson (been out for 1.5 transfers) and Sister White (been out for a year). Sister White and Sister Erickson stayed in our area and had a great exchange. Sister Erickson was so pumped when I got back. She got a great confidence boost because she was paired with someone who knew less Spanish than her. That is part of the reason I chose for her to stay. Sister Peterson and I had a great chance to talk about the different ways to do missionary work. She has been a little concerned because she has to adjust to all of these new ways to do missionary work. I hope that she got the idea that missionary work simplified is just love. You don't have to have the same approach at every door or with every investigator. If you treat them like a real person then your approach SHOULD be different every time. She is trying too hard to be the best missionary she can be and she is doing such a great job. We had a really great time. 



*Yesterday we found a less active member named Manuela. She has not been seen by anyone from church for almost 7 transfers. We have knocked on her door probably 50 times because the members keep asking what happened to her. A couple of weeks ago the English sisters were walking and Manuela went up to them and told them that the hermana missionaries were looking for her. The sisters told us that she pulled out a wrinkled, signed paper dress that Sister Clarke and I had left on her door in July. She had been carrying it around with her since then. So last night when we knocked and waited she opened. I literally almost cried with joy. We had been walking and a lot of our plans had fallen through. I said, "We should try Manuela...." WOW! It was such a miracle. She is so awesome and we are going to be best friends forever. That is literally what I told her.....:) She is so so so so awesome! 

*On Thursdays we do service at Braille Institute (where blind and partially blind people go and basically take classes to relearn how to do things). We help out in the ceramics art class. I literally Love those people SOOO MUCH! They know us by our first names and they have to recognize us by our voices. My favorite thing is when they do recognize us and they remember who we are. Lots of times they call us "the girls" or the "the Mormon girls". Last week I was helping a woman named Margie (just turned 100). She was having a really hard day and started to cry when I asked how she was doing. She was having some family problems and didn't really want to talk about it. So we went on working on her project. When it was time to go, I told how awesome she was and gave her a hug and she kissed me on the cheek and teared up and said thank you. It really touched my heart! What a sweet lady!!!! I love all of the people there. Hopefully I will have a picture to show you in the next couple of weeks. 

Alvaro & Monchis

 *This last Saturday was Alvaro's baptism!!!!! It was adorable!!! Alvaro is such a cute kid and his brother Lehi (aka Monchis....don't ask about the nick name....that's just what we call him) also got baptized. They are the special needs kids that we have been teaching. When Monchis got baptized and they tried to get him out of the font he kept saying, "wait, wait, wait, let's do it again."  And before they could stop him he went back under and started trying to swim. It was so cute!!!!! Alvaro is such a good kid! He finally smiles back when I smile at him from the stand. 

 

Baptism of Alvaro & Monchis

*We got to teach Lucas on Saturday because we were in a trio with Sister Romrell (Sister Lewis went to another baptism in Yucaipa). Lucas is the most adorable old man you will ever see. We have been trying to finish the Plan of Salvation with him for the past 7 lessons. But, we run out of time because he asks all of these random unrelated questions. Finally I just told him that he would be able to see his sister again and live with her forever. He paused and told us really sincerely how he liked that and felt good about it. HE IS SO CUTE!!!!!!! He couldn't find his regular reading glasses so he had to use his prescription sun glasses to read. :) We wanted to give him a baptismal date goal but he told us he was leaving for Mexico for 3 months. He doesn't know when he's leaving, so hopefully we will figure something out. 

That's it folks. I love all of you! Have a great week! 

Happy Birthday to my dearest Sarah, Olivia & Grandpa Wright, !!!!!!

Love,   Hermana Wright

Ward Halloween Party

 

A Most Interesting Week

Well family and friends...this week was definitely one of the most interesting.....of all of the interesting weeks.... 

As far as the investigators are going. Alvaro is getting baptized this Saturday! He is the most adorable 11 year old you will ever meet. He is obsessed with Ghost busters and speaks his only little language. So teaching him is extremely interesting. His dad is a member but waited to get him baptized because he is a special needs child. 

Maria is doing well. The last lesson we had with her she just kept talking about how she wasn't sure about Joseph Smith or Thomas S. Monson. She loves to study and consequently spends more time on the pamphlets we give her (and the Gospel Principles and Teachings of the Presidents books someone from church gave her) than on the Book of Mormon. I said, "Can I help you with that?" And she said 'yeah'. And I reached over and took ALL of her books and pamphlets that she brings out to every lesson, except for the Book of Mormon. It reminded me of the talk about SIMPLIFY! All you need is the Book of Mormon!!!!!!!!!!! Our mission president consistently encourages us to study only from Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon. That is all that we need! Yesterday at church I got to sit by her during sacrament meeting (because hey! Sister Erickson plays the piano!!!!). I had my arm around her during the meeting, answering questions, and such. At the end while everyone was leaving, we just talked and I got the chance to bear strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. She is very concerned with leaving behind her past roots and traditions....which I do not blame her for. The good news is that literally EVERYONE in our branch was catholic at one point. 

(BY THE WAY MEMBERS ARE SUPER IMPORTANT!!!! ***small rant time*** Please don't think that welcoming a person (member or not) into the ward means having them stand up in Relief Society to introduce themselves...or even waving when you get to church! Please do not short cut fellowship! Our salvation is very much related to how hard we work to help other members/investigators/ non members stay on the path! Talk to them....get to know them....TRULY CARE about them! Get their phone number! Bring them flowers. If you don't know at least one of the names of the investigators your missionaries are working with...then PLEASE find out before next Monday. The reason most investigators don't come to church is because they only know the missionaries. These people are NOT just another person....they are your brothers and sisters. DO NOT let anyone new come to church without having a conversation that is more than just hi, how are you! "We will attain our exaltation in the celestial kingdom only on the condition that we share with our father's other children the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter." President George Albert Smith **small rant over**) 

She is literally my best friend! I love her so much! She told me at the end of our talk that "You were what I needed, thank you!" 

Still haven't been able to have a lesson with Al, but we scheduled a 'for sure' appointment with him....next week. Oh well. 

I just LOVE these people so very very much! That makes it all the harder when they don't show an interest or lose interest in the one thing that will bring them the closest to God. 

Thank you so much for all of your support!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great Week!!!! 

Hermana Wright

Still in San Jacinto (YEAH!!)

Sad farewell with H Clarke

I am still in San Jacinto (YEAHHH!!!! *sigh of relief) I love it here. I am no longer companions with Sister Clarke. She went back to Rialto 4th (we were both trained by the same person in the same area...so she is just going back to her first area) I have Sister Erickson, from Centerville, UT she is the SWEETEST! It has been a little hard to transition just because I was so used to Sister Clarke....but it will be great. Sister Erickson has 3 months in the field (so I am follow-up training). Our companions literally just switched places...

This week was pretty good....mostly pictures though. I don't have a lot to say because it's been a blur of changes and transitions..... 

 
Our first day together, we were able to set a baptismal date for Mariah!!! YEAHH!!! She is going to be baptized on the 14th and she came to church this Sunday! I love her so so so so much! 



Maria was also able to come to church, but this time she wanted to try English.... I am still a little broken hearted. But we will see which she likes better. If she chooses English, then we won't be able to teach her anymore! But the language doesn't really matter, just that she gets to hear the gospel. 

My new companion !!!  Hermana Erickson
She is from Centerville, UT

Al is doing good but we didn't get a chance to teach him at all last week. Our awesome YM president said that he would take the young men to meet him for mutual on Tuesday !!! YEAHH!!!! He will be getting baptized sometime at the end of November or Beginning of December. YEAH!!!!



New Roommates - H Lewis (12 months in mission)
and H Romrell (still in training)

Old Roommates

I am so sorry that there isn't much to tell. Things are good! Thank you for all of your prayers for myself, my investigators & my area.

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I hope you guys have a great week!!!!!

H.  Wright

Transfer Week

Well family it is transfer week, and we still don't know what's happening. So you will all have to anxiously await my email....

Thanks for the 'favorite things' package!

This week was both eventful and awesome. Maria came to a baptism with us and really liked it! She is so awesome! She wants us to give her more pamphlets because she loves learning so much. She has come to church the last 3 or 4 weeks!!!!! That is super big! I am confident she will be baptized this next transfer! She is so funny and has the most interesting personality. I am pretty sure we are best friends.

This week we had 12 progressing investigators, that is more than I have ever seen in the history of the area, at least for the past year. We have two people on date for baptism and Maria  is DEFINITELY going to be baptized. She is so so so awesome.

 

I love you so much!!!!!  Hermana Wright

It's cooling down!

This week went from the 100's to 70's....woohoo !!!!!!  Now I understand why there is human life down here!!!

*  I went on exchanges with Sister Hamblin in Borrego Springs. That is the lowest part of the mission and is only 1.5 hours away from the border.  So that is where the pictures come from. I learned a lot about lessons to learn early on the mission from Sister Hamblin because she leaves in a week. She gave some good advice. Some of which includes things like, making my prayers more sincere and studying more effectively, ESPECIALLY from the Book of Mormon!

*  We had 3 investigators come to General Conference!!! Maria (the one we met at an inactive members home), the guy from Spain we met first transfer...super cool! and Alvaro, the son of Hermano Sandoval.

*  This week Al (grandson of an inactive member) told us that he received his answer that baptism is for him. He is 15 and has had some really hard struggles.  He is SOOOOO awesome!  He loved our plan of salvation lesson and asked 1 billion deep doctrine questions and said lots of things like, "So does that mean that if my body is pretty buff, then my spirit would be too?"  When we asked about his friends, he said, "I don't really have best friends. When I walk down the hall I get lots of high fives and all of these girls try to hug me."  He is SO cool!  We asked him last week about baptism on the 7th and he said 'Yes'.  It is now even more confirmed!  YEAH!!!!

*  Going into General Conference I was hoping for some insights into helping people recognize answers to their prayers...low and behold, the last talk in the first session was a GREAT help! It was all about prayer. It was a witness to me that Heavenly Father does answer our prayers.

* We have been teaching a lady named Sister Flores who has not been active for a really long time, but she has come to church the last 3 Sundays !!!  After the Saturday sessions of General Conference we had a lesson with her and talked about the Tree of Life.  She has had a hard time understanding it in the past. The lesson helped her understand it much better. Guess what they talked about in one of the talks in the Sunday Morning session (which she went to)?  The Tree of Life!



Sister Navarrez. She use to be a professional singer.
I got her to sing while I played the piano and she
sounded GREAT!

I just want to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon.  It is the most powerful thing I have ever encountered. I PROMISE that diligent and sincere study WILL bring miracles into your life.  Just the act of faithfully reading a couple of verses a day will demonstrate the faith power needed to work miracles.  It happened in my life, it can happen in yours. ANY problem, and I mean ANY problem can be sorted out, made light, and handled through the Book of Mormon! Have faith that it will work! Even if the doctors say that you will never get rid of the pain, or the teachers say you will never pass, or if people around you say that you can't break your addiction because you are too far gone...the BOOK OF MORMON BRINGS MIRACLES !!!! Please Please read it !!!!

Things are going really well here! I am excited to see what the next transfer will bring these great people here in the San Jacinto Branch !!!

Love you guys !!!!

Hermana Wright 

Good things coming!!!

Our apartment in San Jacinto

Good things coming!! Well this week was good....kind of a rough week as far as lessons taught, but no complaints. I am just going to put as much down as I can remember. 

Funny Moments:

*While driving down one of the streets in Thousand Palms at night, I saw a sign that said "Hay Tacos". I was super confused and I said out loud "Hay Tacos? Why would anyone make tacos out of Hay???" and Sister Clarke, who had not seen the sign was like, "That's super weird".  About 30 seconds later she said "HAY tacos" as in "There are Tacos (in Spanish...)....hahahah.

We laughed really hard. Apparently I am not as fluent as I thought. 

*Had a lesson with the most interesting, cool couple ever. Part member family, they don't speak Spanish (so I am not sure why they are in the Branch). We sit down and they are making us dinner....so I try to start up a conversation by saying "So, tell us about yourselves! We don't really know you guys all that well!" To which she replies "Oh, no, lets save that for dinner".......gladly sister Clarke had it under control and laughed it off.........hahaha it was really uncomfortable because that basically eliminated ALL conversation until after we had dinner on the table. 

 * Had dinner with the Torres family....they are AWESOME!!!!!!!! Hermana Torres was telling us about some problems she's had in the past with people who don't obey the Word of Wisdom. Talking about the smell of tobacco, she said that it smelled like 'squirrel'. We all paused for a second, super confused, until someone said, you mean 'skunk'? We laughed for like 5 minutes.....

Little Miracles:

* Got out of the car to visit an Inactive Member, and the first person we see comes up and talks to us and the conversation goes like this:

Him -  "Hey I've seen you guys before, my name is Jose. Do you guys have a card so I can have your number? My friend has been having a hard time, so maybe I can have two cards."

*We have been giving out LOTS of Books of Mormon. We have determined that is one of the best ways to find out if someone is being prepared. If you give them a Book of Mormon and they don't accept, they aren't ready.....We followed up with a lot of people to whom we had given a Book of Mormon, to see if they would let us come in and tell them more about it.  Two of the random strangers we had given books to had read!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT!?!?!? 

*Stopped by to see a Potential Investigator who we met 6 weeks ago. She wasn't home, but we started talking to this teenager (classic example of "eat, drink, and be merry"....side thought, it has been one of the hardest things to get teenagers to care about spiritual things.....this mentality of eat, drink, and be merry is so engrained in their minds its nearly impossible to help them see the importance of the gospel...to be continued). We offered her a Book of Mormon, as per usual, and she told us she would take it but probably wouldn't read it. She did, however, let us show her the video 'Because He Lives'. We sat down to watch it, and 3 other teenagers came out and watched it with us. One of them, named Eva was really into it. She asked for our number and told us to come by on Sunday.  Super cool.....we talk to everyone because you never know who you can affect. Even if the original person you talk to isn't interested....

Cool rainbow...

* In the same house a few days later, we went to try to re-find the potential investigator and found her!!!!! Yeah! We had planned to teach her the Restoration, but instead she asked us every question that the Plan of Salvation answers. So we obviously started in on Priesthood and Auxiliaries.......hahahaha Just Kidding....no, we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She was really into it, especially the part about Repentance. It was one of the moments where I realized that she was someone that I am on my mission for. She had lots of concerns about Repentance and we really just talked about how it is a blessing to repent. 

Love you guys!!!!

Thanks for all the support!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Wright