July 16, 2012

other news:

• the highlight of the week was obviously the baptism, but we also had kind of a crazy day on sunday! it was my turn to finally give a talk in the ward (based on the song "onward christian soldiers" - more on that next week), then my comp and i taught the gospel pronciples class, then we gave a spiritual thought in relief society, and i led the music...a little busy, but everything turned out great. SUCH a testimony to me of how the lord helps us fulfill our responsibilities when we do everything we possibly can
• birthday! yesterday was a normal "work" day, but i did get to celebrate a bit a lunch with our mamita, who was also celebrating her birthday the same day! we had a good old-fashioned chilean disco (a bunch of meat cooked in a hub-cap over a fire) and a ton of salads and fresh bread. needless to say, i ate way too much. it was great. i was also served dessert in 3 of the houses we visited. it was a little overwhelming, but i appreciated the gesture all the same. the funnest part was when we went on some swings that we found on the way to an appoinment, and the exercise equipment on the way home. 
• we saw several miracles this week, one of which is that people kept approaching us, giving us many opportunities to do contacts and lessons in the street. on sunday as we were sitting on a bench, getting ready to call our district leader with the numbers, someone on a bike came up to us to ask if we were lost. we told her no, then taught her about the plan of salvation. another time a man walked up next to us and started talking to us as we walked along, and starting asking us about the church, and we were able to teach him about the word of wisdom. those are just a couple of many examples from this week. it´s been amazing to see how the lord just puts people in our path, ready to hear about the gospel
• this week in my study i came across these verses that really stuck out to me: (sorry the formatting´s terrible)
• 1 nephi 17:50-51, 18:1-3
• 50 And I said unto them: ^aIf God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
•  51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot^ainstruct me, that I should build a ship?
• 1 And it came to pass that they did ^aworship the Lord, and did go forth with me; and we did work timbers of curious ^bworkmanship. And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ^cship.
•  2 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.
•  3 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did ^apray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord ^bshowed unto me ^cgreat things.

we really can do anything the lord wants us to if we turn to him and seek his help. through sincere prayer, he will instruct us in how to accomplish what he wants for us. 

sorry, ran out of time. love you lots! thanks for the birthday wishes. until next week!

hermana sophia wright (now 22 years old! vieja!)

July 9, 2012

¡hola mi querida familia!

as always my time to write is far too short, but i´ll fill you in on the most important events in my little missionary life down here in chile:

• we moved! we had to take most of the afternoon friday and saturday morning to get all of our things out of the old house and into the new, but we finally did it! our mission leader and another member helped us dissasemble and reassemble the beds, and fixed a few things in the new house, which was a HUGE help. on saturday the bishop and one of his counselors helped us with some of the finishing touches, and now we´re happily moved in, with our junk spread out chaotically all over the place...eventually we´ll have time to find a place for everything. 
• we had a multi-zone activity today, which consisted of soccer (as always) and a giant barbicue. there was wayyy too much meat involved, but it was super delicious. a few members lent us their grills and we did it at the chapel here in our sector, so at least we didn´t have to travel! also, since my birthday is next monday, hna nelson put a candle in my bread and made everyone sing me happy birthday. i wasn´t loving all the attention, but it was super nice of her to think of me and help celebrate my birthday! that´s the other thing, because it´s a holiday here in chile, i´ll actually be spending my birthday working as usual, and the next day we´ll be traveling to concepción for a meeting with the president in the mission home. i think at some point we´ll find a few minutes to celebrate, but it looks like it´ll be a busy week!
• one of our investigators is planning on getting baptized this week! eduardo, who´s been an investigator for years, has decided that he´s done waiting, and that he wants to get baptized this week. he still has some fears, but he said he´s ready to take the leap of faith and fulfill with another of god´s commandments. we´re SUPER excited for him, and look forward to helping him get everything all ready. woo hoo!
• not quite as monumental, but i heard a song from the group "aqua" when i was in the grocery store today. defnintely a blast from the past, as that was one of the first cd´s i bought...back in the 90´s! ahhh! it was super crazy.
• we got locked in our house on our way to church this week, and we had to hop the fence. in skirts. but luckily, basically every single chilean is asleep at that hour, so i don´t think we embarrassed ourselves too much. but it definitely was exciting, and we pretty much died laughing the rest of the way to church. the sacrifices we make to get ourselves to the chapel...haha

oh and just so you know, I LOVE THE MISSION! i LOVE being a missionary, with all of its ups and downs. i am truly coming to understand the reality of the phrase "i am a child of god" as i make an effort to obey his commandments with exactness, and experience the abundance of blessings that he is always waiting to give me. i know that my heavenly father is real and that he loved me enough to send his son to earth to pay for my sins, afflictions, and sorrows. every day i try to show my gratidude for his love and care, and do my best to deserve what he has in store for me. i love this gospel, and am grateful that the lord has put you all in my life. i´m so blessed! thank you for your love and support. 

out of time! until next week (still not sure what day, but i´ll figure something out!

hermanita wright

July 3, 2012

hello family!

big suprise!....i have only a few minutes to write. here are a few hilights:

• while walking in the streets, a college aged boy yelled at us "i love jesus" in english. i wish i could say that it was the first time this has happened...
• we`re moving! we should be finishing up the whole process this week, so i`ll write more next monday.
• francisco, one of our long-term investigators (since january or febuary, off and on) finally came to church! he always said that he wanted to but becuase he is in a wheelchair and normally works on sunday mornings, he usually would say that he just couldn´t make it. we were initially pretty discouraged when none of our investigators showed up for sacrament meeting after we`d called them and went to their houses to look for them, but about 15 minutes into the meeting, we looked over to see a member helping francisco into the sacrament meeting room and helped him find a seat! it was such an unexpected miracle! and he even stayed for all three hours! he told us that he had been working in the morning, when all of a sudden he felt the need to go to church, so he got himself ready and made his way for the chapel! it was awesome! 
• a couple of our investigators have been so excited about what they`re learning about the gospel that they`ve started sharing with their families (who live outside of our sector so we can`t really teach them). daniela, who`s 21 and is dating a less-active member, said that she loved so much what she was reading in the book of mormon and in the pamphlets, and she wanted her father to feel the same way she did, so she showed him her pamphlets and started teaching him out of the book of mormon, and now he wants his own copy to read too! also, with another investigator, yasna, when we showed her the restoration video, she asked if she could borrow it to show to her parents over the weekend, and if she could bring her little brother to a lesson so he could start learning too! it is so great to see how the gospel can just fill a person up to the point where they want to share it with everyone they truly care about. 
• scripture of the week:
•  Ether 12:4
•  Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with <sup>a</sup>surety <sup>b</sup>hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which<sup>c</sup>hope cometh of <sup>d</sup>faith, maketh an <sup>e</sup>anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in<sup>f</sup>good works, being led to <sup>g</sup>glorify God.
• we shared this scripture a lot this week. i love the emphasis on hope and faith. that those who truly have faith and believe in god, in who he is and what he can do, will have hope in a better world to come, which will lead us to do good and give thanks to god in all things. when we`re truly converted and understand the nature of our heavenly father, we trust in his plan for us and are hopeful for the future of what we can become with his help. greats scripture.

out of time. but lots of love and prayers from a little sister missionary in chile! i promise i`m doing my best to make this time in the mission count, and i hope that you all are diong your part to progress in the gospel and to develop charity in your daily lives to help those around you feel the love our savior has for them. 

besitos!

hna wright 

June 25, 2012

the training continues! on tuesday hna alanis and i took a bus to concepcion (about 5 hours north) so i could meet up with the new hermana in the house of the mission president. we had to leave the station at 6:30 am, but the trip was really cofortable becuase the seats recline, and hna alanis brought a huge blanket, so we at least got to sleep a few hours on the way. when we finally arrived we had to wait a bit for the noobies to arrive, and we had a little training from the assistants, even though i was the only one there who´d never trained before. after that the new missionaries showed up and i got to meet my hija! my "daughter´s" name is hna nelson, and she´s from riverton utah. she´s 23 and graduated from utah state university in communications. she was only in the mtc for 2 1/2 weeks because she already speaks spanish (her dad was a mission president in el salvador) so she´s SUPER fresh as a missionary, but she´s great becuase she already has such a strong desire to work and to use time effectively, plus she can already speak the language! of course, it´s a little rough at first because it´s such a huge adjustment to be thrown into a new country with such little experience as a missionary, but we´re working through the kinks and i´m already looking forward to a better week. training is definitely difficult though becuase your companion depends on you for pretty much everything, whether they want to or not. i´ve never been senior companion before, and i´ve definitely noticed the difference. there´s this sense of responsibility not only for the success of the sector, but now for my new companion: to make sure that she is learning and progressing and enjoying her experiences as a missionary. it´s a LOT of work, but i´m enjoying the challenge so far. it´s definitely an opportunity to forget about yourself and get lost in the work and in serving others.

our most exciting experience of the week: we got lost. terribly, terribly lost. the thing is, one of the elders from the office in concepción sent hna nelson something, and it arrived here in temuco in "chile express" which is basically UPS here. so when we went to go pick it up, we walked in the direction of the address, but it was taking a bit longer than expected...so we stoped in a store to ask someone. the told us that in about 15 minutes, after crossing a bridge or two, we´d find it on the right side of the road...ok. off we went. (in the rain). we walked, and walked, and wiped the rain off our faces, and walked some more. we crossed not one, but two bridges, when we were pretty sure that we´d been led astray. we stopped at a gas station to ask for some help, and luckily they told us we were close, just 5 or 6 minutes more. phew. we trudged on a bit further until we FINALLY found our chile express! it had been AN HOUR since we´d left our house! we knocked on the door and told them we were looking for some mail, and the lady looked all confused. she asked for the address that we were looking for, and when we told her, she couldn´t help but start to laugh in a somewhat sympathetic way. "chicillas, i´m so sorry, but you´re at the chile express in the southern entrance of temuco...you want the northern chile express, which is about 30 min north in micro..." we´d walked not only outside of our sector, but almost to a different zone entirely! more than an hour away! oops. we left the office only a little humiliated, as we made our way in micro to the other end of temuco. apparently when we went looking for the chile express and asked for directions, they assumed that we were trying to go more south, but no. FINALLY we got to where we wanted to go, then had to take another TWO micros back to our sector. it was crazy, but definitely a memorable adventure. i felt SO bad, but we´d asked like THREE people for directions, and they all led us astray! (although unintentionally) needless to say, i managed to welcome my new companion to the country by getting us lost for a couple hours, wandering around chile on foot in the rain, and on about 4 different micros. it was an exciting trip! but at least i found out that i can get myself "unlost" in a foreign country!

time´s up for this week, but i want you to know that i´m happy, healthy, and working hard. i love the lord and am so grateful that he trusts me to help bring this gospel to his children here in chile. it isn´t easy-i always come home completely exhausted-but i can see changes in myself and know that my life after the mission will most definitely not be the same because of what i´m learning here. i hope that you, my family and great friends, are working hard as well to progress little by little every day towards your goals, and that you are conciously involving the lord in all you do. 

con amor,

hna wright

June 18, 2012

BIG NEWS!!!!! we have cambios tomorrow, and I´M GIONG TO BE A TRAINER!!!! ahhh!!! this means that there´s a scared little sister missionary currently on her way to chile, and i´ll be with her for the next 12 weeks, teaching her how to be a missionary and fall in love with chile like i have. i can´t believe it! the group of missionaries coming into the field this cambio is really small, so i´ll actually be the only hermana chosen to train this time around. all i know about my "hija" (daughter, in missionary terminology) is that her name is hna nelson, and she speaks a little spanish because her parents served a mission in mexico and she lived with them. apparently she was supposed to be in the mtc for the full 9 weeks, but because she could speak spanish, they let her leave early! woo hoo! this means that tomorrow i need to be at the mission home in concepción with president and his family to pick her up and bring her with me to temuco. so crazy. i have to be there by 11, so i need to leave here at 6am! not really looking forward to that part. but i really am excited to meet her and for the opportunity to help a new missionary get on her feet here in chile. it´s huge responsibility, and i know that a lot of times i´m not going to know exactly what i´m diong, but i know that with lots of prayer and patience, we´ll get along just fine. it´s just so weird to think that i´ll be here in this sector until the beginning of SEPTEMBER! meaning that i´ll reach my 1/2 way mark here with my hija...ah! yep, still adjusting to the idea of it all, but i´m excited. 

i seriously love being a missionary. i know that i won´t be the same person when i get back. the lord is helping me see who he really needs me to be in order to better love and serve his other children, not only here in chile, but when i get back to the states as well. change is good. sometimes painful, but good all the same. 

got to run off to a lesson with eduardo and our ward mission leader, but i´ll let you know how everything goes next week!

hermana sophia wright

June 11, 2012

other fun facts (also known as "things i can share really quick because i´m short on time")

• my companion has dalmation pajamas. it´s actually a onsie. with a hood. with ears. i´ll try and steal a foto sometime and send it along, because it seriously makes me laugh every day!
• yesterday i accidentally asked someone if he was going to have problems "washing himself" the next day (lavarse instead of  levantarse...oops)
• i´m still loving christmas music, and i listen to it almost every day. i´ve also discovered more videos of the church, and my comp and i watch them every once in a while when we get ready
• i bought a calientacama, which is basically an electric blanket thing that goes under your sheets to warm up your bed. BEST investment of the mission so far. 
• i applied for my carnet (id card that says i´m a resident of chile) so basically once i go to pick it up in a couple weeks i´ll be CHILEAN! woo hoo!
• i have a new goal to take at least one foto every day, so hopefully i´ll have some more to show you next week!

i really am happy here. we are teaching a few really great people, and i am finding myself falling more and more in love with the chilean people. i love that i can share the gospel with them and help them understand that their heavenly father loves them, and that he sent his son jesus christ to the earth to pay for their sins, pains, sicknesses, and weaknesses. i know this is true with all my heart, and i get the most joy from being able to help others understand and appreciate it too.

until next week! love you!

hna wright

June 4, 2012

hello family!

i´m short on time, but i´ve got a bunch to fill you in on! i´ll try and type extra fast...

• 7  months in the mission!!! how crazy, on the 2nd i completed seven months as a missionary! also, it´s been 1 YEAR since i opened my mission call!!! honestly, i don´t believe it. the time goes by way too fast. 
• we have a TON of investigators! we have about 7 or 8 that are progressing right now, and are working towards baptism! it´s such a blessing to have so many people to teach the gospel to. 
• on sunday we met with a 15 year old girl names skarlett, who had read the pamphlet that we had left her about the restoration (twice), and as we went through the lesson she started quoting the first vision because it had made such an impression on her! we had asked her to read the introduction to the book of mormon as "homework", and it turns out that she´d read through 1 nefi 7, and when we asked her what she thought about it, she said she knew it was true becuase she´d prayed a lot to know and god had responded....!!!!! it was an incredible experience. she also came to church with us (all 3 hours!) and said that she knew that god loves her becuase she could feel it in the chapel. SO amazing. she has a baptismal date for the 23 of this month :) 
• also, we are meeting with daniel, who´s 21 and is dating an inactive member of our ward. she came to church with us  (also for all 3 hours!) and LOVED it. she has been looking for something to help fill an emptiness that she feels in her life, and she told us that she hopes that she can become part of the family she can see exists within the church. at the end of the gospel principles class, she volunteered to give the colsing prayer, in which she asked heavenly father to bless her to be able to have a testimony some day as powerful as those she had heard in sacrament meeting!!! she is so sweet, and i absolutely LOVE teaching her.
• we had interviews with president! it was such a power boost for me. i LOVE our mission president, every time he speaks, it is SO clear that he is inspired. in our interview, he shared with me a scripture:
• D&C 64:33-34
•  33 Wherefore, be not ^aweary in ^bwell-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of ^csmall things proceedeth that which is great.
• 34 Behold, the Lord ^arequireth the ^bheart and a ^cwilling mind; and the willing and ^dobedient shall ^eeat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.
• we can NEVER give up on doing the right thing, because the lord is counting on us to help him in his work

ahhh...out of time, but please remember this scripture, and that the lord puts his trust in those who are obiedient and willing to do his will.

love you mucho mucho,

hermana raid (sometimes i have to explain my last name this way so people have an idea of how to pronounce it...yep, hermana bug-killer...awesome...haha)