April 30, 2012

this is so weird...it´s getting harder and harder every week to transition into writing in english! it´s to the point where i´m almost always thinking in spanish and now i have to translate into english to write. crazy. so if i don´t make much sense or if you see spanish words every once in a while, it´s because i´m becoming chilena...no worries :)

life in the trio in temuco is going great. we had our baptism last weekend, and we´re working with a few investigators to prepare to be baptized in the next few weeks. we have cambios on the 7th, but i´m feeling like i´ll probably stay in temuco with one of my companions, and the other who´s been there for a few months already (hna hamblin) will leave for another sector. we´ll see! i´d be happy to stay where i am and get to know the sector even better, but i wouldn´t be too surprised if i left either, because you never really know with cambios...

at this point in the mission i really can see a big change in myself. i look back on my time in the mtc and remember feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, and insecure of my abilities. i was afraid to come to chile because i didn´t know what to expect here, and i feared that i wouldn´t be able to handle all that it would bring. over the last few months, however, the lord has helped me see that i am much more capable than i had thought, and not because i´m especially smart or talented, but because the lord  is qualifying me to do what he needs me to. i have felt a difference in my ability to converse with people that i don´t know, and my ability to share the gospel powerfully with everyone that i meet. these changes have definitely been the result of sincere prayer, and a change of heart that really is possible when we ask the lord for what we need with righteous desires. it´s become clear that the lord needs me to be obedient and filled with the spirit so i can help others feel the love that he has for his children here. and that´s something that i don´t want to have developed for the mission only.

the lord is depending on us to be obedient to what he asks so he can bless us with the spirit, so we can bless the lives of those around us and find true happiness ourselves. as we pray to him and ask for help, he can strengthen us and help us understand how to do what he asks of us, and help us recognize the blessings that come. i know that life as a missionary is different...don´t worry. i know that it´s different to be working, going to school, spending time with friends, and trying to find a balance with everything, but i promise that the lord has so much in store for you as you make time for him. he is waiting to bless you, but he can´t help you if you don´t seek him first, to be able to see his hand in your life.

SEARCH the lord and you´ll find him.

until next week!

love you!

hna wright

April 24, 2012

yep. i have a chilean little brother! i just love him. his name is cristian, he´s 17 years old, and he got baptized this weekend! he is SUCH a miracle. on wednesday he told us that he didn´t want to get baptized because it was just too hard, but we talked him through it and left him with a scripture in the book of mormon to read that night. when we saw him the next day, he had read it and felt the spirit, and knew that he needed to get baptized, even if it meant giving up the lifestyle that he´d been used to (the word of wisdom had been a big problem for him). we prayed and prayed and prayed some more for him, and the lord helped little cristian have confidence in himself, feel his love, and take the step of faith to get baptized to be able to receive the remission of his sins. there´s SO much more to the story, but just no time to tell it all. most importantly, cristian is happy, and has the holy ghost to help him as he goes into the military (today actually). but even MORE exciting.....he alsohas the sacerdocio!! we didn´t think he´d be able to receive it before leaving, but the bishop made all of the arrangements, and he was able to be interviewed and set apart on sunday! it was so amazing to witness the change in him. (he was even wearing a white shirt, tie, and suit jacket that the bishop had given him!) THIS is why i´m here. THIS is why i´m serving a mission. so that people like cristian can be baptized and receive the gifts that the lord has waiting for them, but that depend on them taking action with faith in the savior and his atonement. 

we also have another baptism, eduardo,  planned for this weekend, and we´re all really excited for him!

oh! and i saw sergio again this week and he said he´d read the book of mormon from the beginning, with real intent, to finally know if it´s true and if he should get baptized. i´ll be praying super hard for him because i´ve already taught him everything i know-now it all depends on him and his willingness to do god´s will for him. 

ugh,wish i had more time to write, but writing president took me longer than expected. 

here are a few photos though from the baptism!

amor del sur,

hermanita wright

April 16, 2012

this week i had an especially entertaining contact...we knocked a door and began talking to the woman who answered, when out came what appeared to be her husband or some other male member of her family. we said hello to him and presented ourselves, and when we asked him his name as he was about to walk inside, he replied, ¨¡josé, pero no esmith!¨ or ¨joseph, but not smith!¨it was seriously so funny. he walked away after that and wouldn´t listen to us, so we just laughed, finished up the contact with the woman, and went on our way. i love the mission.

this week has been totally crazy. i´m pretty sure that´s not the first time i´ve said that on the mission, and i know it won´t be the last...

we are having cristian´s baptism THIS saturday...he had a little problem with the word of wisdom, so we pushed the baptism back, but now he´s doing so much better and we have no doubt he´ll be ready this weekend. at one point during the week he told us straight out that he didn´t want to get baptized; that it was just too hard to be good. man, that broke my heart. he´s had some really negative experiences in his life growing up, and he really hasn´t had that many good examples to follow, so it´s hard for him to recognize his own potential. that was a really sad lesson for us, but we just poured out our hearts and testified of the power of the atonement to heal and be changed through our savior, and he agreed to see us the next day. when we came back, he was completely different. he apologized for what he´d said, and after talking about what we´d left for him to read in the book of mormon, he told us that he really wanted to get baptized. he wants to be forgiven of his past. he wants the holy ghost so he can feel peace and be better able to understand and apply the scriptures. he wants to accept the sacrifice of the savior. we´re so happy for our little cristian. he´ll be entering the army a few days after his baptism, but we´re in the process of getting in contact with his ward there so they can know that he´s coming, and get him the priesthood! things will be hard for him, but he can do it with the lord´s help. 

sorry i don´t have time to share more, but you all should know that i really am seeing miracles here. the lord loves us, and he hears and answers our prayers. i have seen it in my own life, and in those of my investigators. pray to him and you´ll know he´s there. 

love you :)

hna wright

April 9, 2012

yep. the fleas are back. with a vengeance. the other day i counted more than 20 bites on my hands and wrists. it{s pretty gross. but life goes on!

this week was bacan! "the trio" is doing great things! we are going to have a baptism this week! his name is cristian, and he´s 17. he´ll be entering the military in a few weeks, but he wants to get baptized and get the priesthood before he leaves. we´re really excited for him. also, we met with SERGIO! oh man, it was so good to see him again. i really do feel like he´s my little brother. we had a short lesson with him in the plaza/park across from his house, and we talked about ether 12 - faith and miracles. with us he learned that miracles are extraordinary events, and are part of the gospel of jesus christ. i shared with him that it truly was a miraclethat i was there teaching him. i was supposed to stay in victoria, but because of  a last minute change i was able to come to temuco, and of all the places i could go in the mission, i ended up within 15 minutes walking distance from him. NOT a coincidence. the spirit was SO strong, and he said that he would pray and ask what it is that god wants him to do, and that if god tells him to get baptized, he´ll do it. the great thing is, god WILL help him realize that baptism is the only way he can accept the atonement of christ and receive the holy ghost. we{re seeing him again tonight and i´m of course very excited.

bummer, out of time. but at least you´ve got a bunch of photos to look at! i love love love you, and hope that you´ll take time this week to watch a conference talk or two, and make an effort to apply the teaching of our modern profet and his apostles. i know that as i´ve read my notes and prayed about the messages, i´ve received some really special personal revelation. the same can happen for you :)

con mucho amor,

hna wright

April 2, 2012

boo...this computer won´t recognize my camera and i don´t have time to mess with it and figure it out, so i think it´s going to have to wait till next week again...SUCH a bummer because i have a ton of great things to show you (the baptism, my last days in victoria, the victoria house and my new house, my new companions, etc.) next week i guess...

so much to say! first of all, i´m in my new sector, and it´s HUGE! we´re really right in the center of the city, and it´s 100% different from my last sector. it´s so weird because there are a bunch of universities and big companies and huge buildings everywhere, and i just feel so small, but strangely enough, i really like it. i like the excitement of it all, and the fact that there is always someone around to talk to, and so much work to be done. my two companions, hna hamblin and hna mccleeve are both great, and we´re figuring out how to make this whole trio thing work. it´s a little tricky with making sure that our lessons are balanced, and that we really make sure that everyone´s voice is heard, but it´s getting better and i´m really loving it. i like that i have this chance to learn from two companions at once, both of which have more experience than i do in the mission and are helping me see things from a different perspective.

one thing that´s been a little crazy though is that we have to look for a new house, because the three of us don´t really fit in the one we have! the apartment is SO tiny. seriously, smaller than any studio apartment i´ve ever seen. i´ll send fotos next time for sure, cause it´s pretty incredible that we haven´t already gone crazy in such a small space...haha. it´s an adventure. but house hunting just means that we have less time to do "real" missionary work, but we´re doing our best and know that the lord will accept our efforts.

wasn´t general conference SO inspiring?! i watched all but one of the sessions in english (i saw the sunday am session in spanish because we had an investigator with us) in a little room in the chapel with the other english-speaking missionaries. i learned so much that i don´t even know where to start...but one thing i did notice were the themes of refraining from judgement, the importance of forgiving, the necessity of trials in our eternal progression, the importance of raising children through righteous example, and of course, the savior´s infinite love and saving atonement. one thing i really loved that elder cook said was that our active study of the scriptures will determine our ability to narrow the distance among ourselves and the heavens. how cool is that?! i completely agree though. i have felt closer to my heavenly father than ever before as i´ve devoted time to an active study of the scriptures. heavenly father is just waiting to pour out blessings, and when we study the scriptures we show our willingness to obey and our desire to receive them. i love the scriptures :)

almost forgot! we found sergio! we met with him in a park by his house last night, and we have another cita with him tonight! we´re going to talk to him about the importance of having a testimony of the book of mormon, and challenge him again to be prepare to be baptized! i can´t believe that i get to teach sergio again. SUCH a miracle. but i´m out of time so i´ll have to tell you how it goes next week!

sorry, gotta go, but i think of you every day (but not too much...don´t want to get trunky! haha) and pray for you always. my greatest hope is that you are dedicating time to the lord every day, so you can recognize and feel  the influence of his arm that is always lovingly extended toward you. ¡que estèn bien!

hna wright

also, sorry i haven´t had time for individual letters...with cambios and all of the things that go on in mission life, i´m struggling to make time for it, but it´s a goal for this cambio so i´ll be sure to send some more out in the next couple months! woo hoo!