so, here i am again with zero time to write, and WAY to much to say (our zone activity went long again today). so here are a few highlights to hold you over till next week:
-zone activity: we had a mexican fiesta! ok so sort of...we ate some mexican food at least! we cooked tortillas with chicken, guacamole, salsa, and tomatoes. it was sooooo delicious. it was funny how much it reminded me of home, because i´m not even mexican, but still...it was a taste that i haven´t had at all since i´ve been here. then we had homemade cookies (with peanut butter m&ms!!!) and ice cream. i was very happy. the bummer is that this was our last zone activity together! we´ve really become a family, so it´ll be really hard to leave and start over in another zone, but i´m sure it´ll be great too.
-changes: i´m leaving my sector for temuco, a sector about an hour to the south! i´ll be in the center of a big city (it really does remind me of boston in how busy it is with all of the cars and the noise and tons of university students). also, i´ll be in a TRIO! there´s an odd number of hermanas for now, so there´ll be 3 of us in one tiny, tiny house in the city (i´ll have to send photos next week, cause it´s seriously SO small) this was all VERY unexpected, because my companion had found out she was leaving, which typically means that the other one stays, but NOPE! we are both leaving the sector so another hermana can train her new companion here in tolhuaca. which also means that we have to leave tons of notes and instructions and make sure everything in the house is ready for the new hermanas because everything will be new to them (like it was for my comp and i when we opened the secor 3 months ago!) super uncommon, but that seems to be how things go so far in my mission experience, so it works for me. it is sad though because i just hadn´t been preparing myself emotionally to be leaving, so it´s all really abrupt. but the baptism really was the best way to leave the sector.
-interesting side-note: the sector that i´m going to just happens to be where SERGIO is going to university!! yep, i´m following my very first investigator to college! i´m super excited to be able to contact him again and help him continue to progress.
-oh yeah, so...I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!! actually, we baptized TWO jovenes (youth? young ones? haha don´t know how to translate). john and carlos were baptized and confirmed right after church today, and it was so so so so so great. the service went really well, with lots of participation from the members, and i got to sing too! hna miller and i were a little nervous because we are both leaving right after they got baptized, but with all of the help and support we saw from the members, we know that they will be well taken care of. one of the best parts of the baptism was when the grandma (who was sealed in the temple, but has been inactive for several years) got up unexpectedly at the end and started balling as she bore her testimony that her and her husband were going to return to the church because they were able to feel the spirit so strong at the baptism of their grandkids, and were reminded of why they were baptized in the first place. it was a really sweet experience. i was so proud of the work that hna miller and i did to prepare these boys for baptism, but even more that we were able to help reactivate an entire family! such a blessing from heavenly father. (my companion has my camera right now with the photos of the baptism, and i´ve got to get off the computer, so the photos will have to wait till next week. sorry!)
lots of love :)
hna wright
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
March 19, 2012
so, i´m having camera issues and accidentally deleted some of the photos that i was going to send today....not too happy about that. for some reason my memory card is filling up with only like 6 pictures and a video on it and i don´t know how to fix it. any ideas?
anyway, hello familia and friends!
life is good! we are going to have a baptism this sunday! it´s seriously such a miracle. we found carlos (14) and john (10) through their grandparents who are less-active members that we visited regularly for about the first month that i was here in chile, but the grandparents weren´t progressing, so we had to stop visiting them as frequently. one of the times we were there though, we met their daughter maria (also a less-active member), and grandkids john and carlos (non-members), and we had a short lesson with them about the restoration and the book of mormon, and gave carlos a book of mormon to begin reading on his own. they were pretty receptive, but every time we went back to try and find them, they weren´t there! long story short, they showed up at church with their mom a couple weeks ago, and she wants to completely reactivate in the church and have her sons baptized! naturally, we were pretty excited to hear that! we´ve been teaching both of them pretty much every day since, and it´s so exciting to see not only carlos and john learn about the gospel, but also that their mom can have this opportunity to remember why she got baptized, and why it´s so important that she return to the church and be the faithful example that her family needs. this baptism is seriously SUCH a miracle, especially since it is the last chance hna miller and i will have to baptize together because cambios (changes - this word has become completely integrated into my vocab...it took me a second to realize that i should probably translate it just in case...haha) coming up on the 27th!! we´re not completely sure of what will happen with hna miller and i this cambio, but since i´ve finished my training it´s likely that i´ll stay here for at least another 6 weeks, and she´ll go to another sector. BUT, we never know. we get the call on saturday though so i´ll be able to write about it next week! it´s just so weird not to know where i´ll be living next week....that´s the mission for you!
i got to do an intercambio (divisions, splits? not really sure in english) this week with another hermana further south! it was a really great experience because i got to see how another hermana works and learn from her example. i also learned a valuable lesson while i was with her: BE BOLD! even though i was in an unfamiliar sector with a companion that i didn´t know all that well, i felt comfortable because i know that the message we´re sharing is true, and because i´ve learned a lot in the last 12 weeks about how to be an effective missionary, and i felt prepared to go out and teach and love and invite people to christ! overall i came away from the experience with a renewed motivation to make my presence known as a representative of christ and his church, because this is his time, i can´t waste it by being timid. as my training wraps up, i´ve had to take more of the initiative in pretty much all aspects of the companionship: in teaching, managing the phone, guiding us from appointment to appointment, making daily and weekly plans, and interacting with the members. so yeah, basically everything...haha. it was a little overwhelming to have to take a step up this week and take more of the initiative, but it really helped me rely on and my companion, but more importantly, on the lord as a support, and realize that i really can do anything with his help.i may be one small little sister missionary wandering the streets of a tiny town in chile, but i carry with me a message that has changed the world, and that is changing the people that interact with on a daily basis. these chileans are depending on me, whether they know it or not! so although at times i feel a little overwhelmed and inadequate, i know that the lord is qualifying me more and more every day as i make my best effort to be obedient, diligent, and faithful, trusting in him completely.
oh, funny story real quick: we were walking down a small street of houses the other day with a member who had accompanied us to a visit, when we walked past a group of younger boys (pre-teenish) outside their house. my companion was talking to the member so she didn´t really hear, but they started shouting to us after we walked by, "HELLO!...YES! RED!" clearly, the expanse of their english vocabulary is a little less than impressive, but it was still really entertaining.
finally, since i´m a missionary and can´t end without a scripture, i was really hit this week by d&c 101:16
"therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that i am god"
when times are crazy, when you´re stressed out, when you think you can´t do it, be still. trust in god and his plan for you. you´re in you´re heavenly father´s hands.
love,
hermanita wright
anyway, hello familia and friends!
life is good! we are going to have a baptism this sunday! it´s seriously such a miracle. we found carlos (14) and john (10) through their grandparents who are less-active members that we visited regularly for about the first month that i was here in chile, but the grandparents weren´t progressing, so we had to stop visiting them as frequently. one of the times we were there though, we met their daughter maria (also a less-active member), and grandkids john and carlos (non-members), and we had a short lesson with them about the restoration and the book of mormon, and gave carlos a book of mormon to begin reading on his own. they were pretty receptive, but every time we went back to try and find them, they weren´t there! long story short, they showed up at church with their mom a couple weeks ago, and she wants to completely reactivate in the church and have her sons baptized! naturally, we were pretty excited to hear that! we´ve been teaching both of them pretty much every day since, and it´s so exciting to see not only carlos and john learn about the gospel, but also that their mom can have this opportunity to remember why she got baptized, and why it´s so important that she return to the church and be the faithful example that her family needs. this baptism is seriously SUCH a miracle, especially since it is the last chance hna miller and i will have to baptize together because cambios (changes - this word has become completely integrated into my vocab...it took me a second to realize that i should probably translate it just in case...haha) coming up on the 27th!! we´re not completely sure of what will happen with hna miller and i this cambio, but since i´ve finished my training it´s likely that i´ll stay here for at least another 6 weeks, and she´ll go to another sector. BUT, we never know. we get the call on saturday though so i´ll be able to write about it next week! it´s just so weird not to know where i´ll be living next week....that´s the mission for you!
i got to do an intercambio (divisions, splits? not really sure in english) this week with another hermana further south! it was a really great experience because i got to see how another hermana works and learn from her example. i also learned a valuable lesson while i was with her: BE BOLD! even though i was in an unfamiliar sector with a companion that i didn´t know all that well, i felt comfortable because i know that the message we´re sharing is true, and because i´ve learned a lot in the last 12 weeks about how to be an effective missionary, and i felt prepared to go out and teach and love and invite people to christ! overall i came away from the experience with a renewed motivation to make my presence known as a representative of christ and his church, because this is his time, i can´t waste it by being timid. as my training wraps up, i´ve had to take more of the initiative in pretty much all aspects of the companionship: in teaching, managing the phone, guiding us from appointment to appointment, making daily and weekly plans, and interacting with the members. so yeah, basically everything...haha. it was a little overwhelming to have to take a step up this week and take more of the initiative, but it really helped me rely on and my companion, but more importantly, on the lord as a support, and realize that i really can do anything with his help.i may be one small little sister missionary wandering the streets of a tiny town in chile, but i carry with me a message that has changed the world, and that is changing the people that interact with on a daily basis. these chileans are depending on me, whether they know it or not! so although at times i feel a little overwhelmed and inadequate, i know that the lord is qualifying me more and more every day as i make my best effort to be obedient, diligent, and faithful, trusting in him completely.
oh, funny story real quick: we were walking down a small street of houses the other day with a member who had accompanied us to a visit, when we walked past a group of younger boys (pre-teenish) outside their house. my companion was talking to the member so she didn´t really hear, but they started shouting to us after we walked by, "HELLO!...YES! RED!" clearly, the expanse of their english vocabulary is a little less than impressive, but it was still really entertaining.
finally, since i´m a missionary and can´t end without a scripture, i was really hit this week by d&c 101:16
"therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that i am god"
when times are crazy, when you´re stressed out, when you think you can´t do it, be still. trust in god and his plan for you. you´re in you´re heavenly father´s hands.
love,
hermanita wright
Monday, March 12, 2012
March 12, 2012
our activity went a little long today, so i only have a few minutes left to write, and no time to attach photos :( but i will for sure next week. we were invited to another disco at a member´s house across the railroad tracks, and we ended up teaching a really great lesson about how god is our loving heavenly father, and it was super powerful because there was a young man who is going through some seriouss struggles, and we were able to pray together and bring him some comfort.
other than that, i have fleas. actually, i´ve had fleas for weeks. NOT a fun experience, but apparently it´s super common, at least among all of the sister missionaries. every time i see a dog scratching themself in the street now, i just say to them in spanish, "i feel your pain". it´s embarrassing, yes, but such is the life of a missionary...haha. actually, i´ve come to the point where pride really just has to go out the window. there´s no room for it in the mission, and really no room for it in life in general!
something i learned in my personal study this week (i´ve been reading the talk "beware of pride" by president ezra taft benson - it´s excellent!)
-pride is putting your will against god´s, hardening your heart and refusing (whether consciously or not)his guidance and direction
-some manifestations of pride:
--to compare yourself to another - distances us from being able to love others as god would want us to in order to be happy
--withholding gratitude or praise for others (denying the promptings of the spirit that)
--withholding forgiveness and justifying yourself in your actions
--defensiveness - withholding your heart, making it difficult for you to recognize and feel the love of others, including the lord
-pride is UGLY, and overall just a waste of time and energy!
-love god, fear HIS judgement (not that of others), and do HIS will (not your own)!
these are only a few of the things that i felt were important to me, and i´m still not done with the talk becuase i´ve been studying all of the scriptures that he cites as well. i really want you all to search for the talk on www.lds .org and read it for yourself. i´ve really learned a lot about the need to be humble, and recognized a lot of things within myself that i´m going to change becuase of the personal revelation i received while studying this talk.
yikes, time to go, but i´ll have more time next week to fill you in on more details of a day in the life of hna wright :)
¡me voy! (people say this to us all the time. it literally means "i´m going" so we´ll be talking to someone and they´ll just say in the middle of the conversation "yeah,í´m leaving" and walk away. it´s so funny, but super common! haha i love chileans. so honest...)
lots of love,
hna wright
other than that, i have fleas. actually, i´ve had fleas for weeks. NOT a fun experience, but apparently it´s super common, at least among all of the sister missionaries. every time i see a dog scratching themself in the street now, i just say to them in spanish, "i feel your pain". it´s embarrassing, yes, but such is the life of a missionary...haha. actually, i´ve come to the point where pride really just has to go out the window. there´s no room for it in the mission, and really no room for it in life in general!
something i learned in my personal study this week (i´ve been reading the talk "beware of pride" by president ezra taft benson - it´s excellent!)
-pride is putting your will against god´s, hardening your heart and refusing (whether consciously or not)his guidance and direction
-some manifestations of pride:
--to compare yourself to another - distances us from being able to love others as god would want us to in order to be happy
--withholding gratitude or praise for others (denying the promptings of the spirit that)
--withholding forgiveness and justifying yourself in your actions
--defensiveness - withholding your heart, making it difficult for you to recognize and feel the love of others, including the lord
-pride is UGLY, and overall just a waste of time and energy!
-love god, fear HIS judgement (not that of others), and do HIS will (not your own)!
these are only a few of the things that i felt were important to me, and i´m still not done with the talk becuase i´ve been studying all of the scriptures that he cites as well. i really want you all to search for the talk on www.lds .org and read it for yourself. i´ve really learned a lot about the need to be humble, and recognized a lot of things within myself that i´m going to change becuase of the personal revelation i received while studying this talk.
yikes, time to go, but i´ll have more time next week to fill you in on more details of a day in the life of hna wright :)
¡me voy! (people say this to us all the time. it literally means "i´m going" so we´ll be talking to someone and they´ll just say in the middle of the conversation "yeah,í´m leaving" and walk away. it´s so funny, but super common! haha i love chileans. so honest...)
lots of love,
hna wright
Monday, March 5, 2012
March 5, 2012
photo explanations: (they were all from the two-ward activity we had on friday. it was a talent show, then tour of the chapel, wrapped up with a dessert contest. it was a HUGE success! except for the fact that we forgot to buy spoons or bowls, so we had to run out to a party store in the middle of the talent show to buy them so people would be able to actually EAT the postres (desserts)...haha sometimes the details slip through the cracks...)
you guys, i´m such a missionary. every p-day i´m reminded how much i live and breath the gospel, because we take a break from our normal study/teaching schedule during the day to be able to take care of ourselves a little bit and prepare ourselves to work the rest of the week. but this means that i have one day a week to feel a little bit more like a "normal" person, and it´s so weird! i find that i´d be much more comfortable knocking on random people´s doors and pretty much inviting myself in to be able to teach them about christ. i can´t stop thinking about my investigators and how much i want to share with them the things i´m learning from the scriptures as i´ve studied for them. it´s not like the purpose of pday is to ignore your regular responsibilities, i just mean that having a different schedule that involves taking care of ME for a few hours has been more of an adjustment than i would have anticipated, because i just want to get out there and SERVE god´s children! man, being a missionary is so great.
other than the ward activity, nothing too exciting happened this week. we did travel up to concepcion for return and report with the mission president, which meant spending the night with 4 other hermanas the night before to be able to make it to the meeting on time in the morning, but the trip overall went really quick because the meeting itself was so short. it was nice to see president, as always, and i also got to see one of the elders from my district who is also in training further north in the mission. it was very reassuring to see a familiar face, and to know that things are going well for him in his sector.
i´m out of time for updates on daily life, but i did want to share with you something i learned this week. i was reading in the liahona from february, and i came across the talk "tender mercies of the lord" by elder bednar. IT IS SO GREAT! here´s a summary of the scriptures/quotes that stood out the most to me:
-juan 14:18, 21
"i will not leave you comfortless: i will come to you" - in the spanish translation, the word "comfortless" says instead "orphaned" which i actually like better because it reminds us of our relationship with the father, that he is our parent and will never leave us
"he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself unto him"
-elder bednar "one of the ways whereby the savior comes to each of s is through his abundant and tender mercies"
-salmos 145:9
"the lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works"
-elder bednar "tender mercies are the very personal and individual blessings, strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support, and gifts which we receive from and because of and through the lord jesus christ. truly, the lord suits his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men"
-back to juan 14:21
"he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."
-doctrine and covenants 11:20
"behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind, and strength."
-elder bednar "the father´s work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of his children (moses 1:39). our 2work is to keep his commandments with all of our heart, mind, and strength- and we thereby become chosen and, through the holy ghost, receive and recognize the tender mercies of the lord in our daily lives. may our hearts always be filled with the gratitude for his abundant and tender mercies."
-i love tender mercies! i can see that the lord has such a powerful influence in my life right now, and that he has his hand in everything i do. even in the moments when he is stretching and pulling me to help me change for the better, he´s always there, loving me unconditionally
out of time! love you all mucho mucho. so be good so we can all live in heaven together! haha i told you i´m totally a missionary...
-hermana wright
 |
| sergio! we had a ward activity this week, and sergio came because he was leaving for college the next day and wanted to be able to say goodbye! it was SO nice to be able to see him and spend a little time with him activity, but SUPER sad when we finally had to say goodbye, not knowing if we´ll ever see him again...not the funnest. but, overall i´m really happy that we got to know him in the first place, and the fact that he and hermana miller and i were able to become like family in such a short time, because we were always sharing about the gospel, the closest thing to our hearts. |
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| denisse, one of the less-active recent converts that we´ve been visiting and helping to get back to church |
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| me and a bunch of chileans...haha ok so technically my companion is gringa, but it really does look like a pic of me with all of my chilean friends! i love it. |
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| a photo of the stage-to get a better idea of what the talent part looked like |
 |
| the postres. yum. the elders made waffles with manjar (kind of a thick, caramel-like sauce that people always put on bread and things) and they were super popular cause people here never have waffles cause the machine is expensive. it was so funny because there were a ton of people there who had never had waffles before! and they say it like"wafflays" they´re so great haha (the waffles and the chileans!) |
other than the ward activity, nothing too exciting happened this week. we did travel up to concepcion for return and report with the mission president, which meant spending the night with 4 other hermanas the night before to be able to make it to the meeting on time in the morning, but the trip overall went really quick because the meeting itself was so short. it was nice to see president, as always, and i also got to see one of the elders from my district who is also in training further north in the mission. it was very reassuring to see a familiar face, and to know that things are going well for him in his sector.
i´m out of time for updates on daily life, but i did want to share with you something i learned this week. i was reading in the liahona from february, and i came across the talk "tender mercies of the lord" by elder bednar. IT IS SO GREAT! here´s a summary of the scriptures/quotes that stood out the most to me:
-juan 14:18, 21
"i will not leave you comfortless: i will come to you" - in the spanish translation, the word "comfortless" says instead "orphaned" which i actually like better because it reminds us of our relationship with the father, that he is our parent and will never leave us
"he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself unto him"
-elder bednar "one of the ways whereby the savior comes to each of s is through his abundant and tender mercies"
-salmos 145:9
"the lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works"
-elder bednar "tender mercies are the very personal and individual blessings, strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support, and gifts which we receive from and because of and through the lord jesus christ. truly, the lord suits his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men"
-back to juan 14:21
"he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."
-doctrine and covenants 11:20
"behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind, and strength."
-elder bednar "the father´s work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of his children (moses 1:39). our 2work is to keep his commandments with all of our heart, mind, and strength- and we thereby become chosen and, through the holy ghost, receive and recognize the tender mercies of the lord in our daily lives. may our hearts always be filled with the gratitude for his abundant and tender mercies."
-i love tender mercies! i can see that the lord has such a powerful influence in my life right now, and that he has his hand in everything i do. even in the moments when he is stretching and pulling me to help me change for the better, he´s always there, loving me unconditionally
out of time! love you all mucho mucho. so be good so we can all live in heaven together! haha i told you i´m totally a missionary...
-hermana wright
Monday, February 27, 2012
February 27, 2012
hola mi querida familia! and everyone else that cares enough about me to read this email :)
first of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAIL! i forgot that i only get to write once a week, and that if i wanted to wish you a happy birthday last wednesday, i would have had to do it the monday BEFORE, not after. sorry about that! but i want you to know that my companion and i celebrated it all the same! it just so happens that her brother was getting married on the 22nd also, so we bought a special treat and celebrated that night after planning! i hope you had as much fun on your birthday as we did!
on to news of this week. how to describe it...emotional maybe? i feel like such a girl saying that, but it´s true. the life of a missionary is filled with SO many emotions: excitement at the thought of someone getting baptized, discouragement and sorrow when they make the decision not to or don´t keep their commitments with the Lord to read the scriptures or attend church or pray, frustration with the language and with one´s own inability to help others understand the message of the gospel, hopeful with the knowledge that the Lord will always fulfill his promises to the faithful, preoccupied with thoughts of the welfare of those contacted in the streets or in their homes, joyful when an investigator prays to their Heavenly Father for the very first time, grateful when a 70 year old man starts tearing up during the film on the Restoration because he can feel the spirit testifying to him that it´s true, overwhelmed at the thought of trying to help an entire town/sector receive the gospel in their lives and be baptized so they can receive eternal life in the presence of God, peaceful knowing that anything is possible with the help of the Lord (Luke 1:27 - at least i think tha´ts the reference)
so there´s a little summary of some of my feelings this week. always something new! more than anything though, i´m feeling grateful. grateful that i´m here, that the Lord trusts me enough to have called me to this work, and that each day he is at my side, helping me feel his love as i help others know their Savior and come unto him. i know that he´s qualifying me just a little bit more every day to be a more loving, obedient, and effective missionary. the process is just a little rough...but i wouldn´t have it any other way.
some updates:
-we met with sergio again this week and he told us he doesn´t want to get baptized. he doesn´t agree with the commandments of "the church" (he doesn´t understand that they´re not from the church, they´re from GOD) and that he doesn´t want to be a member of any church; that he can accept christ in his heart and try to live his teachings that are found in the bible. we did EVERYTHING to help him understand our love for him, and that this is the plan has for him, but ultimately it came down to his own agency, and he chose to stand by his decision to not be baptized into the church. hna miller and i were totally devastated because we just have SO much love for him, and know that he has SUCH great potential, but we know that he will be baptized somewhere down the road. he is SO close, and someday he will recognize that this is gospel is what will help fill the hole/space (can´t figure out how to translate "vacio" into english...haha) that he feels in his life. we´re sad, but still full of hope that this wasn´t sergio´s last chance to be baptized, and that when he is presented with the opportunity down the road, he´ll accept it, and tell hna miller and i all about it :)
-i sang a solo at a baptism! the zone leaders were holding a baptism for someone in another district, and asked me if i´d be willing to sing a special musical number. oh man. it was terrifying. i stood there in a room full of chileans (my comp said she´s personally never seen so many people at a baptism of someone in such a small branch) and sang "i need thee every hour" in spanish, a cappella. so scary, but i´m really glad i was able to help them out. i really do love singing, but that was still hard! a good experience though.
-the photo attached is from our "fun friday" with hot cocoa and crackers and jam, all ready to watch some mormon messages! i´m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is how i spend my friday nights now, but i´m totally loving it! haha
-i also wanted to share a really great talk with all of you. it´s from Elder Corbridge, one of the members of our mission area presidency (i´m forwarding it in another message). it talks about becoming the best missionary you can so that you can be a true disciple of Christ for the rest of your life, not just the 2 years (or 18 months!) you´re called to be a representative of the church. please read it and ponder what he says and read the scriptures that he refers to. it´s amazing. i love that the principles that he talks about refer to me as a person, not just as a missionary. for example, he talks about completely surrendering yourself to the lord; your WHOLE self, holding nothing back. in omni 1:26 it says "come unto (christ), and offer your whole souls as an offering to him...and endure to the end, and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved"
what a promise! give yourself to the lord and you will be saved! there´s no time to talk about everything i learned and felt when i studied this, but most of all i just felt the need to give the lord my heart. this means my desires, my thoughts, my everything. turn over my will to the lord, so he can bless me with the experiences i´ll need to be the kind of disciple he needs me to be.
well, that´s all for this week. i love you. i think of you often and feel so blessed to have so much support from friends and family. you´re the greatest :) have a great week and remember to put the lord first!
hna wright
first of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAIL! i forgot that i only get to write once a week, and that if i wanted to wish you a happy birthday last wednesday, i would have had to do it the monday BEFORE, not after. sorry about that! but i want you to know that my companion and i celebrated it all the same! it just so happens that her brother was getting married on the 22nd also, so we bought a special treat and celebrated that night after planning! i hope you had as much fun on your birthday as we did!
on to news of this week. how to describe it...emotional maybe? i feel like such a girl saying that, but it´s true. the life of a missionary is filled with SO many emotions: excitement at the thought of someone getting baptized, discouragement and sorrow when they make the decision not to or don´t keep their commitments with the Lord to read the scriptures or attend church or pray, frustration with the language and with one´s own inability to help others understand the message of the gospel, hopeful with the knowledge that the Lord will always fulfill his promises to the faithful, preoccupied with thoughts of the welfare of those contacted in the streets or in their homes, joyful when an investigator prays to their Heavenly Father for the very first time, grateful when a 70 year old man starts tearing up during the film on the Restoration because he can feel the spirit testifying to him that it´s true, overwhelmed at the thought of trying to help an entire town/sector receive the gospel in their lives and be baptized so they can receive eternal life in the presence of God, peaceful knowing that anything is possible with the help of the Lord (Luke 1:27 - at least i think tha´ts the reference)
so there´s a little summary of some of my feelings this week. always something new! more than anything though, i´m feeling grateful. grateful that i´m here, that the Lord trusts me enough to have called me to this work, and that each day he is at my side, helping me feel his love as i help others know their Savior and come unto him. i know that he´s qualifying me just a little bit more every day to be a more loving, obedient, and effective missionary. the process is just a little rough...but i wouldn´t have it any other way.
some updates:
-we met with sergio again this week and he told us he doesn´t want to get baptized. he doesn´t agree with the commandments of "the church" (he doesn´t understand that they´re not from the church, they´re from GOD) and that he doesn´t want to be a member of any church; that he can accept christ in his heart and try to live his teachings that are found in the bible. we did EVERYTHING to help him understand our love for him, and that this is the plan has for him, but ultimately it came down to his own agency, and he chose to stand by his decision to not be baptized into the church. hna miller and i were totally devastated because we just have SO much love for him, and know that he has SUCH great potential, but we know that he will be baptized somewhere down the road. he is SO close, and someday he will recognize that this is gospel is what will help fill the hole/space (can´t figure out how to translate "vacio" into english...haha) that he feels in his life. we´re sad, but still full of hope that this wasn´t sergio´s last chance to be baptized, and that when he is presented with the opportunity down the road, he´ll accept it, and tell hna miller and i all about it :)
-i sang a solo at a baptism! the zone leaders were holding a baptism for someone in another district, and asked me if i´d be willing to sing a special musical number. oh man. it was terrifying. i stood there in a room full of chileans (my comp said she´s personally never seen so many people at a baptism of someone in such a small branch) and sang "i need thee every hour" in spanish, a cappella. so scary, but i´m really glad i was able to help them out. i really do love singing, but that was still hard! a good experience though.
-the photo attached is from our "fun friday" with hot cocoa and crackers and jam, all ready to watch some mormon messages! i´m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this is how i spend my friday nights now, but i´m totally loving it! haha
what a promise! give yourself to the lord and you will be saved! there´s no time to talk about everything i learned and felt when i studied this, but most of all i just felt the need to give the lord my heart. this means my desires, my thoughts, my everything. turn over my will to the lord, so he can bless me with the experiences i´ll need to be the kind of disciple he needs me to be.
well, that´s all for this week. i love you. i think of you often and feel so blessed to have so much support from friends and family. you´re the greatest :) have a great week and remember to put the lord first!
hna wright
Monday, February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012
so that phrase really hit me this week...hna miller and i were talking about who knows what, when i just looked at her and said,"hermana, WE´RE sister missionaries! THE sister missionaries (in this area)!" it was so weird because that name just brings up a very specific imagery. like the whole button-up and floor-length skirt with the hair, and the shoes, and maybe some glasses thrown in there. oh man. so maybe i´m not really dressed like that, but the assimilation was a little scary in the moment. just thought i´d share.
annnyway...hola! not a TON to talk about this week. except maybe for the fact that we almost LOST one of (slash basically our only) progressing investigators! yep, it´s sergio. he came to church with us on sunday and everything seemed fine, and we set an appointment for the upcoming tuesday. when the cita came around and we were about to leave to go see him, he called us to cancel because he was "with a friend" or something lame. it was super weird cause it´s not like him to do something like that so last minute, but he was super friendly and apologized a million times, so we didn´t really think anything of it. we did tell him we´d be calling him over the next few days though to check in with him and see how he´s doing since it´d be another few days before we´d see him. BUT, every time we called him, it went straight to voicemail! major bummer! we were a little worried, because he ALWAYS answers our calls, but we still planned on seeing him at our cita saturday. annnnd, he didn´t show. here´s when a bit of the panic set in. we hadn´t seen him since sunday, or talked to him since tuesday, which is no bueno. to make a long story short(er), he didn´t come to church, and his member friend told us that he´d decided he didn´t want to get baptized, but he was afraid to tell us, so he was avoiding us! ¡que fome! while we were talking with his friend hna miller and i got all hermana on him and started to cry. the poor kid didn´t know what to do, but for some reason had tissues in his bag so he was able to help us out. it was just so sad to hear that someone we had come to love like our little brother had said he didn´t want to get baptized, and that he was avoiding us because he didn´t want to talk about it! we were a little bugged, but he said he´d talk to sergio and see what he could do to help. after mopping ourselves up, we went on with the rest of our day. but don´t worry...that´s not the end of the story!! we knew we needed to call him at least one more time, so we did, and he ANSWERED! he gave us a few lame excuses, but agreed to make another cita for this week! we´re still a little apprehensive because of everything we heard from his friend, but there´s no way we´re giving up on him. he is incredible, and he needs the gospel in his life! also, we were walking by his house on our way to another appointment, and he walked out right as we went by...miracle! we got to talk to him for a few minutes and he seemed like his usual happy self, so that was a good sign. we´ll be seeing him on wednesday, and have a lot of faith that he will continue to progress. we just love him too much for him not too :)
also, that reminds me of something i thought of this week and told to hna miller. remember that terrible enrique iglesias song that´s all stalkery: "you can run, you can hide, but you can´t escape my love"...that´s totally my companion and i. these people can try and run away from us and hide in their houses or try and escape to the campo, but we love them way too much for them to get away that easy. and yes, i´m fully aware of how creepy that sounds. but what i mean is that i really do feel the love that god has for these people, and there´s no way that i´m going to let them slip away from their chance to learn of the gospel of christ and be baptized in the only church that has the authority to allow them to be cleansed from sin and live with god again. the blessings are way too special and have too much of an eternal impact for me to give up that easily. so that´s my strage connection to the stalker song. you´re welcome.
other news from this week:
gave a talk on the holy ghost at a baptism (of a CHILEAN! are you hearing this!! i am giving talks at chilean baptisms!!! so weird...)
directed the music at church, in SPANISH, which is basically a solo cause almost nobody else sings
started a tradition of "fun fridays" with my comp (yep, it´s just as silly as it sounds)
starts with a special breakfast of some sort that we´ll eat together (we usually eat separate so one can eat while the other showers)
in the morning we have to come up with a weird phrase to slip into our conversations throughout the day
at night after planning we watch mormon messages and share stories (we´re still trying to get to know each other better because our first cambio we never really had time to talk about ourselves because there´s so much work to do!) and of course, we eat a yummy treat (we´re thinking hot cocoa and crackers with jam will be a regular)
basically, we had to plan a night to force ourselves to have fun and be friends...haha. we realized we´re feeling a bit like co-workers, which is no fun! so this is what we´ve come up with for now...haha
had an AWESOME scripture study of 2 nephi 31. SUCH an incredible chapter. to everyone out there: please read 2 nephi 31:19-20, 32:3,5 and expect to receive personal revelation! there´s no time left to explain, but basically it talks about the importance of continuing on with faith in christ, feasting upon his words, which are those of the profetas and in the scriptures. it just made me think about how much our heavenly father loves us that he gave us these scriptures to study and learn from, and to receive answers to our prayers. he is helping us know how to return to live with him, but we have to search, and study and apply the principles to reach that goal. SO good. wish i had more time to share what i learned, but maaybe next week!
love you all muchisimo,
hna wright
annnyway...hola! not a TON to talk about this week. except maybe for the fact that we almost LOST one of (slash basically our only) progressing investigators! yep, it´s sergio. he came to church with us on sunday and everything seemed fine, and we set an appointment for the upcoming tuesday. when the cita came around and we were about to leave to go see him, he called us to cancel because he was "with a friend" or something lame. it was super weird cause it´s not like him to do something like that so last minute, but he was super friendly and apologized a million times, so we didn´t really think anything of it. we did tell him we´d be calling him over the next few days though to check in with him and see how he´s doing since it´d be another few days before we´d see him. BUT, every time we called him, it went straight to voicemail! major bummer! we were a little worried, because he ALWAYS answers our calls, but we still planned on seeing him at our cita saturday. annnnd, he didn´t show. here´s when a bit of the panic set in. we hadn´t seen him since sunday, or talked to him since tuesday, which is no bueno. to make a long story short(er), he didn´t come to church, and his member friend told us that he´d decided he didn´t want to get baptized, but he was afraid to tell us, so he was avoiding us! ¡que fome! while we were talking with his friend hna miller and i got all hermana on him and started to cry. the poor kid didn´t know what to do, but for some reason had tissues in his bag so he was able to help us out. it was just so sad to hear that someone we had come to love like our little brother had said he didn´t want to get baptized, and that he was avoiding us because he didn´t want to talk about it! we were a little bugged, but he said he´d talk to sergio and see what he could do to help. after mopping ourselves up, we went on with the rest of our day. but don´t worry...that´s not the end of the story!! we knew we needed to call him at least one more time, so we did, and he ANSWERED! he gave us a few lame excuses, but agreed to make another cita for this week! we´re still a little apprehensive because of everything we heard from his friend, but there´s no way we´re giving up on him. he is incredible, and he needs the gospel in his life! also, we were walking by his house on our way to another appointment, and he walked out right as we went by...miracle! we got to talk to him for a few minutes and he seemed like his usual happy self, so that was a good sign. we´ll be seeing him on wednesday, and have a lot of faith that he will continue to progress. we just love him too much for him not too :)
also, that reminds me of something i thought of this week and told to hna miller. remember that terrible enrique iglesias song that´s all stalkery: "you can run, you can hide, but you can´t escape my love"...that´s totally my companion and i. these people can try and run away from us and hide in their houses or try and escape to the campo, but we love them way too much for them to get away that easy. and yes, i´m fully aware of how creepy that sounds. but what i mean is that i really do feel the love that god has for these people, and there´s no way that i´m going to let them slip away from their chance to learn of the gospel of christ and be baptized in the only church that has the authority to allow them to be cleansed from sin and live with god again. the blessings are way too special and have too much of an eternal impact for me to give up that easily. so that´s my strage connection to the stalker song. you´re welcome.
other news from this week:
gave a talk on the holy ghost at a baptism (of a CHILEAN! are you hearing this!! i am giving talks at chilean baptisms!!! so weird...)
directed the music at church, in SPANISH, which is basically a solo cause almost nobody else sings
started a tradition of "fun fridays" with my comp (yep, it´s just as silly as it sounds)
starts with a special breakfast of some sort that we´ll eat together (we usually eat separate so one can eat while the other showers)
in the morning we have to come up with a weird phrase to slip into our conversations throughout the day
at night after planning we watch mormon messages and share stories (we´re still trying to get to know each other better because our first cambio we never really had time to talk about ourselves because there´s so much work to do!) and of course, we eat a yummy treat (we´re thinking hot cocoa and crackers with jam will be a regular)
basically, we had to plan a night to force ourselves to have fun and be friends...haha. we realized we´re feeling a bit like co-workers, which is no fun! so this is what we´ve come up with for now...haha
had an AWESOME scripture study of 2 nephi 31. SUCH an incredible chapter. to everyone out there: please read 2 nephi 31:19-20, 32:3,5 and expect to receive personal revelation! there´s no time left to explain, but basically it talks about the importance of continuing on with faith in christ, feasting upon his words, which are those of the profetas and in the scriptures. it just made me think about how much our heavenly father loves us that he gave us these scriptures to study and learn from, and to receive answers to our prayers. he is helping us know how to return to live with him, but we have to search, and study and apply the principles to reach that goal. SO good. wish i had more time to share what i learned, but maaybe next week!
love you all muchisimo,
hna wright
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
February 13, 2012
mi querida familia y amigos,
HOLA! i can´t believe a week has passed already. not sure if i mentioned this already, but time is suuuuper weird here on the mission. one day can feel like an eternity of walking all over the place and knocking on doors and entering strangers´ homes and testifying everywhere we go, but then i look back on the week and it feels like just yesterday that i was writing you! so strange.
the first 2 photos are of my first completo here in chile! it looks like a hot-dog with a bunch of junk on it, because that´s pretty much all it is. BUT, it´s so so delicious. the hot-dog is pretty wimpy, but it tastes good, and then they pile on guacamole, ketchup, mayo and tomato slices, all wrapped up in come tasty chilean bread (sort of crunchy on the outside, but softer on the inside) mmmmm. loved it. there´s no going back to regular american hot-dogs. they´re super lame in comparison.
after that is the photo of my companion and i at girls cam this week! it was in the campo (which basically just means out in the middle of no-where with fields and trees and a river-SO pretty and reminds me a lot of rural maine actually) we were invited to camp and got special permission from the mission president to attend for a day and give a devotional on virtue and the importance of modest dress to show respect for the gift of our bodies. we focused on the fact that we (as women) are daughters of god!
we are literally heiresses of a king, and we have been given divine qualities that must be maintained to show our respect, love, and appreciation to our heavenly father. we talked about the importance of caring for our bodies so we can have the holy ghost with us always, and the importance of our obedience to the lord´s commandments that´s he´s established to help protect us and make us happy in this life. overall it went really great, and i think the young women really appreciated that we were there to get to know them better and help them realize their worth and potential as daughters of god. of course, i can´´t forget to mention that we were also there for another amazing asado (bbq)! i´ve attached a pic for you so you can get a glimpse of the process and the mounds of meat that were easily consumed by a bunch of little girls :) it was GREAT.
the last photo is from when my companion and i made crepes in our apartment, because two other hermanas are leaving the mission to go home this week, and we wanted to send them off right. surprisingly, despite the fact that we weren´t following a recipe or anything, the food turned out really well, and i was reminded of all of my arch house girls back in utah because they were the ones i would always have crepes with! it was a lot of fun, and i think the other hermanas really appreciated a special breakfast!
ok now to get down to business. so everyone knows, i just barely got all of the letters (including the dearelders) that were sent at the beginning of january, and i probably wont be able to pick up any more until the next conference in temuco, which happen basically once every six weeks. (you all can email me, i just might not be able to respond right away) so yeah, it might be a while. don´t feel bad if it takes me over a month to respond by mail. major bummer. but i promise i´m trying to catch up, because i really do love hearing from you all and want to be able to write back individually. slow and steady...
but first of all, gail, why haven´t you said hardly anything about your BROKEN ARM!?!?! i just saw that in a letter you sent at the beginning of last month, but you ha´ven´t said anything about it in your emails!! how are you doing? hopefully it´s healing well by now. that´s so crazy. what´s up with the horses lately? getting bucked off is never fun...hopefully it´s not becoming a norm.
now, on to some highlights from the week:
-we were talking with one of our (few) progressing investigators in his home the other day, teaching about the restoration and the importance of going to church when he mentioned casually, "actually, i was baptized in your church about 20 years ago...i just haven´t gone in a while" WHAT? you´re a MEMBER already! ughh. we couldn´t believe it. we were all excited about his progress and that we would be able to help him get baptized, and then we find out that one of his evangelical friends told him that it was wrong to lie to the missionaries, and that he had to fess up, so he did. haha it was crazy. and surprisingly, this happens quite a bit. we´ll contact someone on the street or knock a door and have a conversation about the message of the gospel, and like 5 minutes in they finally say "oh yeah, i´m a member of that church!" it´s so funny, but so sad at the same time. these people have been baptized and made covenants with god, and then they stop going to church and being obedient to his commandments! i don´t completely understand what it is that leads them to fall away, but a lot of our time as missionaries here in chile is helping to remind these members of the things they once felt and the commitments they made, and help bring them back to church.
-we had a lesson with a less-active member this week, who had a child who was completely out of control, and it was almost impossible to focus on reading the scriptures with her. we were trying to read the story from alma 36, but every 1.5 seconds her 2 year old son was terrorizing us in one way or another. he would grab our books, slap us, scream at us, and he even threw rocks at us! it was completely ridiculous! the mom was tired and she just didn´t even know what to do, so this went on for several minutes. my companion and i tried to ignore it as much as we could, but it got to the point where we all just broke down laughing because this little kid was THROWING ROCKS AT THE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!! haha it was crazy. BUT, the best part: his name was jesus, so we kept saying "jesus, that´s not nice!" and "jesus, you shouldn´t do tha¨t" and "jesus, be nice to the missionaries!" oh man. it was a very entertaining lesson. definitely one to remember.
-update on sergio: he came to church again this week! he has a lot of really good questions, but he´s progressing well and we´re really proud of him for the changing he´s making in his life. he´s super sweet and friendly, and is always so patient with my spanish. we´ve got a fecha to baptize him this week, but he´s expressed that he´s still not sure, and we won´t get to see him till wednesday, but we´re still hopeful that he´ll get his answer and be baptized on saturday! i´ll let you know how it goes!
well, that´s all the time i have. thank you for your support. don´t forget that to hope for things is not to just hope for the best and see what happens, but to have faith that the lord will fulfill his promises, and that as we pray, repent, and study and apply the teachings of the scriptures, the lord will bless us with what we need. he´s promised us that as we have hope, we can have peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. what a promise! i love this gospel, and i hope that all of you are doing ALL you can to do your part so the lord can bless you.
talk to you next week!
hna wright
HOLA! i can´t believe a week has passed already. not sure if i mentioned this already, but time is suuuuper weird here on the mission. one day can feel like an eternity of walking all over the place and knocking on doors and entering strangers´ homes and testifying everywhere we go, but then i look back on the week and it feels like just yesterday that i was writing you! so strange.
the first 2 photos are of my first completo here in chile! it looks like a hot-dog with a bunch of junk on it, because that´s pretty much all it is. BUT, it´s so so delicious. the hot-dog is pretty wimpy, but it tastes good, and then they pile on guacamole, ketchup, mayo and tomato slices, all wrapped up in come tasty chilean bread (sort of crunchy on the outside, but softer on the inside) mmmmm. loved it. there´s no going back to regular american hot-dogs. they´re super lame in comparison.
ok now to get down to business. so everyone knows, i just barely got all of the letters (including the dearelders) that were sent at the beginning of january, and i probably wont be able to pick up any more until the next conference in temuco, which happen basically once every six weeks. (you all can email me, i just might not be able to respond right away) so yeah, it might be a while. don´t feel bad if it takes me over a month to respond by mail. major bummer. but i promise i´m trying to catch up, because i really do love hearing from you all and want to be able to write back individually. slow and steady...
but first of all, gail, why haven´t you said hardly anything about your BROKEN ARM!?!?! i just saw that in a letter you sent at the beginning of last month, but you ha´ven´t said anything about it in your emails!! how are you doing? hopefully it´s healing well by now. that´s so crazy. what´s up with the horses lately? getting bucked off is never fun...hopefully it´s not becoming a norm.
now, on to some highlights from the week:
-we were talking with one of our (few) progressing investigators in his home the other day, teaching about the restoration and the importance of going to church when he mentioned casually, "actually, i was baptized in your church about 20 years ago...i just haven´t gone in a while" WHAT? you´re a MEMBER already! ughh. we couldn´t believe it. we were all excited about his progress and that we would be able to help him get baptized, and then we find out that one of his evangelical friends told him that it was wrong to lie to the missionaries, and that he had to fess up, so he did. haha it was crazy. and surprisingly, this happens quite a bit. we´ll contact someone on the street or knock a door and have a conversation about the message of the gospel, and like 5 minutes in they finally say "oh yeah, i´m a member of that church!" it´s so funny, but so sad at the same time. these people have been baptized and made covenants with god, and then they stop going to church and being obedient to his commandments! i don´t completely understand what it is that leads them to fall away, but a lot of our time as missionaries here in chile is helping to remind these members of the things they once felt and the commitments they made, and help bring them back to church.
-we had a lesson with a less-active member this week, who had a child who was completely out of control, and it was almost impossible to focus on reading the scriptures with her. we were trying to read the story from alma 36, but every 1.5 seconds her 2 year old son was terrorizing us in one way or another. he would grab our books, slap us, scream at us, and he even threw rocks at us! it was completely ridiculous! the mom was tired and she just didn´t even know what to do, so this went on for several minutes. my companion and i tried to ignore it as much as we could, but it got to the point where we all just broke down laughing because this little kid was THROWING ROCKS AT THE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!! haha it was crazy. BUT, the best part: his name was jesus, so we kept saying "jesus, that´s not nice!" and "jesus, you shouldn´t do tha¨t" and "jesus, be nice to the missionaries!" oh man. it was a very entertaining lesson. definitely one to remember.
-update on sergio: he came to church again this week! he has a lot of really good questions, but he´s progressing well and we´re really proud of him for the changing he´s making in his life. he´s super sweet and friendly, and is always so patient with my spanish. we´ve got a fecha to baptize him this week, but he´s expressed that he´s still not sure, and we won´t get to see him till wednesday, but we´re still hopeful that he´ll get his answer and be baptized on saturday! i´ll let you know how it goes!
well, that´s all the time i have. thank you for your support. don´t forget that to hope for things is not to just hope for the best and see what happens, but to have faith that the lord will fulfill his promises, and that as we pray, repent, and study and apply the teachings of the scriptures, the lord will bless us with what we need. he´s promised us that as we have hope, we can have peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. what a promise! i love this gospel, and i hope that all of you are doing ALL you can to do your part so the lord can bless you.
talk to you next week!
hna wright
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