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

A Lively Week - Branch Fiesta

September 21, 2015

Well folks, this week was definitely a lively one. We had an awesome branch fiesta to celebrate Mexico Independence. They do it every year and it is HUGE!!! Big enough that the members invite all of their friends, who invite all of their friends.....the list goes on. I am sending pictures. It was awesome!!  We met an awesome family that gave us their phone number as they were leaving! Yeah! They are friends with another family in the ward.  We had lots of people come to church this Sunday !!!  Including our new investigator Maria, I think I told you about her last week. It was so so exciting. Also President Parks just got released as Branch President, so it will be interesting to see the transition.

Funny Moments: All of these funny moments are brought to you by the one and only… Jair, who is one of the coolest pre-teens we teach. So first, let me paint you the picture. Its 8 pm and we walk up to their house and it's nearly pitch black.  A large dog we've never seen before (German shepherd) starts barking at us from inside their front gate. So, I did what had to be done-- I sent Hermana Clarke in as the bait. We finally made it to the door with me standing between Hermana Clarke and their door. We are having this conversation about how the dog is going to eat us, when we hear from the window of the room next to the door, "Missionaries?"   And we were like, "Jair?"  "I'm in the bathroom." "Ok, well, take your time.....we are just going to be killed by the giant bear out here. Will he eat us?"  " Oh, the dog? Yeah probably, don't get too close."  HAHAHA

ALL OF THAT REALLY HAPPENED.

Also, a couple lessons ago we talked to him about fasting, so that his dad will let him be baptized. He was so adorable.... We came to see him about 2 hours after he had stopped fasting and he told us he hadn't taken a shower or brushed his teeth for fear of swallowing the water. Hahahaha!  He is the coolest!!!!!

Cool lesson moment:
We had a lesson with the two girls that we had dinner with last week. One girl told us she wanted to learn more. We taught her the Restoration and she was feeling the spirit so strong. She said she couldn't stop smiling because she felt something.  It was so cool to see the spirit working with her... tonight we are going to bring B Rodriguez (you probably remember her:)) to a lesson. I am so excited!

Our Church Building
 

Well family and friends, that is it for this week! I would love to know how your missionary efforts are going. If you ever have any concerns on how to answer people's questions, let me know!

 

Love you all!!!!
Hermana Wright

 

 

Right on Rebecca Way...

Couldn't pass up the opportunity for a
 photo on 'Rebecca Way'

Hola mi familia y mi amigos!



This week has been another week of Tender Mercies and Miracles.

First though.....updates. It's still hot. I am in the 'real' desert...and I LOVE missionary work! 

 

So, now that you are all caught up, I would love to share some 'moments' from this week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Study Moment:
This week I started reviewing all the conference talks from the April edition. This morning's talk was the Music of the Gospel. I thought it was such a good parallel to teaching the gospel on a mission....but also for all of us in our daily lives.

A lot of times when we teach people they will tell us that they have felt something missing in their lives....or even that they have learned lots of things with the missionaries but still lack something. The answer is the HOLY GHOST. We can give them piles upon piles of gospel knowledge and information, but when the earthquakes come and try to shake us....those rocks will all scatter. The Spirit is the concrete that holds it all together!!!!!! Without the spirit, none of our efforts to share the gospel will stick. 

In his talk he mentioned some things we can do to help people not just 'know' the dance steps...but also 'hear' the music. In other words....how can we help people feel the spirit and not just know the principles. 1) We ourselves must have the spirit in our lives---we do that by studying the scriptures....specifically the Book of Mormon, praying, going to church to partake of the sacrament and be taught, and striving to be worthy of the spirit always!!!! That means eliminate contention and all ill feelings of yourself and others!!!!!

2) Live the gospel (even if it looks weird....like people singing in the car. Others may not be able to hear the music....but they should be able to see your example) He also said.... "It does little good to scold the darkness. We must DISPLACE the darkness with light". .....translation..... help them feel the spirit by filling their lives with good wholesome things. 

 

This applies to EVERYONE, not just children and family members......this applies to anyone who wants to share the gospel with ANYONE!!!!! You can do this! Missionaries need the help of the members.....it's the MOST EFFECTIVE way to do it. I invite all of you this week to 1) get to know the missionaries in your wards, stakes, or areas and then 2) Set a date in the near future when you can find someone for the missionaries to teach in your homes with you. If you set a specific date and pray sincerely and specifically....you will help bring another of Heavenly Father's children back into his arms!!!!!! We are to be the people that help lead the sheep back to  our shepherd....don't walk by people and not share what we have. That is like walking right by the lost sheep that we are so desperately looking for as missionaries. 

Miracle Moment:

This week gave me new perspective, as many of our appointments fell through.  I began to feel a little down and upset. It took a little while for me to realize that sometimes that is how Heavenly Father directs us to the people we need to talk to. One particular day when all of our plans were falling through, we went to go see an inactive lady (our only scheduled appointment left), we knocked 3 times with no answer. We tried one last times with hopes that she hadn't heard us before (we may have also awkwardly peered through the window to see any signs of life). Soon after, someone answered the door, not the member. So, we told her who we were and that we wanted to give her something. So I gave her a Book of Mormon. As soon as we handed it to her, she told us that she had always wondered about the difference between it and the Bible. She said she knew she needed to answer the door because something told her! So we sat down with her and taught her the Restoration. She said yes she would be baptized....we couldn't quite get her a date.....but still awesome! She is the coolest!!!!!!!!!!! She was literally taking notes the Whole time in her pamphlet.....and when we got to the first vision......she was SHOCKED!!!!!!! I mean...I have never seen anyone act like that....she was in shock and awe! She was so excited that she started asking about scriptures in the bible that testify of the Book of Mormon that could help her when she tells her friends and family. SO COOL!!!!!

Another Miracle Moment:

We were nightly planning one night when decided to call and confirm our dinner appointment for the next day. Sister Clarke called the member and confirmed....soon after I looked down and realized she had called the wrong member, one that hadn't even signed up to feed us at all!!!! So we didn't really know what to do except cancel the original dinner we had planned and keep the new one. When we went over to the house we ate and talked, but the mom had to go. She left us with her 2 teenage daughters, one who just graduated from high school who is not a member. We showed them the video 'Because HE lives' and then just talked about their relationship with Jesus Christ and what it means to them. They both really opened up to us. I ended up asking if she was interested in talking with us more about the Book of Mormon and what we believe and she was super on board!!!!! It was way cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a side note...I am sure I told you before that in the past we have been teaching MANY single men......and we gave them to the elders.......so we kind of started from square one, but with more of a focus on FAMILIES. We have been praying to find families....and we have found families and mothers this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Thank you for all you do !!!!!  Thank you for your support and prayers!

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

Yo y Hermana Clarke

Love, 
Hermana Wright

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Dearest Family & Friends:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! I have the best family and friends ever!!!!!!
Thank you for all of your love and support and Birthday wishes!!!!



Hermana Clarke & I are still together in San Jacinto

I will get right into to this week since I don't have much time. We had transfers this week, but I am in the same area with Hermana Clarke--YEAH!!  Sister Teichert was transferred out and we miss her. The week was a little slow at first.... mostly because all of our investigators have been canceling appointments...and we gave a lot of the investigators to the elders. We decided we wanted to be smart about which men we would work with from now on.  So sadly, the elders are teaching Javier (and his 6 family members) and Jose. We are focusing a lot on finding.....so that means walking, contacting, and . . . singing while we walk.

Miracle moments:
* We went walking yesterday...aimlessly...it was fast Sunday and we didn't have anyone sign up for dinner.....so yes, we were drooping with despair. But, this man stopped to talk to us and was talking about other missionaries he knew. It totally clicked that his family had been the former investigators we had been trying to contact.  After talking for a little bit he invited us to a barbecue with his family!!!!!      WHAT!!!!

* We had a lesson with that man in Thousand Palms, Luis. He was the one that called us Angels. He asked us how we do baptism.... What!?!?  He said he had been reading and wants to study it out more before he makes a decision. He already knows a lot about the church because he had a friend in Mexico, a long time ago,

that was a member of the church.  He got to help clean the temple there  once, so he has lots of questions.   Super awesome week!

Thanks for all of your love, support, Birthday Greetings and letters!!!  Thank you for making my birthday the best!!!!
Love to all,   Hermana Wright

There are BEAUTIFUL sunsets in San Jacinto!!!

Hermana Derecha, Izquierda, y en Media

Hello dearest family and friends!

Turns out....SURPRISE!!!! Its transfer week....we counted the weeks wrong the whole transfer..... So tomorrow will be our last day together as a trio, which I have been loving by the way. We mostly just feel the spirit and have a good time everyday...it’s awesome! I have a cool story I want to share with you all this week:

Spiritual Moment: Nate would be interested to hear that his mission president, President and Sister Gay, came to visit our mission. They spoke to us for the majority of the day on Friday it was great. I asked them if they knew an Elder Wright....and Sister Gay was like "OH Nate!!" and I said yeah. I vaguely remember meeting the Gays once when we were at a volleyball game or something, and she remembered too! IT was pretty cool. 

They spoke a lot about getting to know our investigators well. He did a role play demonstrating that we need to be focusing on their deep concerns. Every person has their personal 'question of the soul'.

I thought a lot about Rose and what her 'question' is. (Background on Rose- not sure if I have already told you this, she has been investigating the church for 7-ish years. At the beginning of this transfer she lost her baby, and she almost died because of internal bleeding. She was taken to the emergency room by some of our members who also gave her a priesthood blessing. It was an amazing miracle where they said things that the doctor didn't even know yet. She slowly got better, but they still weren’t able to save the baby. Going into that experience we thought for sure she would agree to be baptized, and so consequently that is all we really talked about along with the Holy Ghost and recognizing our answers. As I was thinking about her deep questions I realized that we had neglected this poor woman's feelings about her child. Did that child ever get baptized? NO! By Rose's belief, her baby wasn't baptized and she won't ever see it again. 

It was such a touching moment as we read Moroni 8 with her, I told her that her baby was waiting in heaven for her, and that one day she could have an eternal family. She started to cry. It was one of the most special moments on my mission. I had one of those moments where I really understood how important it is to listen to the Holy Ghost. Heavenly Father knows everyone so personally, and we can only know how to help when we listen to him. She said that she would really like to come to a baptism to see what it’s like. Perfect...because there is one on Saturday!!!!!

Pure Awesomeness Moment: We went to Thousand Palms to walk and contact referrals and former investigators this past week. We had seen some of them before, but we didn’t remember which ones until we would get to their houses. We got to this one house and realized that we had been there before, but the man had been sleeping. So we knocked and his son went and got him from outside. He sat down with us outside and basically said, why are you here. And then he went on to say that he had just been thinking about how he needed Jesus in his life. He said things were kind of rough in his life and he didn’t really know how to fix it. He called us angels and felt like it was a miracle that we had come. It was pretty cool!!!

That’s it for this week folks! I have some good pictures of our trio-ness and our District, who is sadly parting ways. Oh well! We finally accomplished the summer in the desert!!!!!!!! Woohoo! That doesn't meant that it is any cooler though.....hopefully the temperature will start dropping a little. 

Our District

Love you all!!!!!!!! Have a great Week!!!!!!!

H Wright

Desert Sunset

Sister Rodriguez' Baptism

Well a lot of exciting things happened this week. First, Sister Teichert has joined the club! We are covering both areas until the end of the transfer; that means anyone in our area both Spanish and English speaking comes to us. 

I just wanted to share some really cool experiences that we have had this week that make me so grateful to be a missionary. 

S. Burdette, Hrm. Wright, B Rodriquez, Hrms. Clarke y Teichert 

1) This last Saturday (the 22nd) was the Baptism of B Rodriguez. And it was the most powerful spiritual experience I have had yet in my mission. The spirit started off so strong. We were so worried there wouldn't be a great turn out from the branch. I had been playing prelude music for about a half an hour until it started, so the last I had seen was only 5 people. When I looked up the whole primary room was full. WOW! Then we commenced....there is no other way to describe the spirit that was present, other than it was tangible.....so so powerful. First Hermana Duarte spoke on baptism and bore strong testimony of the gospel. She told her conversion story and it was hard not to cry. Then the cutest old man, Hermano Vigil, talked about the Holy Ghost (POWERHOUSE!!!!). Then K (B's sister) got up to sing Soy un Hijo de Dios. She sang the first line and started crying and all I heard from the piano bench was the congregation start singing with her. I glanced up and saw B and the whole family just crying....SO POWERFUL!!!! And then....after 18 years of waiting B was baptized. It was such a special, sweet, tender moment for her mother especially (who is already a member), her grandparents, and her siblings. IT was awesome!

B Rodriguez with her parents.

2) We taught Jose this week....he is still as awesome as ever. He has still been struggling with his WOW problems and has been drunk EVERY day of the week. Yesterday we went to go visit him and didn't plan to teach him if he was drunk. When he opened the door he kind of groaned, and he told us he had drunk too much, but reluctantly invited us in. We stuck with the plan and told him we would come back another day....but he insisted and grabbed a chair from inside and brought it out onto the patio. He sat down and started pouring out his heart about how much he wanted to change his life and become a new person. He kept calling himself trash and felt like he couldn't do it. He couldn't change because he loves his ways too much. It was such an awesome opportunity to bear witness of the Atonement. I know personally that the Atonement not only is for forgiveness but it LITERALLY changes us from who we are and we become 'new creatures'. I shared the 'go and sin no more' story from the Bible and we helped him understand that change is possible! Such a great man! 

 

Hermana's with N Rodriguez

Funny Moment: We had been talking a lot with the Rodriguez family about praying for their dad to feel the spirit at B's baptism so that it would 'soften' his heart and let all the kids get baptized. One day we were talking to N (the little brother) and he said that they were still praying their dad's heart would be 'weakened'....we laughed SOO hard!!!

That's it folks! I love you all!!!!

Con much carino
H Wright

Threesome, Piano & Speaking in Church

Buenas Dias....

Hello dearest family and friends! I have prepared TERRIBLY to write this letter, so hopefully it is the perfect amount of funny, spiritual, and....awesome. 

* We have a new companion, Sister Teichert. She is awesome. She is still in training but her trainer went home (not early....she was just finished). We knew this was going to happen but we didn't really know for sure if she would be staying with us in a trio.....and we still don't know. But we are just working hard, covering both an English ward and Spanish branch. 

*Quote from Sister Clarke:  "Of the 50 people we talked to this week, only six or seven of them were drunk." Also we only got hit on a couple times. 

However....we got a text on Saturday from an investigator that said (in Spanish) "Clarke I love you beautiful".  We didn't know exactly what to do....so we mostly ignored it, hoping it was a text from one of his friends to tease him or something (since mostly every time we go over there we get whistled at). We went to go see the SUPER awesome investigator that lives at his house (no relation...I don't think), hoping that the creepy guy wouldn't be there. SURPRISE...he was, and I am pretty sure we helped him conclude that his text was not ok. I was pretty cold.

*But now on to more spiritual matters, we spoke in church yesterday (I also think I forgot to tell you that I am the ward pianist.....before I came they were using their phones next to the microphone). Also sometimes they call me to play the piano at baptisms 30 minutes away because nobody plays the piano here. But anyway..... Church. We all decided to choose our topics like the General Authorities do it....all by personal revelation. So when we all got there we pretty much talked about Faith, Repentance and Enduring to the End---the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I spoke about Personal Conversion and shared the talk by Dieter F. Uchtdort "Lord, Is it I?". I just was thinking about all week...how the purpose is to become more like Jesus Christ...then we MUST act like him every day to practice. The point of this life is to leave it changed.....not the same person. It's the same thing with a  mission. If you try to leave your mission unchanged or you think you know the right way to preach the gospel....you've missed the point.

President Van Cott emailed us this really cool quote by Russell M Nelson :" So in the broader context, we all are in the process of repentance as a lifetime curriculum. This type

Of repentance is conversion, and we are all in the process of conversion. It’s never finished. We’re never converted fully until we are exactly like the Lord. So be content with your need to repent, for your need to be converted. It’s a continuing process, one which never ends." I’m very grateful for that process of change that allows us to become more like the Savior. Now I understand what He meant when He said, “What manner of men ought Ye to be? . . . Even as I am.” That is repentance. That is full conversion. That is the will of the Lord for each of us.”

So DONT MISS THE POINT....if you aren't constantly evaluating yourself, constantly changing, and constantly repenting....then keep in mind the fact that " The savior always chooses his disciples while they are at work....Satan chooses his while they are idle." (Bytheway) 

I am not just talking about repenting of your sins..... Become more like Christ (that pretty much means stop being human.....) there is ALWAYS something we need to improve on! Don't be idle....choose to change on your own!

I have also been studying a lot about the history of the Book of Mormon....especially how it connects with the Bible. It's pretty awesome! I recommend you all do it. It was new-found knowledge for me. The Book of Mormon time period starts right around the beginning of Jeremiah. It has been really interesting talking with members and investigators about the history of the Book of Mormon because almost none of them have any clue what it is they have in their hands. Study it!!!!!!! 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! Thanks for all the support!!!!!

Love

Hermana Wright