elder rudy wright

Part of me wants to stay the other part of me is exhausted

2011-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

My last message home,

SOOOOOO, this is my last week in field. It has flown by so fast. Part of me wants to stay. There is still too much to learn, and I feel like I have only tapped into the experience and knowledge that I could have obtained. On the other hand, the other part of me is exhausted and is ready to depart this life. The mission really is like a miniature life. We are born as new missionaries. We have just a short opportunity to learn and grow from our experiences. There are ups and downs, but through it all we come out refined and sanctified through Jesus Christ. We get old and soon we pass on to the next life. The whole purpose of life is to prepare to meet God, and we cannot waste away our time idle, or just plain apathetic. What we make of ourselves will determine our rewards later in life. I pray and hope that I will be able to continue onward in my 'next' life to continue to progress in this Gospel that Christ has given me.

I love you all,

Elder Wright

p.s. I found this quote by elder holland, it is my new favorite : 'no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.'

If you forget for a second that it's a crawdad, it actually teasted pretty good

2011-08-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Life is good 'round here. It wont stop raining. We ran out of miles on our car for the month of july so we had to walk in it last night. We've also been riding our bikes all over when the weather is decent. We were biking a few nights ago, and a less-active family fed us crawdads (sp?) and watched us break them open and eat them. Then they gave us a whole bag to take home. If you forget for a second that it's a crawdad, it actually teasted pretty good. like lobster. But... I couldnt forget that it was a crawdad...

I went downtown this past week with all the departing missionaries. They all were going home the next day, but i still had two weeks. They were all done and checked out mentally, but i kept thinking about the next two weeks in the field. It was a great experience to go through the salt lake temple. We spent some time downtown, and then went back to the mission office for a lunch with the mission president. Afterwards everyone else was taking off to go with family and stuff but i just went backto work.

We had transfers, We gained a third companion Elder Wilson. He has been out just as long as Elder Cartwright. He is way excited to work and have success. He's a little distracted at times, but the three of us are working kearns hard.

Much love,

Elder WRight

We have been majorly blessed recently with people to teach

2011-07-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

hey everyone,

Our success is still picking up. We have been majorly blessed recently with people to teach and we are receiving more member support at our lessons. there is lots of potential here in our area, it just needs to be worked hard, and we cant lose faith. A couple of our investigators are really close to getting married but they are just having trouble taking that first step. We did service for a family, and mowed their lawn in our proslyting clothes.

We went up to Park City last P-Day and took the chair lift up to the mountain. We ran out of time to do more stuff though. it's just too far away. Pioneer day is crazy up here. People wouldnt stop lighting off fireworks last night. It's supposed to continue tonight! wooppie!

anyway, I dont have much else. I have been reading through the war chapters recently in the book of mormon. alma 43ish to 60ish, and it is cool to notice that success comes when the inner vessel is cleansed first. Our inner vessels need to be cleansed first before we are to have success on the outward results. it applies to everyones situations differently, but pure motices and desires bring the greatest success and happiness.

Love,

Elder Wright

our favorite taco stand, IT WAS GONE!! devestating, i know.

2011-07-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

hey everyone,

We are chugging right along. Not much new happening. I'm trying not to think about home too much but it's tough. Staying focused is our biggest struggle. and staying awake. The one thing i am looking forward to when i get home is NAPS! i just want to sleep i'm so tired! We have been finding some new investigators recently, some more interested than others. There is a 10 year old boy that was taught in another area that wanted to come to church, but he cant focus for more than 30 minutes before he wants to go skateboarding. Trying to tell him in the middle of church that there wasnt a skate park in the area seemed to destroy his world. We're trying to work on getting his mom to church next. Also we picked up another couple that want to get baptized, but they have to get married first, (he has to get divorced from his ex before that). They are willing and have good support at church.

On monday we decided to go to lunch at our favorite taco stand, but when we got there IT WAS GONE!! devestating, i know. so we went to another one that we had never been to before, and got some tacos. While we were there, a family motioned for us to come and talk to them in their car. They said they had just moved from california, and wanted to join the church. It was amazing! People are prepared. They dont live in our area but the missionaries who are teaching them now say they are on track for baptism. And then, yesterday, we saw our favorite taco stand back in it's original spot. If we would have gone there, we never would have been put in the path of that family. The Lord works in mysterious ways to guide us. even if he has to move taco stands to do it.

I love the Lord

Elder Wright

I think i played volleyball the entire time

2011-07-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Merry Independence Day,

We had a good fourth of july activity. I think i played volleyball the entire time. Anyway, i'm way outta time this week.

Life goes on, read your SCRIPS

Love,

Elder Wright

There is a prevailing theme that I have never noticed before

2011-06-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Not much new this week. We seem to be finding new people to teach all over the place, but most of them tell us up front that they wont join the church. We teach them a few lessons to see if we can build any desire but some of them just want to shoot the breeze. We are trying to focus our efforts more on our purpose of baptism, but the people we teach are just non-commital.

During my personal studies I have been reading through the Book of Mormon, and I just finished the book of Mosiah. There is a prevailing theme that I have never noticed before. It had to do with the deliverance of the people of Nephi from the Lamanites. The people had to do certain things to recieve freedom. A lot of times we teach people that they need to be free from bondage, whether from addiction, or from lifestyles, financial situations, spiritual deadness, etc... The equation to recvieve that freedom from bondage, is *ahem*

(trust the Lord [FAITH]) + (serve Him with all diligence of mind) + (humble yourself before the lord) + (cry mightily unto Him) + (submit cheerfully and with patience to the will of the Lord) = DELIVERANCE FROM BONDAGE.

I have been applying this to our area, as it needs to be delivered from it's unfruitfulness. We have been praying recently a lot harder for success, and the people seem to just flow to us. Faith really works.

love you,

Elder Wright

we've been pulling weeds like crazy

2011-06-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

aloha,

Summer is here. It's getting hot. We've been loaded up with service lately too. Elder Cartwright is turning black from the sun. We helped tear up a kitchen floor the other day, and we've been pulling weeds like crazy. We've also been biking quite a bit for exercise to get elder carwright awake in the mornings. He likes it better than running which is good, but i cant let him coast too much.

As far as the work goes, we had a really good week last week, and we were able to meet with our investigators several times, this week has had cancellation after no-show after cancellation. It's getting old. We push through it though, we try to meet as often as possible, daily, but we seem to just be catching people once a week at best. We are working with an awesome family who just moved in to one of the wards. Their names are stephanie and Justin Bloxham, and they have been really open and good to teach. Stephanie is a member already, but Justin has grown up here in utah, and has been surrounded by members all his life, but he is just now taking steps to be more involved in religion. They've slacked a bit on reading scriptures, but they are taking it more seriously now.

anyway,

Alma 5:14 have ye received the image of God in your countenances?

love,

elder wright

It's like it's own little world out here.

2011-06-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

hey all,

Not much new happening here. We had transfers today, but both Elder Carwright and I will be staying here in kearns. By the end of this transfer I will have been here for 10 1/2 months!!! It's like it's own little world out here. We picked up a new investigator! His name is William Tyrie. He just got out of prison.He was there for 7 years, and now he's on parole until 2038... He cant get baptized until he's off that, but in the meantime, we want to help him understand the scriptures more and to pray. He really wants to make amends and repair the damage he had done in the past. He has been coming to church for 2 months now, so we just need to keep that up for the next 30 years or so...

I also had some exchanges to go on. I sent Elder Cartwright to another area and I got to work with Elder Huber for a day. We had a lot of success and we are starting to see the area turn around. When Elder Cartwright came back, I think his eyes were opened a bit to missionary work, and he has set some new goals to improve and become more actively involved in our area. Exchanges sometimes work in ways that I never would have expected. We are still working with 4 investigators that need to get married... It's coming slowly, but we expect at least one or two weddings shortly. We've had 2 or 3 days this week where we have been double booked for dinner appointments. I'm pretty used to it by now, but elder cartwright has been suffering. My motto: DONT STOP!

Life is good. the Gospel is true. Repent. Dont justify sins. 2 Nephi 28:7-9

Love ya,

Elder Wright

packed 200 missionaries into the train

2011-06-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

We had a pretty awesome weekend! First, on friday, President Miller took the whole mission downtown to the tabernacle, and we were able to see the Messiah in America performance. The tabernacle was really really loud. Holy cow. they had a huge choir, a full orchestra, and the massive tabernacle organ. I had never been in the tabernacle before, and i was surprised at how small it was on the inside. I think it's because i compare it to the conference center. The whole mission took the trax down there at different times, but on the way back, we all loaded onto one train, and packed 200 missionaries into the train.

Then, on Saturday, we had the baptism for Sarah Schiermeyer at noon, which went smoothly. Her fiance (now husband) baptized her, and then later that afternoon, the bishop married them! They are now preparing to go to the temple. They both worked really hard and sacrificed a lot to make it all happen.

Now here in the area we are working with a few new investigators, but we may or may not see aother baptism here in teh month of june. we'll see

Love,

Elder Wright

It rained

2011-06-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hey dudes,

It rained. It rained some more. If it's sunny, it rains the next day. We're getting a bike for Elder Cartwright this week so hopefully the rain stops. His birthday was on Sunday, so we celebrated with brownies and ice cream. We're trying to keep momentum going. He is trying to find more ways to improve and he is putting more effort in his teaching.

We have the baptism for Sarah Schiermeyer this weekend. Her fiance, Dallin recieved the priesthood this sunday so everything is set for the baptism, and then the wedding afterwards. She and all of our other investigators seem to be out of town. It's been tough with cancelled appointments, but we look for more people to teach in that time.

Love you,

Elder Wright

We have too much food, I guess we should be grateful

2011-05-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

Hola!

This week was a little bit of a bummer. We had A LOT of cancellations. We were also planning on a baptism tomorrow, but our investigator wants to hold off for a while. i've been trying to build Elder Cartwright's spirits. I thought it would be his first baptism, but he may have to wait one more week. Hopefully this next week will be better. We may have to enlist the wards for more support in helping to teach our investigators.

We have too much food. the fridge is always overflowing with leftovers from dinner appointments. I think because missionaries leave utah, and dont get fed very well, all the members assume that we dont get fed well either. Result: Stuff the missionaries. And if you dont eat all the food, then the members think you didnt like their food. I guess we should be grateful. Food is better than no food.

Anyway,

D&C 6:34, 36

Love,

Elder Wright

we honestly had no idea what else to do

2011-05-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Not much new happened this week, We have been looking for new people to teach. Some of the ones we have been working with have been reluctant to move forward. One of them though, Sarah Schiermeyer, has been one that has worked really hard to get baptized. She has quit drinking and smoking, which has been tough for her and her fiance, Dallin. We reminded them last week that they also needed to get married before they could get baptized because they were living in the same home. They were more reluctant to do that, but we asked to them to pray and fast about it on Sunday, and then to talk to bishop about it after church. We fasted and prayed for them too. We stopped by monday and they said they are getting married on the 4th of June and that they wanted to do the baptism the same day! It was awesome. She will be out of town the next few weeks to be living the law of chasity, and then she will get back on June 3rd. It was awesome news for us because we honestly had no idea what else to do. My testimony was built in diligence, that if you do everything you can in your power, God will prepare a way for his will to be accomplished.

1 nephi 3:7 Moroni 7:33-34

Love,

Elder Wright

Life is good, I'm tired all the time, It feels great!

2011-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We had an excellent week. It was good to call home on Sunday. My last call home. Uh oh. I am staying focused on our area. President Miller was inspired when he put Elder Cartwright and me together. I thought being released from zone leader would give me more time, but we are even busier now with new missionary things and training again. Elder Cartwright has been learning quick, and looks for areas to improve. He is working on memorizing parts of our lessons, and he is doing well with it. The new missionaries that came in have been on a pilot program at the MTC so the mission is working out the kinks in training them once they've arrived. They gave us another hour of companionship study in the mornings!! It was definitely needed, so we can catch up on all the material and prepare for lessons. We've been working really hard and staying busy. I can tell elder Cartwright is starting to lag a bit in the evenings and in the mornings but I keep pushing him. I think over time he'll get used to the schedule. We have been exercising like crazy in the mornings to get our energy up during the day. We play basketball with some of the other elders almost every morning.

As for our investigators and the work in our area, we have several of our investigators on date for baptism, and they are all planning on getting married before then. It's a tough situation for most of them, and it's really difficult to teach and help them to develop the faith to take the leap. I havent had to work with this many situations in the past, and definitely as a new missionary, so I think elder cartwright will be well prepared for the rest of his mission. We are working to build the relationship of trust with our wards too, and we are running from building to building on Sundays. This last week we made it to 6 wards, gave mothers day talks at one ward, and taught an elders quorum in another. If anything, we learn to wing it and go on the fly. I know we should probably be prepared for lessons and things, but i had no idea what we were teaching when we walked into the elders quorum. woops. But it all turned out well. It's also odd as a missionary to give talks on mothers day. Even that was a little on the fly. It turned out okay though.

We started up having dinner appointments again, and already our fridge is getting overloaded with leftovers. Elder Cartwright is getting used to having food shoved down his throat at dinner time too. I prepare by eating a small lunch. D&C 38:30 'if you are prepared, you shall not fear' We try to work it all off at exercise in the morning.

Anyway, Life is good, I'm tired all the time, It feels great!

Love,

Elder Wright

ps. ether 12:4

pps. we got the truck traded for a malibu...

This transfer is going to be FUN!

2011-05-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We had a pretty awesome week. We were teaching Jacoby Baker, and he was baptized on saturday. His family was totally digging deep into the gospel and into the scriptures. Jacoby just one day got up in sacrament meeting, and bore his testimony and told everyone that he wants to get baptized. 3 weeks later, he was entering the water. Their family will be so blessed and they are on track and working towards the temple.

As for transfers, I am no longer zone leader. I am DISTRICT LEADER again!!! I'm also TRAINING again!!! I'm in the same area, and my new missionary companion is Elder Cartwright. He is from Piqua, Ohio. He's pretty quiet, but I think he's just a little shellshocked. He came out of the MTC this morning and we were put together at around noon. We've been together for a whle 2 hours now. My son. In my district, there are two of my previous companions, elder neilson, and elder huber. This transfer is going to be FUN! We're going to work hard too, dont worry too much.

This week we had an awesome lesson with Sarah Schiermeyer and her fiance, Dallin Larkin. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. It was a good reminder for me of the sacrifice that the prophet made for the Gospel to brought back to the earth. It inspired me to continue to make sacrifice in my own life, to give back to the Lord. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.

Love you all,

Elder Wright

It still snows at least once a week

2011-04-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Not much new and exciting up here. I attached the pictures from the baptisms that happened two weeks ago for angelique and for nick. It still snows at least once a week. We had a service project painting the outside of a house and it started dumping snow on us. We decided to wait it out inside with hot chocolate until it passed. about 30 minutes later it was bright and sunny again. If we just make it to june we can be free of the snow! Our work has been going well. we may have one or two baptisms this weekend. Other than that we have been chugging along. We have been trying to find more investigators after we have had these baptisms. This week we found out that a recently activated member had a daughter that moved back from texas and we started teaching her. She had originally said that she didnt want to learn just yet, but we had dinner with the family, and at the end of the visit she just said, 'ok, i'll let you do your job, teach me what you believe." She is pretty committed to learning more and she is taking her scripture reading seriously so far.

anyway, that's all i've got time for this week, love you all, Alma 41:10

Elder Wright

we had TWO BAPTISMS

2011-04-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

sorry i didnt send an email last week. I ran out of time and not much happened anyway. It was aout 70-80 degrees for a few days, but then we had a three day snow storm to follow it. That was fun. That's about all that happened last week. This week though, we had TWO BAPTISMS! Angelique Talamontez (Jones)(11 years old) was baptized in the morning on saturday, and Nick Thatcher (10 years old) was baptized in the afternoon. They both asked me to perform the baptism, which was a really cool. Angelique's family has all been coming back to church on their own and Angelique told her mom she wanted to be baptized. Nick's family is coming back to the church slowly, and we are working with his parents on the Word of Wisdom. My pants didnt have enough time to dry in between so they were still wet for the second one. woops.

I would send the pictures but the computer isnt working right now so i'll send them next week.

The work has been chugging along here, but now that we've had several baptisms, we are focusing on finding new investigators in our area. It takes a lot of prayer and faith, not to mention lots of work but it comes slowly. I've been trying to read through Jesus the Christ lately, and it has been really really rewarding. My goal is to have it finished by the end of my mission. (i'm about 1/3 through so far)

anyway, got to go get some shopping done,

love you all,

Elder Wright

It's a good thing i'm a missionary. I dont have to worry about THAT stuff

2011-04-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Elder Dunlap and I had a pretty good week. It was a little slow, but we had some really awesome stuff happen. Raymundo Jalapa was baptized, and he told us the following day 'i'm a mormon now.' He has a firm drive to continue to do what is right throughout his life. Now he is looking for work and possible schooling around here for as long as he is in the states.

It was warm most of the week, almost 80 degrees, but then, saturday night, it dumped about 6 inches of snow on us, and it's been cold ever since. We just cant get a break. We had a good conference weekend. There seemed to be a lot of messages about marriage... It's a good thing i'm a missionary. I dont have to worry about THAT stuff. I especially liked the priesthood session. We were able to attend the saturday afternoon session of conference, and we sat on the front right side, where all the general authorities walk in and out. I'm looking forward to next conference already.

Anyway, life is good up here, we have loads of work and we are keeping the zone moving.

keep the faith

love,

Elder Wright

We invited both of them to quit smoking, and they dropped it the next day

2011-03-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Elder Dunlap and I have been tearing it up here in Kearns. He has been in the spanish assignment his whole mission, so he is getting used to teaching english, and dealing with the problems that come in the english assignement. We have had lots of really great lessons with our investigators and the all seem to be getting ready for baptism really quick. Raymundo Jalapa will be having his baptism this saturday right after general conference. He will be such a strong convert. We have several others investigators that are working really hard for it. We picked up Sarah Schiermeyer, who has had a really tough past, but is getting married to a less-active member of the church. We invited both of them to quit smoking, and they dropped it the next day. They have been a little bit on edge during our visits since then, but they say it's been getting easier. He's working for the priesthood now, and then he will perform the baptism! It's exciting.

Both Elder Dunlap and I will be attending the sunday afternoon session of general conference this weekend. I'm always way excited for conference and to listen to the prophets message. It'll be my last one in the field. But, we can start working without our suit coats after its over!!! Freedom!!

anyway,

love you all,

Elder Wright

So we had transfers!!

2011-03-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So we had transfers!! Elder Usevitch finally got out of Kearns! I stayed here and my new companion is Elder Dunlap, from Sitka Alaska. We've been together for an hour and a half now... Havent gotten to know him too well yet, but it'll come eventually. Elder Usevitch and I have had a lot of success.this past week, in teaching and finding. We have been relying on the Spirit during our lessons. The work is definitely picking up in our area, and we are trying to inspire the district leaders to be diligent in their areas too. You know you're busy when dinner is a back-up plan. anyway, i'm not too good at this email thing, or at this sending pictures thing, but they'll come eventually.

Love,

Elder Wright

6 months in this area has gone really quick

2011-03-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We've had a pretty crazy week. We picked up a couple new investigators. We started teaching Raymundo Jalapa, from Culiacan, Mexico. His wife is an active member and they are going to church and reading/studying the scriptures for an hour each day. They are on tourist visas getting some medical stuff worked out at the university, so they have nothing to do all day. They spend a lot of it reading and studying the assignments we leave them, so it all works out. We also started teaching a man named Rodrigo Paloma, who has lived in utah his whole life, but hasnt had much to do with the church at all. (that's pretty hard to do, the LDS church here is like the catholic church to Italy). He's had a pretty rough past with drugs and the law, but he's willing to learn. He has NO knowledge of religion whatsoever, so we're teaching him slowly.

other than that, we also got yelled at by Sedrick yesterday for visiting too often. He wasnt in a good mood. So he just vented on us for about 20 minutes. we'll give him a couple days to smooth things over. transfers are in a week, so it will be interesting to see if I or Elder Usevitch goes, or if we get to stay together for ANOTHER 6 WEEKS!!! We need a change of scenery. the 6 months in this area has gone really quick though. The whole winter...

anyway, read the book of mormon. it'll do wonders

Love,

Elder Wright

but i can understand enough to know what's going on

2011-03-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

HELLO!

Elder usevitch and I are rocking it here in Kearns. We have picked up several new investigators, and several of them are working towards baptisimal dates. Some people have been prepared for the Gospel, and they are ready to be baptized. Payton Warden has been coming to church for several years with a family. She was ready to be baptized last year but she backed out because of her family. She said she wants to go for it again, and we can really tell that she wants it. We also ran into a man, Sedrick, who almost died a few months ago, and promised God that he would go to church if he lived through it all. There are so many people that are ready but just need a little push. We are still working to get the ward mission process going. We will have president bishop, from the mission presidency come and train all the ward mission leaders on ward missionary work in the next few weeks. Hopefully we can get things rolling smoothly.

We had brother Allen, who is the managing director of the missionary department come and train us on the work this last week. We have a lot of work to do to become better 'preach my gospel' missionaries. I also got to go on exchange into a spanish area last week. My spanish still isnt good enough to carry on any conversation whatsoever, but i can understand enough to know what's going on. We have lots of stuff to do now with the missionaries in our zone. Our head is above water for now, but we have lots of challenges to tackle.

transfers are coming up in two weeks, we are sure (pretty sure) one of us will be transferred but it's a toss up who it will be. We are also looking forward to General Conference. It's always the best to hear from the Prophet and the Apostles.

2 Nephi 31 the Doctrine of Christ. It works.

Love you all everyone,

Elder Wright

Spring is almost here!

2011-03-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

This year is flying by! Spring is almost here! I'm excited to be able to work without a suit coat, and to be able to count on the sun to be out all the time. Things in Kearns are chugging along. We have some really slow moving investigators, and some others that are on the fast track. One less active sister named Paige Jones decided to come back to church, and she is bringing her daughter to church too. We started teaching them and they have been reading all the scriptures we leave with them and have been praying everyday and even go the extra mile and study even more. We are grateful for those investiagors. Her daughter, Angelique, is working to be baptized on april 9th. Others though, like Kim Maschi, has trouble accepting that there is only one true religion. They are all good, and she feels like she has a good relationship with God. We tried to nail home priesthood authority and praying about the book of mormon, but it isnt sinking in too well. All in all, we are kept busy, but it seems there arent many fruits coming from our labors. It'll come in time.

We got up at 4 this morning to go to the temple, and then we played ultimate frisbee today for Pday and we are both totally wasted. Well, it's time to go to work,

Also, informational statistic: one of our wards that suffers for attendance, has over 70 elders on their role, with an average attendance of 6 each week. It blew our minds. We suspect that in the next few years that stake will be dissolved if nothing changes soon. also, one of our appartment complexes had a shooting the other night. It's crazy stuff.

thanks,

love,

peace,

Elder Wright

My hair hasn't been this short since I was a baby

2011-02-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

hey everyone,

The month has been flying by, it's already halfway through february! We had two baptisms this last weekend for two little girls, smantha, and samasia corro. Their father was less active, but came to us and told us he wanted to come back to church and get his girls involved in church again. They were way funny and the girls soaked up everything we taught, and carlos would spend his free time reading the gospel principles book. i dont have much more time, but i do have pictures! I have gotten a pretty decent haircut since my last pictures. My hair hasnt been this short since i was a baby. It's easier to manage though.

explanation of pictures

1) District leader council, I was focused

2) ritchie ramirez and family (he was trying to get work off on sundays but it was tough for him. he ended up getting fired, but he fasted this last weekend and got a new job monday morning, better pay and no work on sundays)

3) Bro hallowell and his son donovan

4) Samantha and samasia corro, and their family

love,

elder wright

They are SOOOOO close and they dont even know it

2011-02-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We've had a pretty busy week again. We had transfers, and we were sure that Elder Usevitch or I would be transferred but we are both still here in Kearns. By they end of this transfer we will have been together for 6 months! It's a long time for an area, let alone a companion. We have spent a lot of good time together so we are used to eachother by now.

There were some less active families that we have been working with that have taken some steps back towards coming to church. The Hollowells have been coming out regularly for several months, and Donovan, their 8 year old son, was baptized this last weekend. We were also working with the Watkins family, and trying to help darlene watkins (who is also 8) learn more so she could be ready for baptism this last weekend too. There was also a baptism back in daybreak for two boys who had been wanting to get baptized, but waiting for their dad to get ready to do it for them. Their dad finally got prepared and had a really cool baptism with a whole bunch of missionaries who had taught them.

We had a couple of appointments with Jaime Fitzgerald and her family and they are SOOOOO close and they dont even know it. They told us they would give up alcohol, and that they would start coming to church. The big obstacle now is coffee, but once they are over that they will be good to go. We gave her a baptisimal date for the 26th of march to work for. It's a little shakey, but with a couple reminders it will be a sure thing.

anyway, i got to go, check this out http://mormon.org/me/3CCN-eng/

Love,

Elder Wright

He likes to walk REALLY fast

2011-01-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We've had a pretty interesting week. Halfway through, president miller assigned us to go on a 3-4 day exchange with another companionship in another area. It was a little different being in a new area, for just a few days, but we kept really busy. It was a one stake area. without a car, so i was on foot again. I was with Elder Catterson, and he likes to walk REALLY fast. my feet were killing me. I cant really remember what happened before the exchange, but the rest of the week flew by pretty quick. they are pretty busy in that stake, which makes the time fly by. I think what helps them to be so busy is how great the leadership in that stake is. The people were on fire to do missionary work.

This week, it seems the theme of what i've learned and what i've been teaching has been the Atonement of Christ. One can really gain a knowledge and appreciation for the atonement, by bearing testimony of it. Simply, Jesus Christ will take upon himself the penalty of our mistakes, if we follow His example and his gospel. If we do, he will have mercy upon us so that we might be able to live with our Him, our Heavenly Father, and our families. It makes me happy to know that Jesus Chirst loved us so much to sacrifice himself for us.

http://mormon.org/jesus-christ/

Alma 34

Love,

Elder Wright

We have had some great teaching experiences

2011-01-12T18:42:00.000-08:00

HI!

We have been having lots of great experiences this week, coupled with a few not so fun ones. Some of our investigators have taken off, and we havent been able to contact them. For the ones that have stuck around we have had some great teaching experiences. One family, the fitzgeralds have been coming along REALLY slowly for thepast few months. We have really great weeks with them, followed by really down weeks. We were asked to lay off for a while, so we have been just dropping by occasionally. We found out that the family knows little to nothing about Jesus Christ, so we decided to leave them a Finding Faith in Christ DVD to watch on their own time. Sister Fitzgerald watched it and texted us (we can text now!) and said she really really liked the movie and that she wanted to come to church on sunday! That was huge news because she told us before that she wouldnt go without her husband, and he simply said he wouldnt go. The family has such great potential to make it to the temple. If they just buckle down and start coming to church, they could start working towards the temple! They are so awesome!

The rest of the week has been a little slow but we've been very grateful for some new investigators. We also had 2 6 hour long leadership trainings (guh) but we learned a bunch of stuff on the apostosy.

go to mormon.org

Love,

Elder Wright

Elder L Tom Perry came and spoke to us

2011-01-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Can you believe it's already 2011?! We had a great new years activity as a mission. Elder L Tom Perry came and spoke to us for a bit, and then after he left we had a fun time with some movies, basketball, volleyball, pizza... When we drove home it was something like 6 degrees outside. We spent some time scraping the ice off the inside of our windshield. I am reminded each winter of how much I dont love the cold. Only a few more months of winter! It also snowed on us pretty bad this week. We've been shoveling lots of snow and pushing tons of cars to get them unstuck. I think i'm getting used to the numbness in my toes all the time.

Besides the cold the work has been going alright. We are keeping really busy but we havent had a whole lot of outward results. We have a lot of investigators that are trying to quite smoking right now, which has been tough. Some really want to quit, and others are a little half-hearted. We're helping them the best we can, its just slow...

anyway, i'm outta time

Church is true

go to the new mormon.org

Love,

Elder Wright

We'll both be here in kearns through january 2011!!!

2010-12-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

HELLO!

We had a great christmas in the field! We all went to the mission office for christmas eve, and the stakes in the valley had all provided gifts for the missionaries. I came away with 10 new pairs of socks!!! And 1 new tie! I never thought i'd ever get excited about a tie, but mission throws a different light on christmas. We also got overloaded on chocolate and candy. On christmas day we visited a whole bunch of families all over the valley from areas we had served in before. Elder usevitch and I sang some quick christmas hymns and shared a christmas message and went to the next one. It was a really fun busy day.

The rest of our week was awesome too. The day after christmas, one of our investigators, Ritchie Ramirez, was baptized. We had been working with him and his family for a little over a month. It was a little slow at first, but after a couple of visits he really started digging in and reading the scriptures. After one visit he had read the enitre 89th section of the doctrine and covenants without us asking. His wife asked us a week before the baptism how long it would take him to recieve the priesthood. They are a super cool family and his testimony is so strong and has lots of room to grow.

Neither Elder Usevitch or I were transferred so we'll both be here in kearns through january 2011!!!

Happy new year

Love,

Elder Wright

Merry Christmas

2010-12-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas,

By the time you get this it's probably way past Christmas. I hope it all went well and you got some time to take a break and relax a bit. I got the slippers and pajamas today. My multiple sets of pjs never fail to amaze my companions. I also got the massive green shirt signed by the ward. Tell them all thank you for me. I'm especially looking forward to opening the package from the youn men. Who knows what will be in that one...
This Christmas season has been flying by pretty quickly. We've been pretty packed with appointments day and night. We haven't had much time to relax much. Food even sometimes gets left by the wayside. A couple of nights ago, dinner consisted of dry Apple Jacks, Doritos, and Oreos as we drove from appointment to appointment. I think we need to take some time to catch up to ourselves. Christmas will be good for us. We had our Christmas Conference last weekend. Elder Holland came and spoke to us for a bit which was awesome. There were also a whole bunch of musical pieces. Elder Usevitch & I sang 'Samuel tells of the Baby Jesus' from the primary songbook. It was a little nerve racking in front of the whole mission, but we had a good pianist, which is all that really matters. It sounded alright, but we could have worked on it a little more.
Christmas this year will be a little different. Most people that we visit struggle to put many presents, if any, under the tree. We visit some families that don't have much in the first place, and any gifts the do receive they are so much more grateful for. It is a lesson to me that Christmas isn't in the giftss and presents, it is in the gratitude for what we have. Especially the gift that we have been given of God's son for us. It is through the gift of Jesus Christ that we can return to Him. It is by faith in Jesus Christ that we accept the gift. And by giving and sharing it with others we can share the greatest of all the gifts of God to all who will receive it. This is my Christmas message. Have a Merry One!

Love
Elder Wright
2 Nephi 19:6
D&C 14:7

We dropped by unannounced the other night

2010-12-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
We were kept super busy this week. We had appointments back to back every single evening. Not to say everyone showed up for the appointment, but we were going nonstop the entire time. We have been meeting with a tongan family that rcently moved into the ward, the Tahes. They said they want to start working towards going to the temple. We found out the last time that brother Tahe had spent some time in prison (We're meeting lots of those lately) and he was supposed to be there for 120 days. He said he started reading the Book of Mormon his first day, and finished it on his 21st day, and the following day, they lifted his sentence and he was released. Their entire family is starting to take the gospel more seriously. We dropped by unannounced the other night and found them having their nightly scripture study. It totally makes the difference in the Spirit that was in their home. The ward is really starting to help out. too. Some of our other contacts have been taking a little longer. to accept the things we teach, but we are starting to see progress slowly.

I have come to realize that God gives us commandments for a reason. How important it is for us to understand that because they are there, we should obey them. It is simple. They arent just guidelines to live by, but commandments. When we obey we can receive Gods blessings. By disobedience we suffer the consequence of our actions. I hope that each and every day each of you take those simple steps of repentance that help us become more obedient, and more like our Heavenly Father.
Mosiah 2: 41
Alma 34: 32-33

Take Love, Merry Christmas,
Elder Wright

He knows first hand the difference between good and evil

2010-12-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

HI!

Well We havent had a whole lot new this week. The weather has been warming up a bit, but that just means we get to wait for it to get cold again. The snow shoveling season will start up again.

President Miller came out to teach with us last week. He taught us some approaches to teaching more simply. he also helped us with one of the families that we've been struggling to work with. They arent being totally unified in the going to church and reading scriptures. It's been teaching Elder Usevitch and I a lot about the importance of unity.

We had a dinner appointment with a recently activated member, who was so awesome! He had spent some time in prison, and decided to turn his life around. He started reactivating his brother's family, and his nephews received he aaronic priesthood. He knows first hand the difference between good and evil, and is making sure all his family is making right choices. Sometimes, the humble people are the most ready, but at the same time, we've met a lot of people that are bitter at the church because of their circumstances.

we found an indoor soccer place and we were able to use it for P-Day. my companion likes tripping over the soccer ball. I forgot how awful i am at soccer. i like the dodgeball thing more.

anyway, Unity it's important

Mosiah 18:21
Love,
Elder Wright

we just have to bear with patience a bit, then suddenly a miracle hits

2010-12-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

This week was awesome! We've had some crazy snowstorms this week, we had at least a foot of snow on Sunday. We've been trudging around in it all week and we are pushing people out of the snow every day. We're both starting to get a handle on driving in the snow too. We had thanksgiving dinner over at one of our bishop's house. We didnt overeat like we did last year. Not nearly as much pie. We also had a baptism for Koki Pace on Sunday. It was really a white baptism with the snow falling and everything outside. The entire baptismal service was in marshallese, so we had no idea what was really being said in the talks. The Pace family is slowly making it's way to the temple. We're going to try and help them out as much as possible. They say they are going to be opening a marshallese branch in the valley sometime soon too! Anyway, we see a little bit of everything here in Kearns. We ran into a guy named Leslie Whithers last week who was baptized in Kansas a couple of months ago, and he has a burning testimony of the gospel. He came back to utah when he realized he needed to help his family out, and we're helping him get to know the ward here a little better. he also has an unbaptized son who is 10 who we will probably start teaching here soon too. President Miller came out to teach with us last night, which was really cool, and we got some pointers on how to improve our teaching.

We've had lots of experiences lately, some up, some down. It seems that whenever we hit a low point, we just have to bear with patience a bit, then suddenly a miracle hits, and we can keep going. We are picking up several new investigators, and a lot of them are really interested and ready for baptism already. A few others have some challenges to overcome, but I've never been so aware of the Spirit and how it affects people. I've felt that when I first came to this area I was struggling to get to know the people and get down to work, but Elder Usevitch has kept me going strong, and I now I love this area. Nothing compares to seeing our investigators understand the principles of the Gospel and feel the spirit. It really does change people. 2 Nephi 32:5

Love ya much,
Elder Wright

It was EPIC!

2010-11-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Things up here have been chugging along as usual. We've had some pretty crazy snow storms up here this last week. Last night they shut down the whole valley because of a blizzard warning. The mission grounded all the cars, so we were on foot for the storm. It was EPIC! On the bright side, everyone was home. We've had a really early winter, and the temperature is dropping into the teens in the evenings. Thanksgiving is supposed to be in the single digits. Hopefully it warms up a bit before christmas or it'll be one long winter. We also had a zone conference at the mission office and we were instructed mostly on improving our teaching skills. Elder Usevitch and I have set some goals to improve our teaching appointments. We've found some of our wards have some pretty old families that seem to have lived there since the beginning of time. One ward has a family that spans 4 generations all in the same neighborhood. We've been trying to teach our investigators more simply and clearly, and some are progressing quick, but others are taking their time. One member family, the Hallowells, that we've been working with had been struggling to come to church, but they've been recently activated and we saw brother Hallowell get ordained to a priest on Sunday, which was really awesome. Some of the fruits of our labor arent in baptisms.

I've been digging down deeper into the scriptures lately. It opens up so much more if you go into the scripture study with the intent of finding something that you didnt have before. Instead of just reading, i've been trying to seek out the hidden treasures. They come, but not without work. D&C 88:118

Love,
Elder Wright

We've been exhausted EVERYWHERE we go

2010-11-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

We've had a bunch of awesome things happen up here this week. We had transfers, both Elder Usevitch and I are staying here in Kearns. We had to organize a lot of the transfers this time, because the mission is making some changes in how transfers are done. It pretty much ended in us driving elders around all morning. We have some great new elders and one new sister in our zone. Two of the district leaders are brand new, so we will have some leadership training to do. Other than that we are looking forward to another great trasfer in Kearns

We've been exhausted EVERYWHERE we go. Sometimes Elder Usevitch and I are a little slap happy and we just laugh when things dont go as planned. It all works out in the end. We have a couple investigators on date, but some of them we are working with have slowed down a little bit and want some more time to take it all in. One couple we've been working with are golden. Ritchie and Julie Ramirez and their 4 year old son Mason. Julie is a member and has been coming to church pretty actively for about a year, and now we started teaching Ritchie, who is not a member. He said he would be baptized, but he cant get sundays off work yet, so we're helping him along until that happens.

We were raking our land lords yard for service yesterday and everytime we got it somewhat clean all the leaves from the tree/roof/yard-down-the-street blew back onto it. We just laughed and did the best we could. I'm glad we're raking leaves and not shoveling snow. We've also been doing a whole lot of exchanges with Zone members, helping them out with all their work and all. Other than all that, missionary life goes on as usual. We had our usual zone dodge ball activety this P-day again. We all end up too sore afterward but it's all worth it.

Gospel's true. Dont let other people decide for you. Choose yourself.

Love,

Elder Wright

By the way, it's freezing up here

2010-11-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

Hello!

This week has been pretty interesting. We've had lots of success, in finding new investigators, though some of them will take a little work to get them to baptism. As well, we've had some great experiences with some of our investigators. Some of them are prepared for baptism but just a few hold ups. Michelle Aguilera was going to be baptized this coming saturday, but she says she wants to do it with her daughter, Kiana, who is 11. Kiana interestingly enough says she wants to do some more searching before she makes the jump into baptism. I've never heard a more mature response from an 11 year old. We asked them to read and pray every day to know the Book of Mormon is true. We are praying that she will recieve an answer in the next few weeks.

We've been going on a lot of exchanges with elders in the zone this past week. I got to go with Elder Costa, who is from Brazil. From his own mouth, he is the most american brazilian anyone would ever meet. You has no accent and has perfect english. We had a lot of things in common and we got to teach a whole bunch of appointments that night. As well, we are going on another exchange tomorrow, and i get to speak spanish for a day. Our zone is half english, half spanish speaking missionaries.

By the way, it's freezing up here. It's currently snowing, and it's all going to be downhill from here. I just have to hold out for *count on fingers* 5 months... WOOOO!! I'm so excited. We do have a car though, which is a huge plus. Last winter we walked everywhere in that mess.

Our P-day sport is now dodgeball! We all end up super sore by the end of it. it's the best.

Con Amor,

Elder Wright

It took 6 missionaries to get him there

2010-10-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I've got a lot to tell this week and a little more time this week.

So Kearns is interesting. It's the exact opposite of any of the other areas that i've been in on my mission. I went from Cottonwood, to Draper, to Daybreak... to Kearns... It used to be an old military town and everything has been pretty much to the ground. I think our area is the only one that has more non-LDS churches than LDS buildings. We have a section of government housing that we work in a little bit, We've been tracting, and we've run into our fair share of anti mormon people and also some plain crazy ones too. We have to be ready to stumble through a spanish conversasion if we run into any spanish speaking people. Elder Usevitch is pretty good at his spanish and we try to work on little phrases when we drive around. We have one of the mission trucks because our area has so many dips and gutters. The ward and stake leadership needs a little push. Everyone here is so busy with work and other financial problems that the leadership suffers a bit. The bishops have it really hard dealing with welfare and a ward that is 75% less active. We've been working slowly with the ward councils to help them to do the ward mission process a little better. Some arent doing it at all, and even one bishop told us his ward wouldn't do it.

We are teaching a few people, not as much as i'm used to, so a lot of our time is spent finding new people to teach. One of the ones we're teaching is a 9 year old boy, Koki, who was adopted by an active family. He's from the Marshall Islands! He speaks Marshallese, which sounds like a mix between an African clicking language and gibberish. He has a half brother who lives there too who translates for us. We're picking up some simple marshallese words but the boys laugh at us when we try to say anything. We have two other investigators, both who are really close. Michelle Aguilera, who is preparing to be baptized on the 30th of this month, and as well Jaime Fitzgerald. We've been working with a fair amount of less active families, which seem to be overwhelming the wards here.

I was able to attend a baptism in Cottonwood for Ralph James, a man that we had taught for a while. He had been attending church for a year with his wife and we couldnt get him to budge. He's originally from England, and he's lived here in Utah for a few years. He kept his baptisimal plans a secret from his wife and surprised her when she thought she was going to another members baptism. It took 6 missionaries to get him there, but he finally understood the importance of it all. We have a couple of baptisms this weekend in Draper. It's funny, becuase i've had at least one baptism every weekend this month somewhere in the valley.

All in all, things are going pretty well here. Zone Leader is alright, but there are little problems that pop up all over the place, and it cuts into our P-Day time pretty bad. I'm learning lots of big lessons sparatically as we handle all the situations in the zone. Elder usevitch has been a Zone Leader for one transfer before i got here, so we're both learning quick.

Not much else to report, Read your Book of Mormon. It does wonders!

Love,

Elder Wright

He's my 5th companion from texas

2010-10-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

OK so a million things changed and I have almost zero time left for P-day so I'll try to get everything in.

I was transferred out of daybreak, and now I'm in kearns. It's a BIG change. Not so much leadership support. Lots of crazy people. We've run into a couple already. The people are definitely more humble. We just keep running into less active members and anti-mormon people. My new companion is elder Usevitch. He's my 5th companion from texas. He's really really good. Super obedient and diligent. We are getting up early to go running. It's wearing me out and I feel totally exhausted all the time. I'm also now a zone leader here for the kearns zone. It's not too much new stuff, but it's exciting. Also, One of the people we were teaching in Daybreak got baptized last weekend. I was able to perform the baptism whcih was a really great privelege. He had some pretty big drug problems in his past but he decided he wanted to be baptized and go on a mission! That was super exciting! I'll mention some of the other people we're teaching in my next letter. I'm all out of time. Hope to hear from you soon!

Con Amor,

Elder Wright

P-day is now wednesday so I'll be emailing then.

New Assignment Zone Leader

2010-10-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Utah Salt Lake City South Mission

8060 South 615 East

Sandy, Utah 84070

October 11, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Wright,

I am happy to inform you that your son, Elder Rudy Wright, has been called by the Lord to serve as a Zone Leader in the Kearns Zone of the Utah Salt lake City South Mission.

In this assignment he will supervise from ten to eighteen missionaries. In this responsibility he will oversee the activities of District Leaders and in a general way encourage and instruct all the missionaries in his zone.

You should be pleased with his progress as a missionary. I am sure you will see in him many good changes and much positive development. He is a great missionary. Please continue to give him your encouragement to magnify his calling as a proselyting missionary, and as leader also.

May the Lord's blessings be with you.

Sincerely,

Bruce E. Miller

Mission President

There was this guy snoring right behind us during the whole thing!

2010-10-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

HI!
We had a pretty awesome week. It really flew by. This whole month flew by. I swear yesterday was august. We have been teaching lots and preparing a lot of our investigators for baptism. We have two this upcoming weekend, and one of them, Jordan Long picked ME to do it! He's been taught by a lot of missionaries in the past and has struggled a LOT with commandments, but he wants really bad to be a better person. I also loved conference this weekend. I'm not so sure elder Huber has a huge appreciation of it yet, but it'll grow over time. I loved all of the talks, and I'm really starting to appreciate the words President Monson gives us every conference. We were able to go downtown for the saturday afternoon session of conference which was super cool. We saw our old mission president, president Laney, as well. There was this guy snoring right behind us during the whole thing! Someone got up and shook him to wake him up, but he was out cold again in 5 minutes. We also ran into a couple prostesters on temple square. They called us 'dead men walking' and 'a big zit.' We sang a hymn at one, and he couldnt scream over all of us. Anywho, it was a real good experience for us to be at conference.

Anyway, Life's good around here. I pray for you always.
Mosiah 5:2

Elder Wright

I also had the chance to go to lunch with the mission president

2010-09-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

hey everyone,

We had a pretty good week. Some things were a little disappointing. Lexi Reay was planning to get baptized this past saturday, but her mom went into the hospital, so we have to push the baptism back a few weeks. On the flip side we had a really surprising event on tuesday. right after district meeting one of our investigators, Jordan Long, called us and asked us to come visit him. It was a little odd for him, because he wasnt really interested at all in coming to church, or in reading the scriptures we left him. He had been struggling with some drug problems for a long time before missionaries had met with him, and even while we had been meeting with him. And when we went by after he called he had a total change of heart. He told us he wanted to serve a mission! We told him he needed to get baptized first. Now he's planning to get baptized on the 9th of october. He even got up on Sunday and bore his testimony in front of the whole ward, whithout anybody asking him to. He really started to see where some of his friends that were getting into bad stuff were headed, and where the gospel could take him. He had definitely been humbled a bit, and he was ready for it. What made it even more funny for us, is that he was the last person in the world we expected to call us and tell us he wanted to get baptized, and better yet, go on a mission. People are prepared, or being prepared. Our only responsibility is to find who the Lord has prepared for us.

I also had the chance to go to lunch with the mission president with Elder Pizzey, another district leader in our zone. that was pretty cool. We got to talk about a lot of thigns happening in the mission right now. I went on exchanges with the zone leaders, (they are spanish missionaries) it was fun. I understand about half of what's going on when they were talking so I wasnt totally lost. I got to talk to Elder Burleson about some things that would help out my district and our zone. Not much else this week. Daybreak is all really young families, a lot of less active part memeber families and unbaptized kids. We have some things coming up here pretty soon that i'm getting excited for.

Love you all,
Elder Wright

1 Nephi 10:19

we'll have 19 wards to work with. WOOOO!!

2010-09-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

Molly Case Baptism

Hey everyone,

We had a pretty good week. We had been able to teach a bunch of our investigators, but none of them came to church this week. That was sad. But other than that, we've been working with all the ward leadership a whole bunch. 2 of our wards will be splitting right after general conference, so, we'll have 19 wards to work with. WOOOO!! I've almost met with all the ward mission leaders and bishops. I was able to go back to Draper for a baptism, for Molly case. Hopefully we have a few more here in the coming weeks in that area. I was able to stop into the Salisbury-Hurst family while I was back there. They're the CRAZY family that we were able to attend the wedding for last month. They need the most help they can get ;) Also, we were able to speak in one of our sacrament meetings yesterday. I am working on perfecting my talks written the morning of. This one ended up being written on two sticky notes. It lasted me abut 10 minutes and I even had to cut a bunch of stuff out. I am getting better at it slowly, but I still dont enjoy it very much... I spoke on bearing testimony and being a good example. Also, they built a new building in one of our stakes, so we were able to attend that and be there for the dedication. Also, part of the south-western part of the valley caught fire yesterday in the herriman area. they evacuated over 1000 homes. It reminded me a lot of all the fires in California a couple years ago.The wind here is pretty bad so that was fueling it pretty good and making everything super smokey.

We are working hard. I have been refocusing my efforts on my studies. I have come to really value the time we are given to study in the morning and and there is so much knowledge to gain. It always seems like 2 hours isnt enough time to get in everything. We are feasting upon the words of christ every day, to treasure up in our minds continually the words of life. (D&C 84:85)

I hope everything is going well at home, I love you all,
Elder Wright

PS The mission president approved board games on Pday so we have been cracking down on some killer bunnies!!!

Greenies biking through Daybreak

We had some emergency transfers this last week

2010-09-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

hey pops,

The report sounds good from home. School and corn. My leg is feeling a lot better now, but the bruise is still pretty dark. I'm glad ricey is taking care of the landcruiser for me. the district is doing... ok. It's been an interesting week. I'm starting to understand the area a little better now, and we're starting to work more with leadership. we also had some little changes in the mission recently that we hope will help us out, but I feel too many people are relying on structural things in the mission to increase our performance rather than the simple things like you said, obedience, humility, diligence, and faith. Elder Grow of the quorum of the seventy came and spoke to us this last week which was really great. Elder Huber and I are working hard to help the members in our area to do missionary work.

Elder Wright

I managed to crash into a light pole on my bike

2010-09-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I dont have a whole lot of time but i'll do my best. We had a pretty slow week. Things seem to be tapering off like crazy, maybe with school or something, but we're trying to keep the pace going. I managed to crash into a light pole on my bike. I'm surprised I came out of it with no broken bones, but I got pretty bruised up. I was trying to go crash free on my mission but it was unavoidable. The rest of the week was contacting and going by leadership in all of our wards. We taught a few lessons but our focus has switched to finding at the moment. A lot of the people that we are teaching have been taught for a long time and haven't been making many steps forward. We have a couple baptisms scheduled later this month, we're just praying hard that they will stick with it. A lot of this week has taught me how much this work depends on the Lord and our faith in Him. We are simply his instruments, and we need to be be ready for when we are needed most. It has been really tough lately in this area, with new companions, and a new district, but if I work hard the blessings will come in time. It is yet another test of patience and diligence.

I know this work is the work of the Lord. I embrace every moment of it. To share this gospel can bring the greatest joy to anyone just as it has to me, The gospel of Christ is the truth. 2 Nephi 25:26

Love,

Elder Wright

SOOOOOO, I got TRANSFERRED!!

2010-08-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

SOOOOOO, I got TRANSFERRED!! I left draper, and I'm now in the Daybreak area on the west side of the valley. Our area is pretty tiny, and we're on bike again (NO CAR!) it's alright though. If you ignore the hills all over the place and the constant wind, it doesnt take too long to get places. it really does seem like it's uphill both ways sometimes. Some days we have to work pretty hard to go downhill. The Oquirrh Temple is in our area which is really cool, we ride past it every day on our bikes. the area itself is very very organized. it's a pretty large track housing development, so everything looks the same. I'm slowly getting used to the area and finding my way around, but it's so easy to get lost when it's all so similar.

I left the Riverview stake which had 9 wards, and now we have the Daybreak stake, and the Founders Park stake which total 17 wards, so I have a lot more leadership and bishops to catch up with the wards are tiny, sometimes only 2 or 3 blocks. I have two companions again, wooooo! Elder Huber, from Amarillo, Texas, he's pretty quiet, but he has random outbursts at times. Also, Elder Franklin, from Lehi, Utah, He's waiting for his visa to mexico, so, whenever he gets it, we'll probably be back down to 2 missionaries. The two of them have been out for one transfer (6weeks) so I'm still doing that whole training thing. The two of them are like one missionary. They finish eachothers' thoughts and do everything together. I'm also still district leader, which is alright so far. I dont know any of the district members yet but I will soon. I hope the district does well, but in the past the companionships have struggled a bit.

As For the work here, there is a bunch to do. I hope to keep the same pace going that's been here in the past. we had a baptism this past Saturday for Kenzel Estanol. I didnt teach him a whole lot but we plan on helping his dad work towards baptism. I'm also getting to know our investigators slowly. We're working with a lot of children, which I love to teach. We spoke yesterday at a ward as well and i was given the lovely subject of the Gathering of Israel... I did alright for a talk written the morning of... (I still dont like speaking in church and i put off writing it until the last minute)

Anywho, that's all i have for this week, I love you all, keep the faith, always be an example of the believers 1 timothy 4:12

Love,
Elder Wright

We gave them a book of mormon and they gave us some indian dessert and milk

2010-08-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We had yet another excellent week! it was amazing. We had another baptism this week for Ariel Thorup, who we've been teaching for about 3 weeks now. She came home from girls camp and told everyone that she knew the church was true and she wanted to be baptized. Elder Neilson performed the baptism (his first one) and i did the confirmation. We kept busy throughout the whole week. We picked up a new investigator, Robert Newhook, who is from eastern Canada. He and Elder Neilson were talking about all the weird things that americans do. he talks really canadian. We also, ran into some people from India. It was interesting to talk to them, they were what they called, fundamentalist hindu. We gave them a book of mormon and they gave us some indian dessert and milk, and a Hindu bible, called the Bhagavad gita. we cant read it but it was interesting to talk to them about reincarnation and karma and stuff. there are quite a few similarities in the basic doctrines of their belief and ours. We were also walking through an apartment complex and we saw a lot of Jehovah's witness stuff in the doors, so we started making a collection of it all.

WE got hit by a massive rainstorm on thursday morning, but about 2 hours later it was bright and sunny and over 80 degrees. Utah weather is weird.

Well, we have transfers coming up in 2 days and we have no idea what's happening in our area. We are sure stuff is going to change in the district, but i have no idea if i'll still be here in a week. I might miss this area though, there are a lot of things that started to become a lot better than they used to be and it really started to take off.

I love you everyone, i hope you all have a good rest of your summer. Do good continually Mosiah 5:2

Love, Elder Wright

there were new investigators falling into our laps

2010-08-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I've officially been serving for 1 year! happy day. we celebrated by having a BAPTISM! We started teaching Judy Keane 3 weeks ago and she wanted it so bad. She's talking about going to the temple in a year now. She is definitely one of those prepared individuals. As for the rest of the week we taught so many people this week and there were new investigators falling into our laps. There is a black family that we were asked to stop by, and now they are all preparing to be baptized in september. Transfers are coming up in a week, and i have no idea what is going to happen. We also had a wedding last week that was super cool. We met a Bishop edgley of the presiding bishopric, which was cool, anyway, we're out of time so we have to go.
Love you all, keep the faith
Elder Wright

Omni 1:26

New Mission President

2010-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Brother and Sister Wright,

We have just had the wonderful opportunity to meet Elder Wright and we look forward to serving with your son in the coming weeks and months.

As we begin serving as Mission President and companion of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission, we would like to introduce ourselves to you and express our desires to love and take care of your son or daughter. Transitions in the church are everyday occurrences and we will do our very best to make this a smooth one.

We come from Fountain Valley, California on the coast in Orange County. We have seven children, six of whom are married and providing us with 29 grandchildren. Our daughter, Melanie, who at the age of 41and a special needs individual, is excited to serve with us as a “missionary”.

Our three sons each served missions and so we feel we have walked in your shoes and know of your love and concern for your missionary. We recently served a mission in Australia. We express our gratitude for all you have done to bring your son/daughter to this point in his/her life. During the next three years we have a sacred trust to safeguard each missionary from spiritual or physical danger. What these missionaries become while serving their mission appears to be the launching pad for the rest of their lives and we are very mindful of this. It is inherent in our call to have a sincere love for each of these young men and women and we look forward to serving with this strong valiant army of our Savior in this part of His vineyard.

As you continue to communicate with your missionary on a weekly basis, we also ask for your prayers on our behalf as you pray for your own son or daughter. Each missionary brings unique qualities and talents that will bless the lives of many who live in this area. Encouragement and support from home will always be a boost in the mission field. Letters from home are always a joy and strength to the missionaries. We will do all in our power to lead and guide this mission under the Lord’s direction. If you have any concerns or information that would help us better serve your young man/young woman, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,
Bruce and Elaine Miller

'The Great Green Jello Festival'

2010-08-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

yo everyone,

A bunch of stuff happened this week. I'm not sure if i mentioned this already but we have a new mission president, President Miller, who was just called about a month ago. We recieved a bunch of new trainings from the first presidency and quorum of the twelve, which are supposed to help us refocus on Preach my Gospel and helping us invite the spirit into our discussions. All the district leaders and Zone leaders were trained for 4 days straight at the mission office. We spent each morning and afternoon relearning everything, and i feel it will really help our missionary work. The district leaders now have to take all the new information and convey it to the rest of the missionaries. It's been a REALLY LONG week with the meetings, and with everything else going on in our areas and in the district, but I feel really prepared for the coming months.
Our stake also held what they call, 'The Great Green Jello Festival' It's pretty much like our stake's Pioneer Day. But anyway, there was lots of food and lots of green jello, and a lot of people. We decided to set up a missionary table and pass out stuff to the members but not everyone was super interested in our stuff, especially when there was rock climbing and face painting and stuff. To attract more attention we started preaching to everyone. I got up on my soap box and started yelling at everyone. We talked to a whole bunch of people and encouraged all the members to invite their friends to learn more about the church. If anything, we simply got our faces out so people know that we are there to do work. Anyway, It was loads of fun and we received several referrals from it.

The Gospel is true. Live it. Follow the example of Christ 2 Nephi 31:10

Love,
Elder Wright

In reply to an email from home regarding a question to how he feels the last year has gone Rudy wrote:

the one year mark thing is kinda odd. I dont feel like i've really been out that long and i dont feel that much more mature or anything, but at the same time, when i look back at who i was when i came out, i see a whole world of difference. Especially when i think about my leadership responsibilities. Leadership is wearing on me. when i was district leader before all the members of the district were experienced and obedient. Now it seems like all the elders in my district are taking steps backward. there are a few that strive to 'be anxiously engaged in a good cause' but there are others who must be 'compelled in all things.' We dont use any negative encouragement to get elders to be obedient, but sometimes i feel so frustrated because that seems like the only thing that will get them to be. It takes a lot of love and patience. everyday is another trial. I wish there was a one fix solution to all of this but of course, it wasnt meant to be easy. anyway, more to come in another email.

Anyone can go off the deep end

2010-07-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We have been pretty busy this past week, we picked up two new investigators: Judy Keane from california, and Patricia Rivera from Columbia. Judy is catholic, but a lot of her friends have been taking her to church and she is really open about everything we are teaching. We will probably invite her to be baptized during our next meeting. Patricia is married to a member, Jose, who actually was a counselor to a mission president in Columbia, and a bishop and branch president in california, but then stopped coming to church when he moved to utah. It goes to show that anyone can go off the deep end. anyway, Patricia is open to the church and she comes to church pretty regularly with her husband. We have one baptism planned for this coming weekend, Mikayla Mann. She had been taught FOREVER! Hopefully it will go through this time. The lack of communication with the whole family isnt helping the whole situation. I think the ward might be wondering why we cant get anything to happen there. Anywho, I attached some pictures of this last week, we went minigolfing on P-day, we weed-pulled for service. I got to use a machete, which didnt really work very well at all but it was fun. Also, our landlord's dog had puppies and they went out of town so we took care of them this week. They are about 2 or 3 weeks old now. Their eyes just opened yesterday.

We have been striving to have the Spirit with us everywhere we go. It really does come through faith and diligence. We have been praying and studying for the spirit to be with us always, because without it we cannot do anything. D&C 42:14

with love,

Elder Wright

We are slowly but steadily improving the area

2010-07-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We had a pretty great week! We are slowly but steadily improving the area and the amount of work we have here. It's insanely hot around here. We have been teaching more and i have been working a whole lot on my teaching skills because they arent as good as they could be. We had a baptism planned for Saturday, but we got a call the morning of saying they wanted to put it off for a week. It was dissapointing because we had been looking forward to it all week long, but mikayla is set for this coming week. We are trying to look for more committed investigators, and leave better commitments with those that arent super exctied about anything. We went and did exchanges during the week. I got to spend some time with some other missionaries in the district. They are doing alright but some need thelp with obedience. I also was able to go on exchange with the zone leaders, and I did 3 baptisimal intervies in one day. one of them, nealius gerber, from south africa, has such a strong testimony, especially for only having read the Book of Mormon for one month. My companion said that nealius knew more about the church than he did. I laughed, because he was such a strong convert.

Anyway, i love you all, let me know what else is going on at home.

Elder Wright

study scriptures DAILY! it works!

2010-07-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Merry Independence Day!!!

We had a pretty busy week, considering it was a holiday weekend. People were home, and we picked up 3 new investigators. Keeley Hartin, who is 9. Her family is less-active but she wants to be baptized. Her family just needs to bite the bullet and come to church. the other two were Meagan and Kelsey Robledo Dunn. they also have a less active mother, who wants both of them to be baptized. Our final goal for all of the families is to come to church actively, but there are so few people with that commitment level, especially when it comes to sunday mornings. all 3 of them have baptisimal dates for the 31st of July. Because of the holiday though, we didnt succeed at getting them to church. We have some others that did attend though, and we have one baptism coming up this weekend: Mikayla Mann, who was actually taught here in this area when I was here in September. Our area picked up some even though most of the mission dipped a little bit. For the 3rd of July (The fourth wasnt celebrated at all on Sunday) we had an activity at a church building with a bunch of missionaries. We watched a movie and played some dodgeball, which was awesome to play something besides basketball for a change. Especially when we could get 20 guys in on one game. Our district is doing well, and I'm focusing on helping them develop a love for study time and WORK!

It sounds like everything is going well at home. Take care. study scriptures DAILY! it works!

ciao,
Elder Wright

hey dad,

I'm glad all the priests in the ward are heading out. Some of the priests up here in Utah struggle a little bit. I feel that's one of the challenges of Utah, is that youth really dont have to fight for their faith, it's just around them all the time. But when push comes to shove, some young men opt out of going on missions. If you pass through draper, stop at in-n-out. it's in my area!! :O I wont be there though, it's too crowded. on your way up, my area is on the leftside of the freeway, right when you pass ikea, all the way to when you pass wal-mart.

We had dinner at the duffins, which was really cool. I never knew him myself, but he knew people around like the chamberlins and the hadas.

Our dishwasher exploded because i put too much soap in it

2010-06-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

Life is pretty good around here. Not too much exciting stuff going on. We had 2 baptisms planned for this last weekend but they both got put off for a couple weeks. It was a little disappointing but we figured they will still happen so we werent too bummed about it. I think we could have been more on top of it, because our investigators baptisimal dates snuck up on us and nobody knew about it. Some of the New investigators that we planned to pick up this week also bailed on our appointments, which was also took its toll on our moral. It's been a trial of our faith definitely, and we are both looking for new ways to pick the work back up in the area. Elder Neilson is learning fast, and he has a great attitude about the work and obedience. The district is also improving slowly, and I'm trying to help every member of our district in different ways, but it's wearing on me, especially when I cant figure out what to do in my own area.

Our dishwasher exploded because i put too much soap in it. woops. we also picked up some sweet stuff at a yard sale:waffle iron... crock pot... batman mask...patrick doll... It was a good week!

Outta time! The church is true!! Live it good. 3 Nephi 27:21

Love Elder Wright

Happy Father's day everyone

2010-06-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

We had a little bit of a slow week. A lot of our appointments fell through and a few of our investigators decided they didnt want to meet with us anymore. Our baptism that we were planning for today was pushed back for a few weeks which was a little dissapointing. I've found that the longer i've been out the more tired I am. getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder. I know that if i'm obedient though the Lord will bless me. There have been a few set backs recently, but I am pushing forward and trying to be diligent. Training a new missionary is also been very tiring, but I know that he will be a good missionary only if i put in my best efforts to help him to be. He is adjusting well to missionary life. He was very excited for the Laker's win this last week. Hopefully now his mind will be a little more focused on the work now that basketball season is over. The other missionaries living in our apartment will be moving out soon so we'll finally have the place to ourselves. It's tough training someone when there are so many other influences around him.

I know this missionary work is the work of the Lord. His eye is always watching for us, even if this is our time to be tested for our patience. If we press forward with enduring faith, he will bless and support us through our trials. Through our obedience and diligence he shows us miracles. I would not be anywhere else right now but serving Him.
With Love,
Elder Wright

hey pops,

Happy Father's Day, I hope it was enjoyable. You got to spend it with the missionaries! thanks for the chocolate souffle recipe. If I have time in the next few days I'll see if I can bake them up. Our oven is a little old/ghetto. It also seems to nuke whatever we put into it so i'll just try to keep an eye on it. The dishes I got are the exact same ones we used to make the souffles in, so we'll see if they come out alright. tell Ricey goodluck on her finals. I'm glad glenn is serving strong on his mission. Are he and julia still a 'thing'? I'll send some pictures when important stuff happens. not much exciting lately. we're teaching a gay investigator. surprisingly he is our most steady person at coming to church. we're giving him a law of chastity talk tonight. it's going to be so much fun! anywho, more in an email in a bit.

There was Elder Wright!

2010-06-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

Joe & Paula Platt are in our Ward in Mission Viejo. They sent us this email.

Hello,

We are in SL on business. Paula went to the Quirrah Temple. On the way in she sees two wind blown Elders coming out. There was Elder Wright! He looked happy, handsome, and radiant. "Tell my parents hello" he said. Paula cried of course.

It was a joy.

Joe

He's never been this tired all the time in his life

2010-06-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hola!
We had an pretty exciting week. I dont have much time again but i'lll include the important parts of our week. We taught a whole bunch of lessons and we have been able to put a couple of new investigators on date. A few of them came to church but we are still working on that one. One of our investigators Luna & her boyfriend wants to get married but we found out that their parents want to have a traditional wedding, which wont happen for at least 2 years. NOT COOL! We will keep working with them and help them to build a testimony. Elder Neilson is learning fast how we work as missionaries. He says he's never been this tired all the time in his life. I must agree. I feel a nap coming on later today. Elder Neilson also loves the Lakers, so he's been all distracted by the past few games. I think I got food poisoning last night at this health nut's house. This morning was not fun at all.

I am working to help build obedience and diligence in our district. I'm trying to show my love an concern for them in their missionary lives and to see if I can help them in any way. I still feel really inadequate when it comes to actually being a district leader. I had a great experience with a baptisimal interview the other day, a family of 3. All of them were so prepared and had firm testimonies of Christ. It had taken them years to recieve the answer to the prayers that they were looking for, but it is just testimony to me that answers do come, we just have to be patient.

I think about and pray for you all,

Love,
Elder Wrght

I'm also training a new missionary straight out of the MTC!

2010-06-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY JUNE!

I'm almost 10 months out now. That just doesnt seem right because it feels like I just left a month ago. But a million things happened this week. I dont have super amounts of time but I will include all the good stuff. Elder Collins was transferred out of here. He's in West Jordan now. I was consequentially made district leader. woopie. I forgot how much time it takes to be district leader. I enjoy it, but getting to bed early is non existent anymore. I'm also training a new missionary straight out of the MTC! His name is Elder Neilson, from Cardston, Alberta, Canada. He's a pretty cool companion. He's very mellow, but he's funny. He is learning fast and he is a very good teacher. He doesnt like riding bikes a whole lot, just because it's been 10 years since he has ridden one. I'm trying to help him learn obedience and diligence, but it's been difficult while living with 2 other missionaries. I'm also trying to break him out of his quiet shell when we talk with members. We also had a couple baptisms this weekend. Chasten Okada was baptized back in my old area in Cottonwood, which I got to go back and see. We also had a baptism for Roark Thompson here in our stake. The Ward was all there to support him because he's been a investigating the church for years. He was a full tithe payer and everything for a year before he was baptized.

I've been relying more and more on faith in the Lord and in prayer the past couple of days especially with these new responsibilities. It's been tough, trying to budget time between my district and also my new companion. This time is so important for him as a new missionary because it will influence him for the rest of his mission. I am only beginning to understand all the lessons of leadership, and I am trying to do my best to help everyone around me.

I send my best wishes, love you all,

Elder Wright

I am quite possibly the worst golfer in the history of golfdom

2010-05-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, I dont have a lot of time but i'll include the good parts of the week,

We tracted this week and we found whole bunches of people. There is some student housing in our area in one of our apartment complexes, and we found 3 people this week that were ready and willing to visit with us. tracting has been so ineffective in the past but holy cow, the Lord prepared so many people for us to find. We also filled up on lessons this week, which was totally out of the blue, we thought we would struggle to get 8 lessons for the week but miraculously we had 7 lessons plan themselves on Sunday alone. One of our investigators even came to church without even being asked. He just showed up! We will probably talk about baptism with him the next time we meet with him.

We also spoke at a couple wards yesterday. We were each planned to speak at different wards along with a high councilor, and so i spoke at our first assignment at 9, but when we arrived at the 1 oclock assignemnt the high counsilor wasnt there, so the bishop asked me to speak again. then as elder collins started his talk the high counsilor walked in, and so elder collins ended his talk early so the other guy could speak. Elder Collins laughed at me afterwards because I spoke the most in the ward that i wasnt even assigned to speak in at all. anywho, it gave us a good laugh.

we're planning on going golfing today. We went last week and I found out i am quite possibly the worst golfer in the history of golfdom. it's fun though, I was consistenly trippling the par. Hopefully today goes better.

Lvoe you all
Elder Wright,

Blessings to the max!

2010-05-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

hello everyone,

Not much new in Draper. We had a couple really great experiences this last week, we havent been teaching very much, just because everyone is so busy. We have been able to find more investigators this week though, which will hopefully help us teach more lessons in the future. We decided to go tracting saturday afternoon which is usually not very productive, but we didnt have anything else to do. We knocked on this girls's door and she seemed sort of interested and told us to come back the next day. We needed someone to come with us, and we tried calling a couple people but nobody could come (mothers day). We happened to see this guy at church who lives in the same area as the appointment and asked him to come along. He came and it turns out they shared similar interests in horses, and she needed to find a place to keep her horse, and he happened to have an extra space available for her. It was amazing to see the small and simple things that can bring about great things. We will teach her again today and hopefully we can extend her a baptisimal date, but we might have to work on helping her get married to her boyfriend first before she can. She is very humble and willing to accept the gospel. One of my only experiences that I have had tracting, and it is such a blessing, especially when we needed more people to teach right now.

One of our other investigators actually told us during one of our lessons 'you know, i've been talking about baptism for a long time, and i think i should just stop talking about it and just do it' He's going to be baptized on the 29th! blessings to the max!

I love you all, happy mothers day

Elder Wright

He responded by pulling all the plugs out at once

2010-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Not a whole lot going on this week. I got this huge fever early this week from the wind and the cold, which put us out of commission for a couple of days. It was really cold all week long and it seemed to be snowing a little every day, which made it really hard to ride bikes, especially after being sick. We are trying to improve how many lessons we are teaching but we need to increase our teaching pool first.

Elder Collins is having a tough time as a district leader, and I'm trying to help as much as I can but we just have some struggling elders in our district. We had some pretty harsh words spoken in our apartment last night but it all calmed down in the end. We are striving to become more unified and obedient as companions and as a district. One of the elders in our apartment has some trouble getting up on time so we are trying everything to get him up. we had 8 alarm clocks going at once on friday. He responded by pulling all the plugs out at once. We're not giving up that easy. We have more plans to get him up.

Not much else, love you all,

Elder Wright

We only cover 9 wards now in 1 stake, instead of 13 wards in 2 stakes

2010-04-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody,

GUESS WHAT!!!! I got transferred! I served for 7 months up in the cottonwood stakes, and now I'm back in the Riverview stake in Draper. It was a really weird switch, especially because I served here for 3 weeks back in september. I remember a whole lot of the area, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on here. The mountain point stake that was part of this area before is now part of another area, so we have maybe half as much work as we had before. There are also some investigators that we were working with 7 months ago that are still being taught... I've enjoyed getting to know the area a little better now that I have a few months experience down, and getting to know some of the people a little better. We only cover 9 wards now in 1 stake, instead of 13 wards in 2 stakes, so it's a little easier to manage but at the same time we don't have many contacts. My companion is Elder Collins, who has a track record of not being able to hang onto companions for very long. A lot of people say they cant stand him, and I admit, he's a little quirky, but he's better than some of my past companions. He wants to work as well, and he has about 18 months experience. He's the district leader, so I'm back to being the good old district leader companion again. Our apartment is really cool, our kitchen window has a view of both the jordan river and oquirrah mountain temples. If we didn't live in the basement we could probably see the draper temple from the front of the house. There are 2 other elders living with us as well, but they are looking for a new apartment in their area. They better find one soon because it's way too cramped with 4 of us. We also have a car which makes sundays and mondays much more manageable, but we still ride bikes on other weekdays to save miles.

We did a whole bunch of service on saturday and helped our landlord's son move out to west valley. We also spoke at THREE different sacrament meetings yesterday! Elder Collins likes speaking so it looks like we might be doing that a lot these next 6 weeks. We've been checking with the different auxiliary organizations to get to know the wards a little better lately, and to find out what kind of work is going on in the wards. Some of the members remember me, and I recognize faces, but trying to remember names is impossible.

Nothing much else to report. I dont know what kind of info you guys want so let me know.

Peace and Love,

Elder Wright

A pretty exciting week for us

2010-04-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
A pretty exciting week for us. We did a whole bunch of service for the Pike family. We baptized the two boys a long time ago, but they've been struggling to come to church. We helped them weed their garden space that had been overgrown for a few years. We offered to go back next week to help them plant all of their veggies, and we hope we can get all of them to come out to church more frequently. We also went on a few exchanges this week. Elder Bergmann in my district came here and we taught a few lessons. He was really good at using and applying scriptures in the lessons. It motivated me to look for more scriptures to use in teaching situations. Also, The Zone leaders did an exchange with me this week. It was interesting. Elder Ames came here and he taught me a lot about teaching with questions and remaining focused on the goal at hand. This whole week i've been preparing Elder Lundwall to take over the area in case I leave. Transfers are this week, and none of us have any idea what could happen.

Sorry I couldnt write more this week,

Love you all,
Elder Wright

Hey dad,
For sacrificing lunches last week, we could manage eating out/not eating out because my companion sacrificed giving up going out, instead of giving it up altogether. So we would head back to our apartment and I would study for an hour while he ate. Some places still give us discounts. One of our high councilors over missionary work has a son in the helsinki mission and we get stories back from him every once in a while.

I'm glad that some people are finding work at home. Tell Ricey to take care of that beach cruiser. It's my favorite. We had a guy offer to fix up our bikes. When we got them back, he called my bike, 'the bike from hell' because it wouldnt go back together again. He asked if God was punishing me to ride a 'tank' like that. It is half the size of my companions bike, but twice the weight. I love it though. free 50 free. I just need to get some new wheels and tires and the rest will work fine for a couple of years.

It was a small miracle in my mind

2010-04-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

This week was pretty solid. We worked hard and we pushed through the week. One day we decided to bike up the heughs canyon ward up on the mountain. It was a nice little climb. We took some pictures at the top. We've been trying to seek more opportuniteis to teach in the wards that we havent been in for a while. We are trying to let all the wards know we are there, even though there are two of us and 13 different wards. We've been helping a lot of less active people lately. One of them, Terry McNeal, has been going through a pretty rough time. He lost his job a while back and he's been unemployed for about a year now. We tracted into him and started teaching him a while back before christmas. He knew NOTHING about gospel doctrine even though he was a member, and we re-taught him the lessons and then got him to come to church and he eventually was ordained to the aaronic priesthood. His testimony is growing so strong, and he loves to learn more of the gospel and he asked us a whole bunch of questions about general conference this past weekend. We also just decided last night to go by the Martinez family to see how they were doing. Sister martinez is a member and her husband is not, but when we got there she was so glad to see us and she asked for a blessing. It was a small miracle in my mind because we were just stopping by, but we were placed in her path to be able to help and serve her.

I'm trying to learn more as a leader but i still feel so inadequate when I have such strong district members already. Sister malave in our district is planning on going home this next week, and we have been so grateful for her service. She is the boldest missionary i have ever met. This transfer has flown by, and I have no idea if i'll be staying or leaving next week. I'll keep you updated.

Love you all,
Elder Wright

hey pops, currently I am studying Alma ch 42, moving my way through, along with PMG CH10 and CH2. Also studying the missionary whitehandbook, and studying missionary trainings for district meetings. I dont read my scrips en espanol, and if I did i would do it during non-study hours. usually at night time if I had free time, but that has all but evaporated since being a DL. We do our studying from 8-10 in the morning. My companion is doing alright. He's starting to get the area down and come up with new ideas for teaching. He's starting to get to know the area a little better so I may or may not be staying here next transfer. He's a little ADD, so we have to refocus studies a lot, but part of that is my fault hehe... He's also sufferng pretty bad from allergies, but he refuses to take medicine for some reason. It's also kinda funny because we are in cottonwood, which is known for the cotton pollen that's supposedly coming this spring. We finished our sacrifice of sweets a couple of days ago. It was hard. especially over easter break. We saw blessings throughout the entire week coming from it. We decided to have new sacrifices this week. I'm not eating lunches, but elder lundwall couldnt do that to himself, so he's not going to eat out anywhere, just at the apartment. he's also sacrificing his lower gears on his bike. (impossible).

that's all i got

We decided to sacrifice all sweets and music

2010-04-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
This week was a little jumbled around. It was getting close to 60 degrees at the beginning of the week but then right in the middle it decided cool way down and to dump 3 inches of snow on us. Hopefully it'll warm back up again but it is expected to snow again today. Elder Lundwall also came down with bronchitus, which slowed us down for a couple of days. I spent one day studying the bible dictionary. It's more fun than most give dictionaries credit for. Anywho, we were able to watch general conference at members homes. It was all AMAZING! I think my favorites were the first presidency's messages during the preiesthood session and also the focus on the Ressurrection during the Sunday morning session.

This week we also decided we need to put more people on date to be baptized, because right now not many people are progressing very well. I'm trying to work on our focus and our goals more. We decided to have a personal sacrifice this week so that we would be able to achieve the goals we set. We decided to sacrifice all sweets and music. It was tough getting through all of easter without any chocolate. Every 5 seconds people would offer us dessert or candy or something, but we perservered. We still have most of this week to get through... We'll see if we can make it. Elder Lundwall is having music withdrawals. Not much more to report. Oh, we decided to ride up to the Heughs Canyon ward in one of our stakes on Tuesday. Holy Cow! It's about 2 miles away from anything else in our area, and it's on the mountain side. And at the end it decides to just take off straight up the mountain. We're planning on going again sometime soon when Elder Lundwall is feeling a little better.

All is well,
Love you all,

Elder Wright

Hey pops,
I'm glad the yard is coming along. and that you had an easter egg hunt. good luck planting anything in that square called bedrock. I am doing fine with my reassignement, dont worry TOO much about me. I really do enjoy the work here. Tell cameron and kurt congrats on their calls!

Edub

Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve!!!! It was amazing

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Yo everybody,

Hey this week was spectacularly slow. We are trying to pick back up on the work but some of our investigators are starting to lose some interest. We're re-evaluating our efforts. We also had an amazing experience! This last Friday we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve!!!!! It was amazing. For a couple weeks they told us to study these talks that he had given. One of them was Ask in Fatih, which he gave in a General Conference a couple years ago, and the second was a talk entitled 'Seek Learning by Faith' which he gave at a CES educator fireside in 2006. I strongly suggest that everyone read (study) the second one. It is really enlightening. But anyway, the mission told us to read those talks and study them a coupel weeks ago, and then they told us last week he was coming to talk to our mission! It was awesome. Elder Bednar spoke almost entirely about faith and agency. He was also cracking jokes right and left. Most people wouldnt think it but he's hilarious. It was more of a discussion than a talk. He asked questions and looked for responses. He called it a 'revalatory experience,' not a meeting. He brought out a lot of very good points about the Faith and how we apply it and help our investigators apply their own faith to develop their own testimony. Anyway, it was amzing. I spoke yesterday in a sacrament meeting entirely on his talk learning by faith. It was a good talk, but I couldn't do Elder Bednar's talk justice. Oh well. Read it for yourselves.

Not much else to report. Elder Lundwall is still learning the area and how to talk to people better. I'm still trying to help him in his confidence and making his own decisions. He really comes down hard on himself after we teach lessons and he keeps doubting his ability to teach. I'm trying to help him develop a sense of independence.

Two dinners last night. UGH! downsides of salt lake mission. TOO MUCH FOOD! I guess it's a good problem.

I love you all. dont change too much while I'm gone!

Elder Wright

A lot of changes this week.

2010-03-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

HELLO everyone!

I have lots of news this week. first...

I was permanently reassigned to the Salt Lake City South Mission. It has been dissapointing to know that I wont ever be leaving for the other side of the world, or in fact that I wont be leaving the Salt Lake valley at all. But when I applied to to be a missionary, I did so knowing that it did not matter the people, or the place to where I would be serving. I know the Lord has different purposes for me. I will serve Him and His people wherever I am called.

Second, we had Transfers!!! Elder Swanson was transfered about 5 minutes south. I am now companions with Elder Lundwall. He's a huge change of pace compared to Elder Swanson. Instead of 5' 6", he's about 6' 6". He's kinda quiet, he has a REALLY deep voice, and he's a little monotone. He doesnt express his emotions much. He's been out about 4 months. His past companions havent been the greatest, so it feels like I'm teaching a new missionary. He says that I'm the first companion he has has companion study with. He's also not too super aware of his surroundings. He has had two bike crashes and been hit by a car in the 5 days that he's been here. He's learning his new area quick though. I'm trying to get him to memorize the streets and the wards and the people here. I'm helping him improve his confidence, which he doesnt have a lot of. He's a good companion though, he wants to work, which is the best thing in a missionary. There are too many lazy missionaries and it is a blessing to have one that can get up on time, that can study, and can work.

Third, I was made district leader... Wonderful... It's interesting. I dont do a whole lot. The biggest thing, I give trainings (lessons) every tuesday to the 8 other missionaries in my district. I feel like a really young district leader, especially because there are a couple missionaries senior to me in the district. I also go on an exchange with the each companionship once during the Transfer. I take calls at night time to check up on each companionship. It's really humbling to be a leader of missionaries that are all working so hard, and I have to somehow lead them when they are all already going a million miles an hour.

So, A lot of changes this week. I'm trying to deal with them all at once but it's tough. This last week was really slow, party because Elder Lundwall doesnt know our area, so I cant really rely on Elder Swanson like I used to. I thought this last week I felt really lonely through all of this, with nobody to really voice any of my feelings to without scaring Elder Lundwall. I feel I must rely on the Spirit and on the Lord to be able to accomplish the tasks I have been given. I hope to magnify all the aspects of my calling.

I love you all, I hope everything is peachy at home

Love,

Elder Wright

we had jason pyes baptism, I almost forgot. He's awesome. When the Zone leader interviewed him, the zone leader was awe struck and said jason would porbably be a general authority. score for the win. the strongest convert I have had the opportunity to teach on my mission so far. he had lots of return missionary friends that helped him a lot.

New Assignment as District Leader

2010-03-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Utah Salt Lake City South Mission
8060 South 615 East
Sandy, Utah 84070

March 12, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Wright;

I am happy to inform you that your son, Elder Rudy Wright, has been entrusted with a new assignment as the District Leader in the Cottonwood 1st District in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. I feel very confident that he will use and further develop his leadership abilities.

In this calling he will be expected to be an example to other missionaries under his direct supervision. He will also instruct them in a series of lessons on how to teach the gospel and be effective as a missionary.

He will need your support and encouragement to do his best in this new calling. He is growing in spiritual knowledge and wisdom and you have every right to be proud of him.

May the Lord bless you with the satisfaction that can accompany the sacrifice you make to have your son in the mission field.

Sincerely,

G. Steven Laney
Mission President

I've been out in the mission field exactly 6 months!

2010-03-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!

I've been out in the mission field exactly 6 months! bragging rights I know. It's gone by way to fast so far. People still consider me a *greeny* though. That's alright. I'd like to think that it's been a tough 6 months but I think allaround it's a pretty cushy mission. There are members everywhere that help us out and give us rides and give us handouts. We're still working way hard, but without all the help we get from the members I think it would be near impossible. I think one of the things that makes this mission so nice is the fact that we dont do a whole lot of tracting compared to other missions. We work primary off referrals from members. It's not all that uncommon for a member to walk up to us and tell us they have a friend that wants to be baptized. So in that sense, finding people is easy, but there are usually the complications of people not keeping commandments or commitments. Maybe the hardest part for me is waiting for my visa. No news about anything. maybe reassignement? maybe stay? nobody tells us anything. I dont think about it a whole lot but it usually gets brought up from time to time.

As for this week... We pulled out the bikes again. Elder Swanson really has a loathing hatred for riding bikes and he'll look for any reason to not ride. I enjoy it a lot more than walking because we can get so much more done. also I dont have to listen to Elder Swanson talk for hours and hours about how awesome his life was at home (not really that awesome). Transfers are coming up next week. Something better change around here. If president keeps us both here, he'd have the most twisted sense of humor of anyone I've ever known. we've been together for 5 1/2 months now. It's wearing on me. Anywho, we had an amazingly terrible Thursday. One of our investigators decided to put off their baptism for 3 weeks. Another decided they didnt have to come to church on Sunday, and another decided they didnt want to see us anymore. That was way cool. We pulled through the rest of the week though. We plan to have some really awesome lessons this week and it's already been pretty well booked up. We put Jason Pye on date to be baptized on the 13th of March. He's probably the coolest investigator I've ever taught. He's getting baptized even though his parents are baptist and they dont want him to, and he has the strongest testimony of the Holy Ghost ever. He can really feel the spirit hit him hard every lesson, and he says he wants that gift to be with him all the time. WOOT! we're way stoaked.

Anywho. Life is good. I love my mission. I hope the world isnt falling apart from earthquakes.

Love you all,
Elder Wright

This Week we need to lay the smackdown

2010-02-22T21:39:00.000-08:00

Hola,

Not much new in Cottonwood. The work picked up a little bit since last week. We seem to be teaching more and more Less-active folks and recent converts. That's really nice and all, but I want some investigators to work with. We are planning on a baptism this Saturday for Bailey VanWagoner. We've been teaching her for about a month now. Her mother is less/non active and has some word of wisdom problems, but we hope that through the baptism we can get her coming back to church again.

We have one investigator that cant seem to make the changes they know they need to in life. Some people just dont have any sense of commitment, and no sense of responsibility. Cant hold an appointment, cant seem to wake up for church. They want to get baptized, they know it's right, but they have this mentality that it wont take any effort on their part to make it happen. This week we need to lay the smackdown on them to get them to make some very needed changes in their life. I feel like I'm ranting.

That's all for this week, I hope all is well at home!!

ciao,
Elder Wright

Pictures sent home

2010-02-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

I'm sorta getting the hang of teaching

2010-02-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was amazingly and spectacularly depressing! It all started while we spent 3 hours at the DMV while my companion renewed his license. The rest of the week just went downhill from there. On the bright side we got to stop at In-n-Out on the way back and I got a good old double double. Elder Swanson couldnt admit that it was better than any Idaho burger. But as far as the work goes, GAH! Everybody cancelled their appointments on us and everybody dropped their baptisimal dates. Totally not cool. We still have a million golden potential investigators, but all of them are sick/out of town/dont want to talk to us yet. This week we've resolved to focus on obedience, and prayer to keep our work up.

I'm sorta getting the hang of teaching. We went on exchanges this week and I got to go with Elder Garcia in his area. He came out I think in December, so about 3 months after I did. He's from Mexico and he's still learning his english. I think the funniest thing that came out of his mouth was 'Elder, you are sweating like a pork'. He's also an engineer like MEEE!! that was cool. He's almost graduated from some school in mexico but he decided to go on a mission before he finished. It gave us some conversasion to talk about. I learned a lot from him though, Because he's learning english he's always looking for ways to improve his language and teaching, which showed me how much improvement he looked for in everything.

It's also super warm here in Utah right now. It's been in the 30s-40s all week. Nothin else new!

Happy Valentines DAY!!
Elder Wright

I'm approaching my 6 month mark this week. WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

2010-02-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

This week was really awesome! We baptized Zach and Colby Pike this Saturday. I had the opportunity to perform my first one too! Elder Swanson baptized Zach and I baptized Colby. Colby is the blond one in the picture. Elder Crowder came back to see it because he helped with them a lot. Hopefully we can get the whole family to come to church every week. We also had a really awesome lesson with Jason Pye. His fellowshipper, Chad Dalton (Elaine S. Dalton's son), is a former MTC teacher, so whenever we teach Jason with him we feel really stupid because he is such an awesome teacher. We committed him to fast this past Sunday for a baptismal date. He didn't feel comfortable setting a date because he knows if he does he will feel outside pressure coming from everyone. So we committed him to set a date for himself and when he feels his own spiritual confirmation that it is right, he would let us know. It's kinda shaky, but it's all we could get out of him. He's a humble guy, but at the same time, he's really smart, so he knows that if he sets a date, there is no going back whether he likes it or not.

As for Super Bowl Sunday. It was not cool. Everyone cancelled their appointments, Jason was the only person that attended church, and nobody even wanted to talk to us. It was worse than Christmas, because at at least on Christmas we could join the parties. Yesterday, all the parties were watching the game so we couldn't really take part in the festivities. It was a very depressing Sunday. On the bright side, we have 3 or 4 baptisms expected this month. We are both really excited for them.

I'm approaching my 6 month mark this week. WOOOOOO!!! for being in Utah 1/4 of my mission. It's good though. I realize I'm called to serve wherever I am.

Love you all,

Elder Wright

This weekend we have 2 baptisms.

2010-02-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

This week, it turns out NOTHING CHANGED. Both of us are still here and we are both going to throw down for the next 6 weeks. At the end of this transfer, me and elder Swanson will have been together for close to 6 months. It's CRAZY. We get along pretty well. I'm not so sure if i'll still be saying that in 6 weeks. I hope so. We've pretty much exhausted all possible topics of conversasion. We've probably talked about every single spongebob episode in existence. And MORE!
This weekend we have 2 baptisms. Zach and Colby Pike. They are 10 and 9 years old. Hopefully we can get their whole family to church. We would baptize their dad, but he's not married to mom yet and they're living together. They're engaged, but the wedding is set for October. Boooo! We have a total of three investigators now that are living with their boyfriend/girlfriend. But we'll get them married or moved out soon.
I'm working hard and I'm praying for everyone at home.

Love,
Elder Wright

Tornadoes? that's psychadelik

2010-01-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

Hola everyone,

We had an awesome week. We really buckled down and focused on the goals we set for ourselves this week. We still have several potential investigators that we are trying to contact and whoever is here next transfer will have a lot of work to do. I personally hope to stay in the area, and to have a really good experienced companion. Elder Swanson thinks he's staying but I think I am. This has been his area for seven and a half months so I think he's outta here, but at the same time, I'm a visa waiter, so they might not keep me here if there is a chance I'll leave any minute. Who knows. I just need some change around here before one of us goes loopy. But I cant get everything I wish for. I just dont want a lazy bum companion.

We picked up a new investigator last week, Cliff Isom and he really wants to be baptized. His baptisimal date is on the 13th of February. Only problem is he's living with his girlfriend and we either have to get one of them moved out or get them married this coming week or it's a no-go. It's all kinda lame. Hopefully they both take it alright. We have 3 others on Date, Zach and Colby Pike are ready to baptized on the 6th, and I think I might be performing my first baptism. It'll be awesome. Our other investigators are a little hesitant right now but we'll get them there eventually.

I heard california was drowning or something and there are mudslides and stuff. I hope everyone is alright at home. We're have a super dry winter up here. Every day they've forcasted 6 inches of snow but each day we get maybe an inch, which all melts during the day. The ski resorts are apparently getting lots but we dont see much of that.

I hope everybody is having fun and staying busy at home.

........ (added after he read letter from home)

I'm outta time. I'm glad the house didnt wash away. Tornadoes? that's psychadelik. Good luck on the road show. I got the pictures you sent me. Surfs up! I miss the Ocean. Ummmmmmmmmm got to go.

Love ya

Elder Wright

We go to bed every night completely wasted.

2010-01-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody,

Not much new this week. It was sorta cold at the beginning of the week but it's definitely warmed up these past two days. (you know you've been in Utah for too long when 40 degrees is considered 'hot') We put several of our investigators on date. They are all in February, so we are looking forward to it. Downside, one of us probably wont be here to see it happen. But we'll see. If I'm transferred I can still come back to the area to see the baptism. We're focusing a lot more on our goals these past couple of weeks which had really been helping us push ourselves. We go to bed every night completely wasted.

Our landlord was out of town this week (thank goodness) but on saturday, the dishwasher kicked on by itself and wouldnt turn off, and then started spewing out water. I'm proud to say I used my handy dandy kitchen knowledge to shut it all down. We think the dishwasher is totally busted but that also means that we have a large pile of dishes in the sink that neither of us want to wash.I'm excited for transfers next week, I need some change around here. Hopefully some news on our visas will come through. Hope everything is well at home.

Hasta la vista

Elder Wright

Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf are probably my two favorite speakers

2010-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Hey it sounds like things are getting back to normal around home. finishing unfinished projects... I'm excited to see how the paveers and yard look. I havent gotten the letter yet but i'll make sure to get it next week. I'm glad that beast of a cabinet fit in the spot nicely. tell mom it was my christmas present from me :) I'm bummed that I missed the stake conference. Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf are probably my two favorite speakers. Read the Ensigns or watch general conference talks online for FHE. They are the best. How's Remy doign on his trombone playing? Ricey in school?

Elder Wright

Snail Mail--Nutrition at its finest

2010-01-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

Dearest Mother, Father, 2 chubsters, and poochy,
Thanks for the package! There was a lot of stuff in there. I don't even know what to do with the potatoes. I would mash them, but we don't have anything to mash them with. Maybe bake them. Or hash them. I have so much food it is ridonkulous. I got some pre-grilled chicken at the store and I'll try it with the Alfredo recipe. I don't trust myself cooking meat. I got some ground beef. When I cook it with onions and garlic, at what point do I put the beef in, after the onions before the garlic, or after the garlic? Same time? I bought some Cool Whip and Nutella so I can make PBJs with bananas and that stuff too (Elder Swanson wants me to grill it like a grilled cheese). Nutrition at its finest. Also, can you send me the directions on how to cook the chow mein? I honestly have no clue, and I want to do it right. I just made some rice and pasta for this coming week. I'll decide what sauces I want then. Don't send anymore food until next transfer because I'll probably be leaving and I can't take it all with me.
Thanks for the PJs. They aren't food, but they are totally like baller shorts. Also, back to food. Can you (dad) send me the recipe to make the seasoned rice for b-fast burritoes? I have eggs and hash browns but I'm still stupid at this stuff. I'm glad my companion is picky, because he won't eat any of my food. You should see our pantry. Bottom shelf is all cereal, pop tarts, top ramen, spagetti Os and peanut butter etc... My shelves are like pastas, chinese random stuff, sour dough, bananas, strawberry snowballs, etc... I like food.
Tell Ricey I'm glad I'm still popular among the band geeks. I worked hard to become so well known amongst such a distinguished class of people.
HI REMY! Tell Bruno not to get too fat while I'm gone.
Love Elder Wright

It really goes to show how people are prepared to received the Gospel.

2010-01-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I cant believe it's already 2010. It's crazy to think about. I've been out for almost 5 months now. It's crazy to think about how much time flies out here.
We had a pretty good New Years, We got locked up again and watched some movies and got some 'chill' time. We of course were in bed by 10:30 that night, so we didnt have much midnight celebration. I got a little sick this week, but I think I'm mostly over it.
We've been trying to find more investigators to teach, because the ones we have seem like they wont take the commitments we leave with them seriously. We recieved a referral from chruch headquarters this week and we didnt take it as seriously as we should have at first. When we finally got a hold of the family, we found out the entire family would be interested in taking the discussions. If all goes well, the whole family could make the covenant of baptism at the end of January. It really goes to show how people are prepared to recieve the Gospel. Especially here in this valley.
That's all for this week, I hope you are all doing well at home. Best wishes always.
Love,
Elder Wright

It was good to talk to you all on the phone

2010-01-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

Hey it sounds like you guys had a fun christmas break. It was good to talk to you all on the phone. It's cool that you are getting the hang of snowboarding. I'm afraid I really dont have much desire to snowboard anymore. It just hurts too much. Tell Remy he can shovel all of our snow. It's SOOOO much fun I cant even stand it.

My companion says he likes 5 guys a lot more than In-n-Out. I have yet to remind him that he has never been to an In-n-Out before in his life. I'm sure you saw the In-n-Out that just got built in Draper. It's the new 'thing' in the valley. The closest things people have to tourist attractions up here besides temple square. anywho. I sent the shoes home because they're no good for walking and they hurt too much to stand around in. I picked up another pair from Elder Crowder, which should last me a while too. I'm glad you got to know the office staff a little bit. sister warne is awesome. tell remy good luck with the cube.

RDub

Snail Mail-One of the stake presidents asked if I was staying healthy.

2009-12-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Hey thanks for all the Christmas gifts adn the love you sent. I've been wearing the PJ's and the ties. We really had a good Christmas despite being away from home. We went out and splurged some of that Christmas money on ties. I'm sorry to say, I am the owner of 7 new good-looking ties. I found a SWEET Black-Watch tie at Walmart that I know you would be proud of. I gained 10 ties this Christmas season, a pretty good haul. HeHe

I saw the Campbell's today (p-day)(the ones that live in Pacific Hills). That was wierd. They took pictures while we were standing outside Ross. They'll have already gotten those to you, probably.

Jason Pye will be getting baptized REALLY soon. His family found out he's investigating the church, so nothing's stopping him now. A couple of other contactS seem like eternigators (they won't accept commitments or don't have permission to be baptized). We are trying to work with both situations.

We've been walking a lot lately because of the lack of car and I've been exercising in the morning. I'm not gaining any weight any time soon. One of our stake presidents asked if I was staying healthy. I laughed because I've never felt better.

15 minutes left of P-day and I have to go fold my laundry. Cya.

Love, Elder Wright

We also had the chance to go down to the lights at Temple Square.

2009-12-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

We had an awesome Christmas! A lot of the work slowed down Thursday and Friday, 
but we kept it up. We had lock-down Christmas eve night and watched a couple 
movies and played some volleyball. We have another one coming up new years eve. 
We also had the chance to go down to the lights at temple square Saturday night. 
It was insanely crowded but still cool. My email time is up this week but I'll 
send more next time.

I Hope all is well.

love, Elder Wright

I'll be calling home on Christmas Day, at around 3.

2009-12-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hey fam,

One other thing, I'll be calling home on Christmas day, at around 3 or 
so. If i don't catch you at home i'll call one of your cell phones.

RDub

p.s. LOVE!!

I hope everyone has a Merrrry Christmas!!!

2009-12-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all!

ok, so uhhh. The temperature is getting a little warmer than last week, but it 
got all foggy and smoggy in the valley so it feels colder. It's wonderful. Also, 
Neither of us were transferred this week. Which is good I guess, because I can 
spend Christmas in an area that I know. downside. They took our car away. Bummer 
to the max. We're getting really good at walking and biking. We also did some 
tracting last week that actually turned up some good prospects for us. We had 
the opportunity to attend the Draper Temple last week, which was really nice. A 
couple of our investigators are getting really close to baptism. Jason Pye is 
determined to read the New Testament before he tells his family it's something 
he wants to do. He should have it all done before the New Year, then we can 
BAPTIZE him in January! score for the win.

I think we're pretty well taken care 
of for the Holidays. We have several people's houses we're going over for 
Christmas and recent converts to go visit. We're also getting locked up for 
Christmas Eve night and we'll watch some movies or something. maybe play some 
v-ball. We probably will watch UP. score 2 for the win! We're going to try and 
keep teaching lessons this week even though everyone is super busy and probably 
don't want to see us. I've been away from home for over 4 months now!!! I dont 
know where all the time went. Anywho, It's a good week so far. I hope everyone 
has a Merrrry Christmas!!!

Love,

Elder Wright

I got the package you sent me!

2009-12-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Hey, I got the package you sent me! Thanks so much!! I'll wait to open all the 
stuffs on Christmas. but I'll wear the scarf like every day this week. I'm 
sending a package home with some stuff in it that i don't need anymore.

Gratzi!!

I have never seen anyone so deathly afraid of the water.

2009-12-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

It's freezing, and Elder Swanson's license expired. SOOOOOOO... we've been on foot all week. holy cow. I think it hit 7 degrees when we were walking home on thursday night. We surviving pretty well though. I think I had 6 or 7 layers on at one point. And one of our ward mission leaders bought us some cheap boots so we can walk around in the slush.
Transfers are this wednesday, so we think that i'll be transferred out of here. We're not entirely sure yet though. It's just a guess. I dont think I could take another 6 weeks with Elder Swanson though. (he's grumpy in the mornings) My fingers are crossed. I also want an area with sidewalks, because our area has practically none, and we are sometimes walking on semi-major streets. We are going to try and get Elder Swanson a Utah license so we can drive again. We'll see. It may only matter to me for 2 more days.

We had a baptism this Saturday for Cole Carlson. He's a quiet little 8 year old and his family is a little bit less active. Elder Swanson performed the baptism. I have never seen anyone so deathly afraid of the water. He was crying right after his interview because he didnt want to get into the font. It took his family an hour to convince him to get in the water. And when he got in he had a vice grip on Elder Swanson's arm. He was very relieved when it was all done. I had the opportunity to perform the confirmation afterward. I was a little nervous, but I think I did all right.

Work seems to be slowing down a lot this week but we're trying to teach a lot.

Love you all,

Elder Wright

P.s. when you send letters, they have to get to the mission office by saturday, for me to get them on monday because mail gets picked up from the mission office before the mailman delivers the mail.

The President commanded us to watch TV while we were there.

2009-12-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Not much new to report this week. All the days seem to be meshing together. It
has been spectacularly cold though. I haven't been able to feel my toes all
morning. We walk around with 5 or 6 layers on to keep warm. Work has definitely
slowed down during the holiday season, but we are still trying to keep busy. We
picked up a few new investigators, and we have a couple baptisms coming up in
the coming weeks. Transfers are coming up next week on Wednesday so I may or may
not still be around to see them.

I was asked yesterday to perform a baptism for Cole Carlson this Saturday, but I might let
Elder Swanson do it. He hasnt had a chance to personally baptize anyone during the
6 months he's been out. We'll see though.

Last Wednesday was Elder Swanson's birthday. We got a call from our Assistants
to the President that morning and they asked us if we could come to the hospital
for the morning and watch an elder that had gone through surgery. Elder Swanson
was a little disappointed that he would be spending half of his birthday cooped
up in a hospital room, but that all changed when the assistants told us that
president had commanded us to watch TV while we were there. It was a nice little
birthday present to watch some looney toons.

One of our investigators, Jason Pye, is completely ready to be baptized, but he
comes from a baptist family, and he cant find the courage to tell his family.
It's been a little rough the past couple of weeks for us and for him. He knows
exactly what he needs to do and we as missionaries are trying to keep him
progressing, but we're running out of commitments to give him. We hope he will
take the step soon, and we have been praying for him continually.

Love you all,

Elder Wright

PS Thanks for the Recipe(s) I'll use it soon!

PSS I dont need much for Christmas. maybe just some ties and some nice walking
in-soles (size 10 1/2)

PSSS We have lots of Christmas parties, one of which was Nauvoo themed. PICTURE!

All I know how to make is Egg Sandwiches and Fried Rice

2009-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

I got the package right after I emailed. Thanks for all the food. Send more cookable food and recipes. I'm starting to cook more, but all I know how to make is egg sandwiches and fried rice. Those are starting to get a little old. Send some recipes for like pasta sauces or something. I know this is weird but I don't have time for snacks throughout the day, but I need some good meals throughout.

Tell Ken I'm so glad he decided to be baptized. It's investigators like him that we love. We also had the same problem at Kinsey's baptism with the water level. It went alright. We're just working now to get the rest of her family active.

If you could send me Glenn's mission address and email address that would be really awesome.

Tell Ricey not to freak out. Driving is awesom but don't DIE! And tell Remster to keep practicing trombone and piano. I practice a little every P-day and I wish I could just play a few hymns.

I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and I actually went OVER time. That was weird.

It's also starting to get chilly around here. It's not getting above 50 at all. I'll be sending home a package next week of a bunch of stuff that I won't ever use again on my mission. I keep collecting random stuff and I have to keep my posessions low because I have to fit it all into my suitcases.

Love Elder Mijo

God works in mysterious ways.

2009-11-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ok, this week was kinda slow because of turkey day and the BYU-Utah game. We 
didn't have many lessons because a whole bunch of our investigators were out of 
town, and the rest really didn't want to talk to us anyway. We did find 3 new 
investigators this week which was a big bonus for us. All three are 8 years old, 
and they should be baptized in a couple months at least.

Our district decided to spice things up on Thanksgiving by having a pie eating 
contest throughout the whole day. We had two dinners (bleh) and then we ate as 
much pie as possible on top of that whenever we were offered any (BLAH!!). Our 
companionship hit 21 pieces by the end of the day. I will never eat another 
piece of pumpkin or key lime pie ever again. I wanted to die. 

On a more spiritual note, We were going by one of our referrals on Saturday, and 
they weren't home, but when we got there a guy drove by and told us to go to his 
friends house next door. We went by and talked to him for a little bit and he 
said he would be interested in taking the missionary lessons. It was really cool 
to see that even though we couldn't get a hold of the person we came for, someone 
else was put in our path. God works in mysterious ways. We as a companionship 
are working on our faith to find and teach, and we are praying each day for our 
investigators.

I'm enjoying every minute of my mission (besides the pie). I miss you all and I 
hope to hear from you soon.

With Love,
Elder Wright

The Reward for Obedience is Faith

2009-11-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

This week was pretty awesome! We had a baptism on Tuesday for Kinsey Anderson.

She was the first investigator I've had the opportunity to teach from start to finish.

She is really smart and I know that she will stay a strong member of the church. We also had Zone Conference this past weekend and I learned a whole bunch from President Laney. The quote he used was "The reward for Obedience is Faith" We are striving to be be obedient to all the commandments that have been given us as missionaries, and as members of the church. WE must apply a principle, by taking those leaps of faith, before we gain a testimony of the power of obedience. We also had some in-depth discussions about Agency, and how we have the ability to choose right from wrong, and how there must be opposition in all things. We are still working with all of our investigators to get them to church, but some of them seem to be fighting against it. We think one of our investigators, Maryann Hanson, has had some anti-Mormon influence in the past, so she is scared to even step foot inside of a church building. Jason Pye though, is our golden contact right now. I'm sending a few pictures. We found a member with a leg lamp. We couldn't help ourselves from taking pictures. I'm getting along with Elder Swanson alright. I don't think I could take 3 months though. I'm crossing my fingers for next transfer.

Love,Elder Wright!

Winter has officially arrived.

2009-11-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
The work is going as usual around here. On Saturday we decided to walk to save driving miles. We were going about the usual business when, at about 11:30, a blizzard hit us while we were on the opposite side of our area. We continued walking until about 3 inches of snow was on the ground before we were finally able to teach a lesson. Winter has officially arrived. We plan to do lots of snow shoveling for the coming weeks as part of our service.

We also have a baptism tomorrow for Kinsey Williams. This will be my first baptism that I have seen start to finish, and I'm way excited for it. We also have a 40 day fast going on in both of our stakes right now. One family in each stake takes a day to fast for missionary work, and think about potential investigators for us to teach. Not much has come out of it yet, but we believe our efforts, and the efforts of the members will pay off in the long run.

We are working our hardest to gain the confidence and support of the members in our area. Other than that, not much to report for this week.
Love,
Elder Wright

I spent mine (Halloween) cooped up.....watching G-rated movies.

2009-11-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Familia,

My email home didn't go through again. I don't think the email system likes me very much. I'll try to do my best in a snail mail. It's sounding like you guys are having a blast with the Halloween Holiday. Mine wasn't nearly as fun. I spent mine all cooped up in a Stake Center watching G-rated movies. And, playing volleyball, that was way worth it.

Tell Remy I want to hear his trombone skills when I get back and I want Ricey to show me how to play tennis.

We had a really good week; we taught a lot of lessons but not so many people showed up to church. That seems to be our theme here. One of our new investigators, Jason Pye, is progressing really fast. He has been going to church for 4 months and has read the whole Book of Mormon. He just has to get a testimony of Joseph Smith and then he said he would be baptized. He's going to see the Joseph Smith movie at Temple Square tonight. One of our other investigators, Kinsey Williams is ready to be baptized on November 17th. He mom just gave permission for her to get baptized and we're way excited.

Some other investigators are moving a little slower. Zach & Colby Pike are some boys whose parents aren't very responsible themselves, so we're struggling to get them to church on a regular basis. Fortunately, the ward is more than happy to help out whenever possible. Majerle Morgan is a 12 year-old who has wanted to get baptized for a couple months now, but her dad wants her to wait until she's older. Her testimony though is A LOT stronger than anyone else her age and stronger than all of the less-active folk that we talk to. It really amazes me to see so many people admit that they are less-active, but then say they still have a testimony, but do nothing about it.

We also have an investigator, Craig, who is living with his less-active girlfriend. He said he wanted to be baptized, but he has to move out first or get married. The only problem is his girlfriend doesn't want to make nay sort of commitment and neither are going to move out. So,it's just at a dead standstill. Those are our main investigators right now. We're hoping to pick up some more this next week, but we'll see.

Elder Crowder was transferred Wednesday. He's a Zone Leader in Sandy now, which leaves me and Elder Swanson here in Cottonwood. I think my companion is excited to finally be in a leadership position (senior companion), but I won't let it go to his head.

I'm doing my best and I'm working hard. I hope everything is going well at home.

Love, Elder Wright

P.S. I'm totally making fried rice this week! It's going to be delicious!

P.S.S. Thanks for the stamps and the cards too!

We totally exceeded our goal for how many lessons we taught.

2009-11-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

HOLA!

I cant seem to keep track of the weeks here. They are just flying by. This week we totally exceeded our goal for how many lessons we taught. It was crazy because they all seemed to pop up at the last minute without warning. We also picked up a new investigator who has been going to church for 4 months and has already read the book of mormon cover to cover. He doesnt want to accept a baptisimal date yet, but he knows he will be baptized sooner or later. He just has to get past some family issues first.

We had some pretty dismal church attendance though. Halloween parties kept people up late so they didnt get up in time for church, and one of investigators sprained her ankle on the way to church. I may or may not be in this area next week because of transfers, but we'll see. Maybe President Laney will have mercy upon me and leave me here so I can actually stay in an area for more than 4 weeks. On the other hand, I do like moving around a lot, because I get to see how other missionaries work and what is effective (and ineffective).

It got really chilly last week, and we were walking around a lot all bundled up in scarves and sweaters. We had missionary lockdown for halloween and we all got put in our zone buildings for the night. Apparently, people dress up as missionaries on halloween and do stupid stuff, so they lock us up so we are all accounted for. We got to watch a few movies, like Monsters vs. Aliens, and Rocketman. For comedy deprived missionaries like us, it was amazing. We also got to play a little bit of volleyball without nets :( and frisbee. It was a nice break for us all.

Thanks for sending the gloves, they are going to good use. Please send pictures of what's going on at home!

Love,
Elder Wright

Snail Mail-I'm hoping the "weak things become strong" thing kicks in....

2009-10-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

10/26/09

Dear Family,

Hey, I included most of my life and the goings on around here in the email. My companions are running out of money so I've been spotting them a few bucks here and there.

We also spoke at sacrament meeting yesterday. I like took 5 minutes and the other two took 15 minutes each. It was fun....I still don't like speaking.

I'm hoping that "weak things become strong" thing kicks in here soon. I also picked up a bike on the side of the house that some missionary left behind and got it fixed up for free by a bike shop. Then I got a helmet from a stake centers lost and found. So, we're saving driving miles by biking. It's cool, at least until the snow hits.

Don't miss me too much. ha ha.

Love, Elder Wright

As we love the people around us, their hearts will be softened...

2009-10-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

This week has been a little rough on us. We've been working hard but it seems like everyones appointments are falling through all over the place, and everybody that said they were coming to church, didnt come to church. We've been trying to find meaningful things to do with our time.

I think we're going to resort to doing service for less active members in the afternoon, and visit investigators and referrals in the evenings. My companions have been together for a while and I have to do whatever I can to stop them from bickering like a married couple. I think they will get split up during transfers next week but I'm not sure if I'll be staying or going.

Our landlord is also a little bit annoying. I think he sees us more as his children than missionaries, because he keeps giving us new rules to live by every day. We try to pretend like we arent there so he cant give us more chores to do around the house.

We also had an exchange with Elder Epps in our District and I learned so much from him. He is definitely a veteran missionary. He taught us about sacrifice and Christlike love. As we give more and more, Heavenly Father blesses for our sacrifice, and as we love the people around us, their hearts will be softened towards our message. That was the brief summary of what he taught us. I'm trying to apply it as best I can so I can be a better missionary.

Love, Elder Wright

An Email from President Laney

2009-10-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Utah Salt Lake City South Mission

8060 South 615 East

Sandy, Utah 84070

October 22, 2009

Dear Brother and Sister Wright,

What a pleasure it is to have your son, Elder Rudy Wright, serving with us in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission while he waits for his visa to clear so he can report to the India Bangalore Mission. I hope you enjoy the attached picture of Elder Wright and me.

He is happy and in good spirits and we look forward to getting to know him as he serves in our mission. We will be happy to have him here as long as is necessary.

May the Lord’s choicest blessings be yours.

Sincerely,

G. Steven Laney

Mission President

Snail Mail Rec'd 10/23/09-We were definitely humbled this past week...

2009-10-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

10/19/09

Hey Family,

I totally had this sweet email written and then when I tried to send it, it got deleted and then I was out of time. I hope this will be good enough.

We had a couple of rough days last week. We got a little prideful after we picked up 4 new investigators in one week. We were definitely humbled this past week after all of our appointments started to fall through and people didn't come to church. All of our investigators that had baptismal dates fell off date, one even came down with the swine flu. It just goes to show how much our faith and reliance on Heavenly Father determines how much success we are given. Faith was definitely what we worked on most this week. We are also working on keeping up our study and diligence. We've slacked off a bit in those areas, be I know that if we pick it up and use all of our time effectively then we will be even more blessed for our work.

We did a lot of service this week for an inactive sister in the area. We helped her move to a smaller home in a basement of a member's house. It was a little frustrating when we were helping her and all her friends that showed up to help us were all drunk and decided to stand around to watch each other spin a basketball. Fortunately, they weren't there the second day. Since we helped so much, the sister has agreed to let us teach her two unbaptized daughters. Score!
That's all I got for this week. The time is flying by.

Love, Elder Wright

Snail Mail Rec'd 10/17/09-The Mission is Teaching me Lots

2009-10-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Family,
Not much to report on this week besides the normal stuff in the email. I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube from my companions. I got my own today. he he. The mission is teaching me lots. Tell Remy I can't tell Aunt Susan to send the trombone. Pops, I expect the backyard to be finished when I get back. Thanks for sending my patriarchal blessing. And for the snowflake. Got to go!

Love, Elder Wright

We picked up 4 investigators this week.

2009-10-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

This week was really great. We had Zone Conference and had some great training
from president Laney and the assistants. After October General Conference we're
required to wear suit coats all the time. I picked up this awesome three piece
suit from the mission office that surprisingly fits really well. It isn't
entirely mission appropriate because it's gray, but my other one is getting
cleaned my a member of the ward so I get to wear the new one for a couple of
days. Bell-bottoms though ha ha.

We're moving out of our apartment this week. The one we're in right now is a
little run down. We literally have a 10x10in. kitchen sink and a toilet that
overflows for no apparent reason. We're moving into a house in the area that is a
little better equipped for us. We'll be sharing the kitchen with the homeowner
though, but that's alright. We get a DISHWASHER!!!

One of the people I was teaching down in Draper was baptized this week. Danielle
Harmon. She's 14 and has been attending church for a couple years and attending
seminary and everything, but her parents weren't willing to let her be baptized.
I got to go down for the baptism on Saturday after we had a baptism here in this
area.

As for the work, It's going alright. We picked up 4 investigators this week,
which was really great. Some of our investigators are looking great, and others,
not so much. Parents get in the way A LOT. A lot of people have fallen into the trap of only believing the Bible
to be scripture. They cant wrap their mind around more than one testament of
Christ. We also have some trouble with getting our Investigators to Church. They
have lots of fellowship and people going by Sunday mornings to get them to
Church but some just cant make the commitment.

We also spoke at church again yesterday in one of the wards. My companion Elder
Swanson wasn't really aware of the clock and went 15 minutes overtime. There are
a lot of nearly dead/newly wed wards up here. The youth is a little nonexistent
in this area. We also got fed lasagna 3 nights in a row. gah. not. cool. One of
the guys in my district in the MTC lives in this area and I'm gunna try and stop
by to say Hi. Some of the houses in this area are GINORMOUS! I think our house
could fit in some of the garages. Also, the ward mission leaders house. it's
insane. there are like marble walls, and stone crown molding, and life sized
marble statues. We're planning to ask for a tour some time. It's crazy awesome.

I hope you're enjoying life at home.

Love,
Elder Wright

Snail Mail Rec'd 10/10/09-Missionary work is a million percent more effective when the members get involved.

2009-10-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

10/5/09

Dear Family,

I'm working hard. I have to adjust all over again to a new area here in Cottonwood, but I'm up to it. I pretty much asked President Laney to be transferred in a round about way and he moved me. We don't have quite the luxury as we had in Draper, like a racquetball court and two bathrooms, but I like it.

We went tracting two days ago. Totally pointless in Utah. One guy just told us to leave because he didn't want to hear it. Missionary work is like a million percent more effective when the members get involved. Also Ward Mission Leaders need to be active because if they aren't, all relation between the ward and the missionaries die.

I got both letters you sent. I think the first got mixed up in all my transfers, but it's all settled now.

Send some gloves, maybe mittens, and thermals. Those black ones that I used for skiing were pretty good. I got a good coat from the mission office so I'm good there. Peace out.

Love, Elder Wright

I'm glad I could learn from them, especially patience and anger management.

2009-10-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

10/5/09

Dear Madre,

A lot happened this week, I spent the middle of the week on temporary transfer to Sandy, with Elder Patterson. (Granite and Granite South Stakes) Then I was on companion exchange for a day and served in the Midvale south stake. And THEN when I was supposed to get transferred back to Draper, I pretty much asked if I could stay in Sandy. They told me no, but they did switch me. I'm now serving in Cottonwood with Elder Crowder and Elder Swanson. They are much more chill than my previous companions in Draper. I think President Laney knew he stuck me with some hard companions and he'd figured I had suffered long enough. It was all a good experience though, and I'm glad I could learn from them, especially patience, and anger management. They also taught me obedience to the extreme. Elder Manjarrez would yell at me if I got to bed at 10:31...

Anywho, after all that, I'm serving here in Cottonwood. It's getting way chilly and it snowed a little bit last week while we were walking to the stake center. I'm starting to buckle down for the snow. Of course, it rained on General Conference weekend. I really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's address on Christlike love, and I went to the Sunday afternoon session and heard Elder Holland's pulpit pounding talk on the Book of Mormon. That was really cool. I was about 20 feet from all of the apostles! Missionaries got really good seats. We recieved 3 new investigators this weekend, all with baptisimal dates for the 24th. Anyway, I'm outta time.

Love, Elder Wright

Snail Mail Rec'd 10/3/09-They make fun of me for getting a water...

2009-09-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

9/28/09

Dear Family,

Mail was exceptionally snailish this week. I didn't get any this week because I got switched over to another zone. I don't think I'll be here for very long, but I wish I could stay for at least one transfer. The area is a lot smaller so we can actually get stuff done when we have to walk. We went to 4 Fast and Testimony meetings, Wooooooo....

I'm trying not to spend money, but Elders Lugo and Manjarrez like to go to Applebee's and....it isn't cheap. They make fun of me for getting a water and half a salad. And, I make fun of them for spending 20 dollars a piece. I'm trying to be frugal. I get another check probably Thursday or Friday so don't be alarmed if my account is looking a little low.

Pops, I got some active culture yogurt today, but it's not a cheap little venture. I'll try to keep eating it, but it's not that good either....I'm also keeping my journal daily which is tough with so much to do before bed, ie, flossing, mouthwash, athlete's foot treatment etc, etc.

All the bishops know I'm somewhat new because my shirts are still crisp. I had Chinese food today. Utah Chinese food is disappointing. Hot and Sour soup was pretty much Sweet and Sour. I practically live off the Jimmy Dean B-fast sandwiches. So good. I made eggs this morning. And, I got a bunch of scripture study supplies. Life is good.

Love, Elder Wright

(On outside of envelope: P.S. It's snowing 9/30)