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!!!!

Week 61: Meeting with the Apostles - April 13, 2019

From Mom: I want to share the little miracle that happened for us regarding video chatting with Elder Wright this week. Kraig and I were in Flagstaff to see Mandy perform with the high school Arizona All State Honor Choir. I hadn't had a chance to let Elder Wright know ahead of time that we would be out of town, and possibly at her concert, when he would be calling. I just prayed that it would all work out. I wasn't too worried that he would contact us during the concert because he usually messages us earlier in the day. But as time went by the battery on my phone was dying, I didn't have an extra battery pack, and the concert was going to start in an hour. Kraig and I were wandering around the NAU campus killing time before the concert. We went to the bookstore and I saw a table in the corner with a charging station. So yay! I could charge my phone! I was sitting there for just a few minutes when I got the message that Elder Wright was ready to chat. I called Kraig over and the three of us were able to converse for about 30 minutes, in the corner of the NAU bookstore, with my phone plugged in, on NAU wifi! Thinking back, I realize that while both of my children have been serving missions we've had multiple times that everything has fallen in line and we were able to converse with them, first by email and now video, no matter where we've been. That includes traveling around the country and even once on a cruise ship. God is truly in the details of our lives!

Hello! Hope you all had an amazing week, because I sure did! Anyways, General Conference was great! I got plenty of answers to questions that I've been having for a little while, so I really enjoyed it. As for what this email is titled after, yes, we did have Elder Anderson here at the mission, but that's not all! Elder Soares decided to come along, so we got visited by TWO apostles! It was really cool to have two members of the Quorum of the Twelve visit our mission, and from what I heard, they were really impressed. I don't know what this will mean for this mission in the future, but for now I'm happy to be able to meet some of the Lord's servant. Other than that, things are pretty much the same here. It's been rainy for the past couple of days, but now things are starting to look sunny again! I hope that it stays like that, but I'll be fine with whatever. Anyways, have an awesome week and remember to continue learning from Conference, since it's the Lord's latest teaching for us!!

Till then,

Elder Wright

A few other things from our conversation with Elder Wright:

*He only has 24 Tuesdays left of his mission! If you're wondering why count Tuesdays, it's because in his mission Tuesdays are transfer days and also the day that Elders who have completed this mission go home.

*We told him we were disappointed that we didn't get to see President Nelson wave to the young Elders from the SLC Headquarters mission at the end of the Priesthood session because the cameramen stopped the video. He told us that not only President Nelson, but also Presidents Oaks and Eyring as well as almost all of the Apostles stopped to wave to them. 

*If you're wondering what is meant by "Quorum of the Twelve", you can visit https://www.lds.org/church/leaders/quorum-of-the-twelve-apostles?lang=eng 

*And these are the pictures he sent home this week. He must really like these trees!

Week 60: Throat Problems & Conference - April 6, 2019

We got a wonderful surprise this week when our good friend Zack (our kids call him Uncle Zack) ran into Elder Wright on Temple Square and sent us this picture. Thanks Zack!

Hello! Things have been pretty slow around here for the past couple of days. Other than getting to help people at a senior care facility do family history, thing have been pretty dull. One thing that I did have happen recently, though, is that I have been dealing with some sickness that has been messing with my throat, making it so that I'm coughing and full of mucus that I can't get out. I am happy to say, however, that I'm feeling a lot better and all I have now is sneezing.

So, how about that conference? I really enjoyed it because 1.) I got to listen to it at my apartment while I did laundry and 2.) I got a lot of answers to questions that I've been needing answered. I'm definitely looking forward to the next sessions and I can't wait to see what all is to happen next. 

As for upcoming news, we will be having Neil L. Anderson visiting our mission on Wednesday, so that's going to be very exciting. This will be the 3rd member of the First Presidency & Quorum of the Twelve that I will see while I'm on the mission and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say to us. Anyways, hope you all have an amazing week ahead of you and that you all have a great time hearing from the prophet!

Till then,

Elder Wright

 

PS-Hey everyone, just want to give a shout-out to Zack Taylor because I ran into him this week and got to say hello! It's always cool to see people you know on the mission. That doesn't mean that you should all visit me, I'm still busy serving here, so you can just wait another few months. Have a great week!!

 

He also told us that he would be attending the Priesthood session of conference, and that he went to Kneaders for breakfast on Saturday. He is still working in Digital Image Processing, but it has been complicated lately because the IT department is working on the software. 

Another photo from Zack

Elder Wright showing us his ticket to the Priesthood session

Our family got to be together via technology for a few minutes on Conference weekend

You can see some of the young Elders from the SLC Headquarters Mission behind the First Presidency 

Week 59: Return of the Snow - March 30, 2019

Elder Wright didn't send any pictures this week, but I was able to steal this screen shot while we were chatting online.

Hey everyone! Okay, so things have been mostly the same lately, but there have been some things that happened. For starters, I got to go to the Bountiful temple, which means I got to see the new endowment session video. My guess it's just a placeholder until they make a new video, but nonetheless it was a great experience and I'm glad I got to go! Another thing that happened was that FamilySearch has updated one of the tools that we use (FamilySearch Places), and it has a couple of bugs, so our project is kind of at a standstill right now. Yea. As for the title of this email, the weather has been fairly interesting. The first half of the week was very sunny, but later on it started to get a bit overcast and rainy. The biggest thing, though, was that it snowed Thursday night and then on-and-off snowed for most of Friday. It hasn't been too bad, though, since it's been pretty sunny during the times that it hasn't been precipitating. Oh well, at least this will probably be the last snow of the season! Anyway, I hope that you all remember to keep the spirit in your lives and in all that you do. Have a great week!!

Till then,

Elder Wright

 

A couple of other things that Elder Wright told us when we chatted:

*He will soon be working on the artificial intelligence that hopefully be able to read Chinese characters again.

*He has a service project at a retirement center coming up. He and some other young elders will be helping to teach FamilySearch to the residents.