Week 32: Meetings Galore - September 18, 2018

Elder Wright sent a video again instead of pictures, so here is another screenshot of him

Yes, I know, this isn't the day that I usually have emails, but with mission conference tomorrow, we had to change it to today. I don't expect too much interesting stuff to happen at that conference, so don't be surprised if I don't mention anything about it. As you can tell from the title, though, mission conference is not the only meeting I have coming up. I (might) have leadership meeting the day after, and later that day all of the young elders in my zone will be meeting with our mission president for some unknown reason. After that, we have transfers on next Tuesday, which means I should remind you that my p-day may change because of that, so be prepared for that. Other than that, their isn't much else for me to say. Please ask questions, because I feel like these mass emails could use a little bit of extra filling, so answering your questions would be a really cool way to fill it. Have a great week, and remember to stay healthy during flu season.

Till next week,

Elder Wright

Mom: I asked him a few questions while we were emailing and these were his answers. I thought they were interesting

1. Best part of your week: Hanging out with Elder B. He is an elder in Data Services who reminds me a lot of Elder H, my companion from my service mission and he's a lot of fun to be around. He's also from Arizona, but he's from a town near Tucson, so nowhere near us. Also, going to Dollar Tree and getting Minute Maid frozen lemonade.

2. Worst part of your week: Having a hard time sleeping. Hopefully that will improve.

3. Funniest thing that happened this week: Playing Smash Up yesterday with Elder W and accidentally slipping with my words. 

4. Most spiritual experience: Reading through the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon.

5. What did you learn: I learned that I should strive to be kinder in the way that I speak to my fellow elders.

6. What should we pray for: People back home, and for transfers to go smoothly.

Another parent posted this picture on Facebook of all of the young Elders in the mission. Apparently, it was at a farewell dinner for the Senior Missionaries that will be leaving this transfer. Elder Wright is in the front row on the far left.

Week 31: Family Search Changes - September 12, 2018

Elder Wright didn't send any pictures this week (again!) but he did send us a little video tour of his apartment. I was able to take a couple of screenshots!

Hello, my friends and family. So, if you are a regular user of Family Search, you would know that the persons page on that site has changed its layout recently. Why am I bringing this up in my weekly email? It's because my zone is the one having to deal with all the complaints about it! Seriously, you would think that a small change wouldn't warrant such a response from people, but evidently the people who use the site all day every day think that this is a huge problem. On the plus side, though, it has given me more cases to work on. They are really easy cases to do, as well. All I have to do is label the case as feedback and close it without having to answer their question, because they have no question to begin with. I'm mainly bring this up since we haven't really had anything else happen that is more interesting. In all, it's not that big of a deal, it's just something that comes with this zone. I'm just glad that it has given me more work to do.

One thing I would like to bring up is that I have recently been studying the blessings that the 12 Tribes of Israel, and it's really interesting to learn about. For any of the youth that are reading this email (which I doubt is many), I would suggest reading and learning about those blessing before and after you receive your patriarchal blessing, because the blessings that the 12 tribes received will also be given to you. Also, if that's not interesting enough, it's also kind of like reading a young adult novel where there are different groups that you can be a part of and each one has an interesting trait/job.

Please make sure to ask me any questions you have about my mission. This especially goes out to the people in my home ward, since I'm really interested to hear what you guys want to know about this mission, because who knows, maybe one of your kids will be called here someday. Have a great week and remember to study the scriptures!

Till next week,

Elder Wright

I (Mom) was lucky enough to be able to email "chat" with Elder Wright a little bit. I found out a few other interesting things besides what is in his "mass email."

"For Labor Day, we did the same thing that we did for the 4th of July, in that we went to the state capital. The main thing that everyone was looking forward to was that we were going to be watching the second part of The Work and The Glory, which was pretty fun. I can't wait to see the third part."

"I did see some people going to Comic Con last week. Noting too interesting, just mainly what you would expect: A guy dressed up like Mr. Rogers, other people dressed in normal clothes, and girls dressed up as super heroes."

"We have only had 1 district meeting so far, and that was on Labor Day, so I just held it at my apartment, had everyone wear a tie (we are supposed to wear full missionary attire for district meeting, but it was a holiday so we wore ties as a compromise), had everyone give a little bit of info about themselves so that we could get to know each other, and then I gave a short lesson about how the 10 plagues of Egypt were meant to mock the Egyptian gods. It was fairly brief and really fun."

"If we do have a service project, it's usually on Friday, but there isn't one scheduled for this week. Thursday mornings there is usually a leadership meeting for all the district leaders. On Monday mornings we have the Morning Devotional in the chapel (of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building) and then training at zone. Classes aren't always the same day as p-day, that's just what has been happening with me lately. The main questions that we get (in Data Services) are 110 year requests, help with getting into accounts, and helping people if they have other types of questions. Usually we know how to help them, but every once in a while we get something that we can't help with, so we escalate it."

 Also, recently the Ellis Island Immigrant Records were recently released to search in FamilySearch. Elder Wright worked on preparing these records when he served in the Arizona Young Church Service Mission at the Chandler Records Operation Center. He was pretty excited when I told him that they were available to everyone now.

Week 30:District Leader Life - September 5, 2018

Hello everyone! As you might all recall from last week's email, I'm now a district leader! Well, now that I've actually been a district leader for a week, let me tell you what it's like. All in all, it's okay. It's not too different than how things were before, but things have indeed changed. For starters, I now have a cellphone. It's not a smartphone, but it's better than nothing. I also have to check in on the elders of my district, which is pretty fun. I also have a meeting that I have to attend each week, which I'm happy to attend because I could use the advice. So, I guess being a district leader is okay. It's not a problem, but it's not a reason to relax either. Let me know if any of you have any questions about being a district leader, or about this mission in general! Have a great week, and remember to always help those around you!

Till next week,

Elder Wright

Hi, this is Mom. Elder Wright also told his dad and me that it's starting to feel like fall up there and he likes it. We'll see what he says when winter comes!

Also, I was able to get some pictures of some of the other missionaries that he works with from the mission Facebook page.

This is Elder Wright's companion. He said that he really enjoys serving with him.

From left to right: Elders Waechtler, Martin, Perkins, and Mejia. "Elder Waechtler is another DL here, and he's pretty cool. We talk a little bit about video games and stuff like that. Elder Martin is a nice guy. Elder Perkins is real interesting. Elder Mejia is a really great guy who came from a proselyting mission in Idaho, and he and I are fairly close."

Week 29: Transfers Today/...Again: Double P-day & Announcement - August 29, 2018

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when the Young Elders participated in cleaning the Ensign Peak trailhead. Elder Wright said that the other two elders in the picture are Elder Harris and Elder Waechtler.

Elder Wright had P-day on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Read his emails below to find out why.

From Tuesday:
Week 29: Transfers Today
Hello friends! So, there isn't much to talk about other than the fact that transfers are today! I got a moving notice, which is still nothing new, but there is one little piece of information that I have that I would like to tell you all, but I can't as of now. I will, however be able to tell you next p-day, which may be sooner, since transfers and all that stuff. All I can say is be ready for my next email.
Before I go, I just want you all to know that it was my Mom's birthday last Friday so make sure to wish her a happy late birthday! I feel like this email is fairly small, so make sure to email me with questions so that I can answer them!
Till next week,
Elder Wright

From Wednesday
Week 29: ...Again: Double P-day & Announcement
Remember how I said that my p-day might change? Well, my p-day is now on Wednesday. That means I have two p-days in a row! Hooray! Well, sort of. Honestly, having two p-days isn't that exciting since my new companion, Elder Crittenden, still has to do all his p-day stuff, so it's not exactly a completely free day. As for the announcement, it is this: I am now a district leader, which is pretty interesting. I wasn't able to tell you guys at the time due to transfers not happening yet, but now I can, so yeah, I'm a district leader now. What does this mean? It means that I am now in charge of myself and three other elders in Data Services. I will also be getting a phone, but that isn't that big of a deal. I have been a little bit bothered by the fact that some of the other elders, mainly the other district leaders, have congratulated me on this, when in reality I didn't do anything to receive this calling. That receiving callings like this are not an achievement, they are a calling, meaning that it's not worth celebrating or saying "good job" about it. Oh well, I know that everything will go well. My district doesn't seem like they're that difficult to take care of, so I'm sure everything will be fine.
Let me know if any of you have any questions. I recently was able to answer a question from a member of my home ward, and I thought it was pretty cool, so let me know if there is anything you are wondering about.
Till next week,
Elder Wright

Mom here again. Nick is a man of few words. I was able to find out some more info while we were able to chat yesterday and today. I thought I would share a little bit.
He got to go to the temple last week, so no service project. He usually does temple work for names that the temple provides, but he is going to start doing some of our family names. In fact, he did baptisms and confirmations for ancestors last week.
On Monday nights they either have District Meeting or Book of Mormon class with President Fenn. He says that President Fenn doesn't usually stay on topic, since he really loves the Book of Mormon, so he has a tendency to start talking about other chapters. He is able to teach any part of the Book of Mormon with the spirit and make it great. All of the young Elders in his mission are required to go, but some of the Senior missionaries go too.
He had dinner with a senior couple, Elder and Sister McKnight on Sunday.
He said that he could tell us pretty much everything that usually happens in Help Services and Digital Imaging Processing, if it weren't for the fact that it's "pretty boring." But Data Services has some pretty confidential stuff that he can't share. He feels like the Lord and the mission president have a lot of trust in the Young Elders. About a year ago, they didn't have access to all of these things. They mostly did account recovery stuff, and when they weren't doing that, they were making hats! "Our mission is growing really fast, and it's fun to be a part of it."

Thanks again to all of you for your, love, support and prayers!

Here's another picture of Elder Wright with the other missionaries

Week 28: Insert Witty Title Here - August 21, 2018

Hello family and friends. If you were to judge by the title of this email, you would think that not much has happened. You would be correct. Honestly, things have been kind of the same here. Working on cases, receiving training, having classes, all that stuff. The only thing that I think really stuck out was the service project we did last Thursday, in which we cleaned up the head of the Ensign Peak trail, which was pretty fun. I mainly trimmed the plants that were getting in the way of the path, and in the end, I feel like things looked a lot better all around. I'm glad that we were able to have that service project, mainly because we haven't had one in a few weeks do to various youth groups taking them all. Hopefully their will be more service projects in the future. Other than that, I don't have much else to say. Have a great week, and remember to do some family history work, because there is always something on your tree that you can work on.

Till next week,

Elder Wright

Mom: I thought it would be nice to include a little bit of history about Ensign Peak. 

"Soon after entering the valley, President Young pointed at Ensign Peak and said, “I want to go there.” He suggested that the peak "was a proper place to raise an ensign to the nations," and so it was named Ensign Peak. [6] On July 26, 1847, a party consisting of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, Albert Carrington, William Clayton, Lorenzo Dow Young, and perhaps Parley P. Pratt climbed to the top of the hill. Of the event, Wilford Woodruff recorded that the group “went North of the camp about five miles and we all went onto the top of a high peak in the edge of the mountain which we considered a good place to raise an ensign upon which we named Ensign Peak or Hill. I was the first person that ascended this hill. Brother Young was very weary in climbing the peak, he being feeble.” [7] While on the Peak, the group surveyed the valley below with Heber Kimball’s telescope to confirm their earlier judgment of the valley. “They appeared delighted with the view of the surrounding country,” said one of the settlers who heard the explorers’ report later in the day. [8] From this experience, the group gained the perspective necessary to begin planning the settlement. At this time, President Young apparently also determined the location of the temple, which he announced two days later, on July 28, by planting his walking stick at the site selected for the temple and saying, "Here we will build the temple of our God." [9] https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/salt-lake-city/3-ensign-peak-historical-preview

He also wrote to me and said, "There isn't much I can tell you about this zone (meaning the work he is doing), since there is so much sensitive info about other patrons here, not to mention some of the things that we can do in FamilySearch with the tools we have." I thought that was really interesting!

Week 27: Bees Game - August 14, 2018

 Elder Wright said, "I promise I was super happy at the game, even though it looks like I'm not. I was just focused on eating my ice cream cone!"

Hello once again to the people who reads this email. So as you can tell from the title, my mission went to a Salt Lake City Bees Game (that's baseball, by the way). It was pretty fun since we got all be together and watch a sports game, and I hope we get to do it again next year. Let me know if you want any more details on it. The only thing that I can think of that was really interesting about the game was that the Bees lost 4-3, and that one elder from our mission, Elder Buttars, showed up on the jumbotron at one point during the "Dance Cam" section, so that was pretty cool.

The only other thing that I feel like I should talk about today is the fact that two days ago was my six month mark for being out here, and tomorrow will be my ten month mark for my mission as a whole. It's a bit strange to think that I've been serving for almost a year now, but I'm so glad that I have been and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability. Have a great week and remember to do some family research!

Till next week,

Elder Wright

Here are some other pictures I was able to save from the mission parent's facebook page

Week 26: Stuff and Things - August 7, 2018

Hello my fellow youth, remember how I told you I might have a different p-day? Well, this is it! Tuesday is now my p-day, so that is pretty cool, I guess. So not that much is different here. I know I say that a lot, but honestly I am blanking on anything that is any different than last week. The only thing that I can think of is the fact that I have been improving in my zone, so that's neat. Other than that, there isn't much that has happened within the last week. I do remember one thing that I forgot to write about last week. So, my companion and I are assigned to serve at St. Joseph's, which is a senior care center, and their was this one guy that we had to bring the sacrament to in the rehab center. The only catch was that his room was under quarantine, so we had to put on yellow gowns and gloves before we could go in, and then afterwards we had to through the cup for the water part of the sacrament into a bio-hazard bag rather than the tray. It was a pretty neat experience and I'm surprised that I forgot to tell you all about it. As for things to come, the only things that I know of that's coming up is the mission conference and the Bees game that we are going to on Saturday. For the mission conference, I have know clue what is going to be said, other than being told that we need to clean up our rooms because only three apartment were ranked as Celestial when they were inspected. As for the Bees game, that is the nice little activity that they have planned for us, and I'm a bit excited. I'm not much for sports, but I do actually enjoy watching baseball games when I'm at the stadium, because the atmosphere is fun and baseball is actually easy to understand. Well, hope you all have a great week, and make sure to email me if you have any questions. Honestly, I wish you would so that I know that you guys are actually reading this. Oh well, have a wonderful week and remember to serve those around you.

Till Then,

Elder Wright