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)

May 22, 2012

fotos: stick figures on a sign for the mall...not so twiggy. - my companions and i (last cambio) with our mamita and her son, jacob

hola famila!

once again, i have zero time. i had to organize a bunch of photos onto a dvd and that took up a bunch of my internet time. sooo, here come the bullet points:

 

first of all, i don´thave pulgas. we used some flea killer stuff and it finally worked. yay!

my comp an i are teaching recent converts that are mute and deaf, and it´s the coolestexperience. their sister is a member, and she ¨translates¨for us as we try to teach with pictures and our own made-up signs to help them understand. it really is a special experience. raquel surprised us when she pointed to a picture of the golden plates, then went and found her book of mormon, making the connection that the book of mormon came from the plates! it was incredible. i love that the spirit has the power to overcome what otherwise would be obstacles to one´s personal progress!

our ward mission leader, boris, got his mission call! he´s going to be serving in argentina, buenos aires west, and we´re super excited for him. the only bummer is that the ward will be losing him as an EXCELLENT mission leader...so we´ve already started looking for someone who could start coming to the meetings and be ready to replace him. he´s going to be such a good missionary, especially with all of the interaction he´s had with us missionaries for months. oh and the crazy part, he´s a recent convert! he´ll complete a year as a member next month! 

a bunch of students from the universidad católica here in temuco have been showing up at the chapel because the university requires that they investigate a religion, and many have chosen the lds church! it´s been really interesting talking with them and giving them tours of the chapel...i feel like a visitor´s center sister! most of them just want to do an interview and take photos, but we have turned it into tours, finishing in the sacrament room to share our testimonies. it´s been a powerful experience. 

this week was branch conference! i got to sing again with my companion, two sisters from the ward, and one of the hermanos from another ward who has an excellent voice. 

• one thing that the stake president mentioned really struck me. he talked about what it meant to be a true disciple of christ. one of the qualities was that a true disciple lives the gospel in their homes, rather than just go to church every sunday and call it good.in the guide to the scriptures (in the spanish book of mormon) it says that ¨the home should be the center of family activity and of the gospel¨ this made me think of when the savior came to visit his children in the americas. when they were unable to comprehend everything that he´d been teaching them, he told them to meditate it in their homes:
• 2 nephi 17:1-3
• 1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my ^atime is at hand.
• 2 I ^aperceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot ^bunderstand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
•  3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ^aponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and ^bprepare your minds for the ^cmorrow, and I come unto you again.
• our homes should be a refuge from the world, where we can feel safe experience progress personally and as a family. please keep this in mind this week: make your home a haven-a place where the spirit really can dwell.

out of time for this week.  but i´m happy, healthy, and working hard. i love the mission and this gospel. i will return a different person than when i left, and for that i´m very grateful. thank you for your love and support.

con amor,
hna wright 

May 14, 2012

i`m a terrible person. i spent forever writing president today, so i`ve got literally 4 minutes to fill you in on mission life here in chile. this of course, is impossible, so i`m just going to leave  you with a scripture that i came across this week in my study, and make sure to be much much much more thorough next week :)

1 nefi 7:8-13

8 And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore I spake unto them, saying, yea, even unto Laman and unto Lemuel: Behold ye are mine elder brethren, and how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds, that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?
 9 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?
 10 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?
 11 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record?
 12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.
 13 And if it so be that we are faithful to him, we shall obtain the land of promise; and ye shall know at some future period that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; for all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem must be fulfilled.
sometimes we feel overwhelmed with all that we have to do every day, and the responsibility we feel to complete with commitments that we forget that we have GOD as our heavenly father, and he is there to help us in every step of the way. sometimes we (myself included) get frustrated with things we have to do that we don`t feel like are really our responsibility, but the lord is trusting us to step up and do what he asks, even if we are the less-experienced, "younger brothers" of the situation. he is counting on us to be examples of the believers in every moment.

if we are faithful and remember the savior, we will obtain "the land of promise" which really consists of every promise the lord makes to you individually when you do what he asks of you. the blessings he has awaiting each of us are unimaginable, if we simply follow him in faith and always remember his love for us individually as his children.

take care, and know that i love and appreciate every one of you!

que estèn bien!

hna wright

May 7, 2012

we have cambios (transfers) this week! .....i´m staying here in temuco! both of my companions are leaving for other sectors, but i´ll be here for another 6 weeks (at least). i´m super excited to be staying though because i love the area and the ward is excellent. the members are super willing to help, and all have a lot of enthusiasm for missionary work. i feel really blessed to be here and to keep working with them. also, my new companion is CHILEAN! her name is hna alanis, and she´s from santiago. she goes home in september, so she´s one of the oldest sister missionaries in the mission. i´m SO excited to have a latina companion, especially one from chile because i´ll be able to progress a ton in my spanish and learn more about the culture so i don´t accidentally offend anyone...what´s really cool is that she speaks english too! she learned it in school when she was younger, and has practiced a lot here in the mission. i´m really looking forward to getting to know her better and working with her here in temuco. it´ll be sad to see my other companions go though, and to be left with only 1 again will be so weird!

i{m running out of time, so i´ll just share one experience from this week. one of our progressing investigators, eduardo (we´ve been teaching him for the past 2months) had a breakthrough this past week. we had put a fecha with him before, but he kept saying that he just wasn´t ready. we couldn´t figure out what his real doubt was, but we´ve been super patient because we can see that the lord is preparing him, just a little more slowly than others. but the other day in a lesson he understood for the first time in his life that christ is his savior, that he paid for his sins, and because of that, he can know that the savior truly loves and understands him. it was such a special experience this with him. he´s progressing little by little, but that was really a miracle for him to finally understand with his heart the meaning of the atonement for him personally. i love being a missionary!

gotta go!

love you :)