Week 11: Oh My Gosh It's D. I. P.!

Elder Wright didn't send home any pictures this week, but another missionary mom from his mission posted these pictures that she took on Temple Square last week. So we aren't seeing him, but this is what he is seeing at least!

Hey everyone! Time for another Saturday P-Day! So, my new zone (yep, I got transferred again) is called D.I.P., which stands for Digital Imaging Processing. It is fairly similar to Special Projects, except we are in the JSMB (Joseph Smith Memorial Building) instead of the CHL (Church History Library). I'm enjoying it so far, so that's always good. My new companion is Elder Howes, and he's pretty interesting. He's a big fan of cars and his dad owns a successful business. I'm also in a two-man apartment again, but this time I'm on the basement floor, so it feels smaller because we don't have a balcony. Elder Howes, on the other hand, is really happy to have moved because he has never been in a two-man apartment and he needed room for all the food he has amassed. He really likes to cook, which explains the amount of food. Other than that, there isn't much else to talk about. I hope you guys have an amazing week and remember to help those in need.

Till then,

Elder Wright

Week 10: Calm Before The Transfers - April 20, 2018

Elder Wright sent these pictures again because we weren't able to open them last week. He said that these were taken at a dinner appointment with some senior missionaries.

From left to right: Elders Wright, Vandenhazel, Rich (my current district leader, he's pretty cool), and Eppich (my companion).

Welcome to the next installment of Elder Wright's Mission! So not much has really happened, or at least anything that warrants being the title of my email. We went to the Jordan River Temple open house last week, so that's pretty neat. Also, I've finally have been added to the Overland Trails Project, so that has been helping me get by during my day zone. In the project, we are basically going through all the women over 15's profiles and changing them so that they show both their maiden name and their married name. It's a lot more interesting than I make it sound. We also had an interesting encounter with a protester who was standing on a box and speaking through a cruddy microphone. My companion and I were with four other elders, so it didn't really get to us that much. In fact, we even thought it was pretty funny. Part of me wonders where Soapbox Sam went off to, but in the end I don't care enough to find out. The last noteworthy thing that I feel like mentioning is the conference we had a couple of days ago. It was mostly meant for the senior missionaries, but us young elders were invited. Most of it was a presentation by President Fenn (our mission president) about the last week of The Savior's life and all that happened. Then Sister Fenn gave a talk about when her father, who was a general authority, was dying and all that he accomplished during that time. It was really uplifting and really interesting to learn about. The way I felt afterwards can be describe as such: humbling, feeling small, but loved none the less. Honestly, it's a wonderful feeling to have and we should feel that more often. I just hope I can keep that feeling with me through the next week, since Tuesday will be transfers. Speaking of transfers, because of them I might end up with a different P-Day, so don't be surprised if I email a different day than usual. 

Till next week, 

Elder Wright

I'm not sure Elder Wright knows that Sister Fenn's father is Elder Bruce R. McConkie

The young Elders from Elder Wright's mission. This was taken with Elder Duncan of the Seventy a few weeks ago.

Week 9: Oaks and Illness - April 13, 2018

Elder Wright tried to email pictures home this week, but due to technical difficulties we were unable to open the attachments. So I thought we would have to wait until next week at least until we got pictures. But then we had a little miracle. A tender mercy from our Father in Heaven. A mom of another missionary in the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission posted a few pictures on the mission facebook page. It made my mom heart so happy to see my son smiling and waving in the back of this group of awesome missionaries!

And he sent this wonderful email this week as well:

See, I told you I would be emailing on Friday this time. So it's been more than a week since you guys have heard from me, so that means I have more to tell you about. Well, for starters, last Friday we had a mission conference/testimony meeting/celebration of the first vision. It was really a fun and interesting experience, and the food there was really good. The next interesting news would be that we had a devotional on Monday. Now, we have one every Monday, but what made this one really cool was the fact that President Oaks was presiding! We even got to shake hands with him!! Honestly, though, I didn't feel much of an impact, but then again, as you might have guessed from the title of this email, I was sick at the time. I did make it to the devotional, and I did shake his hand, but I don't really remember much that was said because I felt like I was going to throw up the entire time. I'm glad that I went though and I wish I could have paid attention more. Anyway, I'm feeling better now and I am continuing to serve. I also saw the Indiana Jones Guy again, but this time his hat was hanging on his bike and he had bleach-blond hair. In all, it has been an interesting week and I hope we can continue to serve to the best of our abilities.

Till next week,

Elder Wright

PS: Yesterday was my 2 month mark for my mission here in Salt Lake City and in 2 days it will be my 6 month mark on my mission as a whole. Yay!

We were also able to get these pictures of the devotional with President Oaks from facebook too.

Week 8: Wacky P-Day Schedule and Conference - April 4, 2018

When you're missionary parents and you haven't seen your son in a couple of months you do crazy things. Like watching the end of Priesthood session of General Conference super closely because you know he was there. And even taking screen shots so you can zoom in and look closer.

This is Pres. Nelson saluting the missionaries.

And waving to them

We're pretty sure he was in the upper left of the picture kind of behind the wooden wall

Maybe he's in there?

At least we got his email home. Sounds just like Nick! Practical, to the point, and exactly what he's thinking!

Okay, so I know that I said that my next P-day was going to be this Friday instead of today, but this is what happened: We found out that President Fenn was going to be doing something with us Young Elders this Friday, so we had to make some changes. So today we had half a P-day from 1 to 6 PM and on Friday we will have the other half from 6:30 AM to 12 PM. It's all weird, but what ever.  I would like to point out that I will not be emailing this Friday because I will have already done it today and I will be busy with laundry and shopping. Also, next week I will have my P-day on Friday, for real this time.

So how about that conference? Lot of interesting changes and stuff. We only got tickets for the Priesthood session, so the rest we got to watch in a theater in the JSMB. I remember the audible gasp that everyone made in the theater when they announced the Russia temple, but I was also really interested in hearing about the India temple. Being in the Priesthood session was alright, but honestly not that much different from when you watch it anywhere else besides home. It's not like you get an autographed Book of Mormon from the Prophet or get to shake hands with the General Authorities. It was a great experience over all. I would say that I probably wouldn't want to go to it outside of my time serving here because it's way to crowded and even though their were only a small amount of protesters, they would still bum me out a bit. Although, I did hear one yell "1 man for 1 wife" at me and my companion as week walked by, and after we were out of earshot, I started to chuckle because this guy seems to think that we still practice polygamy. 

I hope everyone had a great week this week and I hope you keep the messages you received from conference in your heart.

Till next week,

Elder Wright

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.