Week 7: FHL Stuff - March 28, 2018

I saw on Facebook that the family of one of Priscilla's former mission companions, and they actually lived in Gilbert AZ at that time, was visiting Temple Square. I half jokingly asked Dave to find Elder Wright and send me pictures. I was super surprised and happy when Dave sent these from the 3rd floor of the Family History Library! Elder Wright had never met them, so it may have been a little weird for him, but mom was thrilled! Thanks DeWidts!!!

 Now on to his letter home this week:

So it's P-day again, and that means it's another email from me. It's a bit different having a P-day on a weekday than on Saturday because we have to be a bit more cautious with time since we have night zone at 6. On the other hand, it was kind of a blessing last week and this week because I got to talk to my parents the day after transfers and because I didn't have to give up my P-day for Conference. Yep, if you have a P-day on conference, you basically have to reschedule the important P-day stuff (laundry, emails, and shopping) or just plan ahead. Thankfully, that was not the case for me.

So I have been serving in the FHL for a week now, so I probably should explain more about that. My district is the Help Services District, which is a patron-facing district on the 3rd floor of the Family History Library. In other words, if you are in or around Salt Lake City and want to set up a Family Search account, you would come to us for help (or you could just come up and say hi, that's cool too). Things are going okay for me, but it has been a bit hard being in a place where I'm expected to be able to teach people how to use Family Search when I lack the skills to do so. In the end I hope I can make it to next transfer.

One spiritual thing that I've notice this week is something I read in Mosiah. Though it was just the story of how the people of Mosiah, Alma, and the people that Ammon (not the one that cut off a ton of arms, its the guy before him) discovered, became one people and how they were able to get along so well despite them not knowing each other for long. I hope that we can all have that kind of spirit in our lives.

Till next week,

Elder Wright

PS: My next P-day will be next Friday, so watch out for that.

Week 6: Transfers - March 21, 2018

 Elder Wright sent this picture in his email to Mom. Yay!

Okay, so I may have forgotten to mention that transfers would be on Tuesday, so I'm letting everyone know now: Transfers were Tuesday, and I have been transferred to the 3rd floor of the Family History Library (FHL). What does this mean? This means that 1). My P-day is now on Wednesday now, 2). I have a new companion named Elder Eppich, and 3). I now have a calling that has me working with random people. That's pretty much it, since it has only been 4 days since I last emailed. One spiritual message I would like to bring up is something that I read in Mosiah. During King Benjamin's speech, he mentions that since the poor have nothing, then they should have the attitude of "If I had anything to give, I would give". I remember when I was working at Save the Family how I would meet people who had that kind of attitude. I hope that we can not only have this kind of attitude, but since we do have things, we should also give as well. Have a great week!

Elder Wright

PS: Here's a picture of my apartment keys

I'm not sure why he sent this! Crazy kid!

This is Elder Wright with his previous companion, Elder Walker. Love that smile!

Week 5: Sleep, Ben Franklin and Indiana Jones - March 17, 2018

Well, it's that time of week again. So as you might have guessed from the title, some things have taken place. For starters, I am still having a hard time with sleep, but don't worry, because the nurses here are trying to figure something out. Next up, last week was daylight savings, which disturbed me as an Arizonian, and since Ben Franklin invented that, I have been cursing his name ever since. As for Indiana Jones, my companion and I were walking back to our apartment when we saw a guy on a bike wearing a jacket and hat that looked like Indie. We really wish vine was a thing because we would have loved to make a video of that while badly singing the theme song. It's been a strange, but enjoyable week, and I hope that all of you remember that we have these great days because of our Father in Heaven. 

Till next week,

Elder Wright

PS: Shout out to the Meeker family because I saw them this week.

PPS: It's snowing today, so I'm disappointed.

Week 4: Sick Week - March 10, 2018

We got a surprise Saturday morning. We were waiting around for Nick to email and suddenly Mom got a text from an unknown number. It was McKay Chamberlain's mom. McKay was in marching band and drumline with Nick in high school. Nick really loved McKay and they have skyped since McKay returned from his mission. Apparently he and Nick ran into each other, and McKay sent this picture to his mom who forwarded it to me. She said that Nick was doing well and really enjoying his mission. So happy to hear that and to see his big smile!

Later, we got his weekly email.

So, another week, another email. As you can tell from the title, sickness was a big part of the week, however, I was not the one who was sick. During the first half of the week I had gotten no sleep until I talked to the nurse, who gave me benadryl. As for my companion, he go sick on Thursday and had a follow-up appointment afterwords. In other words, it wasn't that bad.

As for other news, I have been settling into my routine fairly well. We have been getting good food and working real hard, but other than what I said before, nothing out of the ordinary has happened this week. Hopefully things improve next week. 

Finally, for a spiritual message, I would just like to say that on Sunday we had a devotional with our mission president, which was pretty interesting, but he was also dealing with some kidney stones at the time, so if that isn't faith and determination, I don't know what is.

Talk to you next week,

Elder Wright

PS: My mission president recently had surgery. He is now the proud father of either 3 or 5 kidney stones.

Week 3: Mysteries Abound - March 3, 2018

So as you might expect from a title like this, it has been an interesting week. For starters, it didn't snow at all, which makes me very happy. On the other hand, some strange things have happened as well. These include a button mysteriously coming off my jacket to never be seen again, a random room check despite the senior couple telling us that they set an appointment with us, my security badge mysteriously being deactivated, and my church email (no, not this one), being deleted because it wasn't renewed. Most of these problems have been solved, but it has just been kind of weird. 

For those of you who are wondering what a schedule is like for an elder here, this is what it is: 

6:30 Am: Wake up

6:45 Am Tues, Thurs, Sat: Work out at the stake center

9:30 Am: Be at zone

9:30-12: Zone work

12-1 Pm: Go back to apartments, lunch, go back to zone

1-4:30 Pm: Zone work

4:30-6:30 Pm: Dinner

6:30-8:30 Pm: Mon: District meeting, Tues-Wed, Fri: Night Zone, Thurs: Research Essentials

8:30-10 Pm: Apartment time

10 Pm: Sleep

This has been a pretty good schedule, and even though I'm still adjusting to it, I'm really liking it. 

For a spiritual message, I would like to say that I had a great time doing a endowment session at the Salt Lake City temple. It was a different experience than the Gilbert temple, as well as doing names for the dead rather than yourself, and I would encourage those who have not been to the temple recently to go and doing something to help those who have passed on so that they too can receive their eternal blessings. 

Have a great week!

Elder Wright

Week 2: Why I Hate The Snow - February 24, 2018

So I finished my second week, and you can probably tell by the title of this email, it snowed. It snowed Monday and Friday, but even two days is too much for me. It is definitely too cold for me, but missionary work waits for no one, so I keep going. Thankfully my suit is able to keep me warm and I have gloves for my hands, but it still is annoying to have to keeping taking gloves on and off while also managing an umbrella. Hopefully it will let up.

As for more important things, I have finished up training and I have been assigned to my first zone: special projects. This zone does various things, but the project that I am currently working on is called the Liahona project, in which we look through digital copies of the old issue of the Liahona magazine and look for the names of missionaries and record them and a small profile on an excel sheet. It's not the most fun thing to do, but it's not the most boring thing either. I also got a new companion/trainer, Elder Walker, and he's pretty cool. He has only been out for two months, so technically, I have been on my mission longer than he has. None the less, we get along real well, and we talk a lot about the gospel, Star Wars, and Pokemon. I am so grateful that I have been able to have nothing but great companions for my entire mission so far.

All in all, I know that even though we may be surrounded by challenges, such as snow, we can find the good in everything. Thank you all for your support and talk to you all next week.

PS: All the elders in my mission got to meet Elder Duncan from the quorum of the 70, so that was pretty cool.

First Week - February 17, 2018

We were super excited for his first email home!

Hello, this is Elder Wright. So I'm almost done with my first week here in the Salt Lake City Headquarters mission. Many of you have been wondering what exactly I would be doing. Well, so far I have been doing what is the equivalent to MTC, but only a week long so they are keeping us fairly busy. We have mainly been learning how to use family search and touring the various zones throughout the mission. All the zones are indoors, and they either involve helping guests or doing computer stuff in the back. It has been pretty interesting though. My companion and I are part of a group of eight starting missionaries here, so we have plenty of people to ask for help on. Our mission president is President Fenn, and he is really well versed in the gospel. He does have a tendency to go on teaching past the ending point, and he does like to preach very loudly, but he is a great mission president and it is really fun to listen to him. One interesting thing that happened this week is that it snowed Thursday morning. That was really cool, but it didn't snow for long. In all, I would have to say that even though it has been tough sometimes, I know that as long as I keep faith in the Lord, that I will be able to continue to have a great time here.

Drop Off Day - February 12, 2018

And then the big day came. Mom, Dad, Mandy and Nick flew up to Provo on Friday. We were able to visit with Priscilla and friends that night, with the Ketcher side of the family on Saturday, and with the Wrights on Sunday. Early Monday morning we drove to downtown SLC to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We got to attend their Monday morning devotional. And then it was time to say goodbye. A couple of tender mercies-one of the senior couples that coordinate the Young Elders in the mission are the Thornocks. We also had and Elder and Sister Thornock that worked with the Young Elders in Arizona. We knew Nick was in good hands! Also, the senior missionary that coordinates the physical activity and the cars is an old friend of the Ketcher side of the family. The Lord is in the details, right?

President Fenn pinning on Nick's new missionary badge

"Your ancestors will always be with you" - February 11, 2018

I feel bad that I don't have more pictures from the days we spent with Nick in Utah just before we left him. We were able to enjoy time with Priscilla, her college friends and Christopher. We spent Saturday evening with the Ketcher side of the family. And we had a big family dinner with the Wrights on Sunday night before we dropped Nick off the next morning.

That Sunday morning we were able to go to church at my Uncle Stan's assisted living center, The Beehive Home, in Draper. Stan had an amazing gift for Nick. It's a blanket that belonged to my Grandpa Ketcher. Stan said he thought of it the night before when we were visiting and he wanted to give it to Nick to remind him that his Native American ancestors and many other ancestors too would always be near him to help him during his mission. I had felt the exact same impression when Nick was being set apart. I love these pictures near in front of the portrait of Grandma and Grandpa Ketcher!

Set Apart Again! - February 8, 2018

President McCleve from our stake presidency came over and Nick was blessed to have another Priesthood blessing for the service he would be providing in the Salt Lake City HQ mission. What an amazing experience to get to do this twice!

Open House - February 3, 2018

 We had an Open House for people to come say goodbye to Nick. He chose to have an ice cream sundae bar, and that was a big hit! Lots of people from the ward came, as well as his leaders from the Chandler ROC.

The highlight for him was the fact that all of the other elders that served with him at the Chandler ROC came as well!

The next day he may have made history as he gave a report of his service in the Arizona Young Church Service Mission and also gave a bit of a farewell talk about leaving to go serve in the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission. And it was on Fast Sunday as well. Leave it to Nick to never do anything in the ordinary way!

A Final AYCSM Farewell - January 26, 2018

We had a wonderful dinner with the Pugmires and the other missionaries and families at the Pugmire's home. Truly mixed feelings! Our family loves this mission and all of the service they perform in the community, the church, and for the missionaries and families! One special moment was when Elder Pugmire spoke about Nick. He said that he had spoken to President Fenn from the SLC HQ mission. He said he didn't really want to tell President Fenn what a great missionary Nick was, and he really didn't want to recommend for Nick to leave, because Nick was doing such a wonderful job here in Arizona. Such a proud parent moment! 

A Big Announcement! January 19, 2018

On January 19 we got a message from our Bishop asking if he and the Stake President could drop by that evening. They had amazing news! Nick had been called to transfer to the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission! We were all happy, excited, and relieved after so many months of waiting for news. Although the thought of Nick leaving home and the Arizona Young Church Service Mission made it a little bittersweet.

Here's some information about his new mission president and wife

And here is a map of his mission. Only about 6 city blocks!

This mission is very unique. The missionaries live in apartments and have companions. They basically obey all of the traditional mission rules. However, they don't proselyte. To be honest, when Nick received his call we weren't completely sure exactly what he would be doing. But we knew he would be serving the Lord and building the Kingdom of God. It's a great adventure!

Zone Conference - January 9, 2018

One great thing about serving a young church service mission is that parents are invited to Zone Conference. We enjoyed dinner, instruction and support with other missionaries and parents.

Elder Wright, and to his left is his companion Elder Halliday. They served together at the Chandler ROC.

The missionaries had a meeting in one room while their parents had a Q&A session.

Mission Recommendation

During all of this time while Nick was working so hard as a missionary in Arizona, we were also waiting to see if he would be transferred to the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission. We were so excited to read the Pugmire's recommendation!

President Hansen,

It is a pleasure to report that Elder Nicholas Wright has been an outstanding missionary.  He is dependable, punctual, bright, industrious, steady, well-tempered, congenial and dedicated.  He enhances his spiritual environment.   He studies well.  He understands his work.  He obeys instructions.  He radiates a testimony of the gospel and service.

We recommend him as a valuable missionary.

Elder Mark Pugmire

Sister Laurel Pugmire

Third Email - January 7, 2018

Hello again, this is Elder Wright. So I'm still working at the same places and still enjoying it. I would like to bring up one thing that I really enjoyed doing. Last week, I was able to do tell one of our clients at Save the Family about how the Book of Mormon was another testament of Christ. It was kind of fun to do some proselyting, though I will admit I was a bit nervous doing so. In all I am really enjoying my mission.

Christmas 2017

It's a blessing to be a missionary mom and be lucky enough to have your missionary home with you. Priscilla was gone the past 2 years for her mission, so this was a real treat!

Priscilla took some wonderful missionary pictures of Nick while she was home too.

Nick also had another awesome mission conference. I love the way these leaders work to make this mission as much like a traditional mission as possible, including conferences, companions, district meetings, etc.