Week 68: "Discovering" New Experiences - May 30, 2019

Hey everyone. So, the other day was transfers, and as you might expect from me emailing right now, I got transferred. Specifically, I'm now working in the  Discovery Center, which is on the main floor of of the FHL (Family History Library). I honestly have no clue about what I should say about this. I will not lie, it was difficult at first when I got assigned to here, especially because it is one of the most social zones in the mission, but I am starting to feel better about it, since I realize there isn't much I can really do about this. It reminds me a bit of Jonah and how he tried to run away from his call to preach in Nineveh, and in the end he decided to do The Lord's will. Granted, it didn't occur to me by being thrown from a boat and swallowed by a whale, but I did have to go through some tribulation to finally realize that I need to sometimes learn to surrender my will to Heavenly Father. I hope you all have a great week and remember that we can overcome any trial, as long as we are following God's will. 

Till Then,

Elder Wright

PS: Pictures from Memorial Day! I spent most of the day hanging out with some of the other elders, but the biggest highlight was finding my great great grandparents' grave! 

With the changes in his schedule, we were able to email a little bit today. Here are some things I was able to find out.

*His new companion is Elder Filmore from Virginia

*He has the same apartment, bedroom and bed that he had when he served in Library Services

*President Fenn said this will not be his last assignment before he comes home in September

*Other elders in his apartment are Elder Slack, the district leader, and Elder Spears. He really likes them both

*In addition to going to the SLC cemetery on Memorial Day, the missionaries also had Papa Johns pizza and a presentation by President Fenn as well as a short tour of the cemetery. He got to see Pres. McKay's grave and a memorial for Hyrum Smith.

Week 67: Quickest Service Project Ever - May 25, 2019

Hey family and friends! So, this week my mission got to do a service project which involved planting a bunch of flowers near the Lion House! The thing is, though, is that we had all 99 elders working on this project, so we ended up finishing said project in about 30 minutes. The mission leadership were definitely planing on it lasting longer, especially with the rain that was coming around, but in the end they just let us go back to the apartments for the evening like they had planned to. Other than that, not much else has happened. Transfers are on Tuesday, and to be honest, I'm hoping to stay in there for one more transfer so that I can finally finish Arkansas. As for Memorial Day, the plan is for all of us Young Elders to go to the cemetery where a lot of the prophets are buried while President Fenn gives us a tour. Hope you all have a wonderful week as well and a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Till Then,

Elder Wright

Elder Wright let us know during our video chat that he also got to tour Welfare Square with a group of other young Elders. And the mission helped celebrate the 20th anniversary of FamilySearch.org. He said there were cookies everywhere, so that's always good!

The Lion House

Some pictures of Welfare Square

Week 66: Just Another Week - May 18, 2019

Hey friends and family! Okay, this email may be a bit short, mostly because not much happened since last week. The week has been fairly average in terms of what we did. Worked more on going through Arkansas on FamilySearch Places, going to classes (or in this case, a Q&A with President Fenn), reading the scriptures, and in all being an adult. I guess in terms of big things that happened recently, I had to work out a way for my companion and I to do shopping this week, since we almost weren't able to because of space in the vans. Nonetheless, everything is fine. I've been playing some fun games with my district, such as We Didn't Play-Test This At All, Four Player Chess, and Shogi (Japanese Chess). As for my scripture study, things have been really great, but also sad because it's when the Nephites have been destroyed and it's just Moroni. The thing that I found the most interesting was in Moroni's first chapter that he writes (Mormon 8), he writes that he has seen us (the reader) and he knows our works. I read this part this morning and it kind of scared me. Anyways, I've been really enjoying my scripture study and I'm looking forward to reading on each day. I hope you all realize how important scripture study is and how we should strive to try to use what we learned from it in our live. Have a great week!!

Till Then,

Elder Wright

Week 65: Learning More About The Restoration - May 11, 2019

Hello friends & family! Okay, so not much has happened since last week except for the activity that we had, so I'll be talking about that. Yesterday we went up into the mountains and spent some time at a park in Parley's Canyon, and while we were there President Fenn gave us a wonderful lesson on the Restoration and Joseph Smith. I'm kind of kicking myself for not bringing my camera, but thankfully some other people did, so there are probably some pictures already circulating. Anyways, after the wonderful talk, we got the chance to share our testimonies, although I wasn't able to share my full testimony because then that would take way too long. After that, we had a big lunch/dinner with hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled BBQ chicken. It was really good and I really enjoyed myself there. Other than that, not that much has been happening here. It's been raining less and less each week, which is sad, but I'm just happy that it's starting to warm up. Hope you all are enjoying the weather that you currently have that that you have a great summer. Talk to you next week!!

Till then,

Elder Wright

Elder Wright also told us that he went bowling with some other missionaries at Fat Cats and had a fun time. We also had a treat because we visited with him on Saturday, and again on Sunday for Mother's Day!

Week 64: Service Project on a Misty Hill - May 4, 2019

Mom made him do this! He's probably going to kill me for posting it!

Hey everyone! I'm sad to say that not much has really happened since last week. I'm still doing the same stuff in DIP and at the apartments, so I wouldn't be expecting any big updates if I were you. One thing that I do think is worth noting, though, is that on Tuesday about half the mission, including myself, had a service project. I don't know exactly where it was, but I do know that it wasn't too far from here, it was really high in the hills, and since it was a fair bit cloudy that day, it was kind of foggy when we were working. We were pulling weeds, which was a simple service project, and in all I was glad to be apart of it. I hope that the mission office posts some of the pictures that were taken, because it was pretty cool being up there. I don't have much else to say, so I'll just finish up here. I hope you all have a great week and remember to have the Spirit always in your life.

Till then,

Elder Wright

Pictures from the service project

This is the only picture where you can really see Elder Wright, on the far left in the blue and black shirt. It's blurry because I zoomed in.

This was the original picture

Week 63: I'm an Endangered Species - April 27, 2019

A senior Sister Missionary posted this on the mission facebook page. Elder Wright and others went to her apartment for Easter dinner.

Hello friends and family! Okay, so a big announcement has been recently in the mission, so I'm going to talk about that. On July 1, 2020, this mission will be consolidated with the church service mission program. In other words, starting on that date we will no longer have young elders on this mission. Now, this does not effect me at all, since my release date is before then, but it does effect what happens to a good number of the elders in this mission (about 30). Also, this means that we will no longer be receiving any new young elders on this mission, so over time the number of elders here will be dwindling. So, that is why I'm an endangered species, because we will be dying off slowly. I will say, though, that I'm glad that I got to be a trainer before the cut off point, and I'm glad that I got to be a part of this amazing mission. Anyways, let me know if you have any questions about his whole situation and what you think. Have a wonderful week, and remember the Lord's timing is different in ours, so be prepared! 

Till then,

Elder Wright

Sister Purdy, Sister Bishop, Elders Moody, Passey, Peacock, and Wright

Another screenshot when he called home via google hangouts

Week 62: Rain and Temple Square - April 20, 2019

Rendering of the north side entry into Temple Square after renovations

Hello everyone! Okay, so the weather has been fairly interesting the past few days. For about the first half of the week it was raining, but I'm really okay with that. Rain is not common back home, so it's always nice to get it. Since then, though, it's been really sunny, making the outside a little bit hot. I'm worried that I'm losing my heat tolerance, but I probably won't have to worry about that for too long. As for Temple Square, I got to watch the announcement about what's happening with it at the JSMB (Joseph Smith Memorial Building), and I've got to say that I'm impressed with what they are planning to do with it! I think it's a wonderful idea to make the temple a lot more visible from outside the square, and I really like the designs of what they'll be doing with it all. Anyways, hope you all have a wonderful week, and remember to focus on what the Lord want from you!

Till then,

Elder Wright

You can see more about the renovations to the Salt Lake City Temple and Temple Square here: https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/plans-unveiled-salt-lake-temple-renovation

We also got this short, surprise email on Easter Sunday:

Hey Family, just want to wish you all a wonderful Easter! Hope you are all having a great time wherever you are, and I hope you all know why we celebrate this holiday! Love you all!!!!