Faith and Patience in the month of May

Hey mom! How is it going? I am actually going to call you guys later today to figure out at what time I can call from Skype this Sunday! Woot! So excited to talk to you guys!!! Wow, can't believe that Steve died, how sad... loved that car... And so now, you have a new car? I hope you are not spending too much money these days haha

Hey, also, my foot is really perfectly fine! haha there is a very slight chance that I might have to get it operated on in the future when I get back, but really, it is doing super well, and I feel fine walking on it all day. The doctor said that it is healing really well too, so you dont have to worry about it at all, everything is great. Did you really end up emailing my mission pres about it haha. He's great, and I am sure that he will respond to you that I am doing fine. Here on the mission, they take care of me really well, so everything is all good!

This month of May, they have asked us in the mission to focus on an attribute of Christ that we would like to improve on and develop. I chose 2 because they go together so well - Faith and Patience. Faith in the Lord's promises and patience that they will come in time and in the Lord's time. I feel like sometimes on the mission, I get impatient, thinking, well, I am working hard, being obedient, where are the blessings? And then, if I don't see the fruits of my labors, I give up too easily, or lose the faith in the people or in myself. So that is something that I am really going to be working on developing this month - faith and patience in waiting on the Lord and strengthening my testimony and faith of the Gospel and every single principle that I teach. I know that developing these Christ-like attributes will really help me to have a better conversion in the Gospel and true happiness everyday here on the mission, no matter what trials are thrown my way. :)

Also, we just had transfers, and I am staying here in Quito, but I am recieving a new comp! And I training, again! I learned a lot that I need to improve on in my past experience in training a newbi, and so I hope to be able to really help my hija a ton. I trust in the Lord and I know He trusts in me with this responsibility again. It is going to be a great experience as I trust in the Lord, and am really obedient with exact obedience and diligence! :D

Also, this month, W. Christopher Wadell of the Seventy is coming to our mission to speak to us! So that will be an awesome experience and I am really looking forward to recieving a lot of spiritual strength and knowledge from him. It will be a great opportunity to progress as a missionary and focus on my weakness that I turn to strengths.

Anyways, I really love my area, the members are absolutely awesome and so ready and willing to help us out, and even though we dont really have any investigadors that are progressing right now, I know that this area has a ton of potencial and people that are ready to hear the Gospel! We just have to find them haha.

Anyways, life here is good in the mission. I know this Gospel is true and brings true peace and happiness and eternal progression and light into the lives of people all around the world.

Have a great week fam, and I will talk to you soon! :D

Love, Hermana Wright

Miracles of the mission

Wow, you talking about spring makes me miss the spring days in Maine. Actually, I just miss Maine in general, with the beach and the air and grass and trees... dang. When I get back, I can't wait to send a bunch of time in Maine before I go off to school again.

This past week has been really good. We had an absolutely amazing experience and miracle with an investigador this past week who got baptised. He has been our inversigador for almost 2 months, he was a contact of the past sisters in the area, and he has always wanted to get baptised, he had received an answer that the church is true and everything way before, but his parents were totally against it and he is 16 so they have to give him permission in order for him to get baptised. And he had done everything to try to get them to give him permission to get baptised, he had fasted, and recieved a special blessing, watched church movies with them, and brought missionaries and members over to talk with them, and still they would not give permission, and even through it all, he was so faithful and trusting in the Lord. But this past week, he went to conference, and he told us that when the prophet spoke, he felt the Spirit so strongly and felt that the Lord was going to help him to get baptised soon. And we went and visited him on Wed and he was kind of discouraged and all about his parents, but we read with him Mosiah 24 with him, about the Lord easing the burdens of the people through their patience and faith in Him. (Read this chapter over again, it is super good) and just as our investigador read verse 16 and 17, he stopped and looked up and told us that he felt an amazing peace and sense of joy, that Heavenly Father would help him to get baptised soon. And then, his dad came home randomly, and we all got super nervous cause we were going to try to talk to him again, and we prayed for strength and for his dads heart to be softened. And we talked to him, and randomly, he signed the paper!!! We were all on the verge of tears, we were so happy, it was an amazing feeling, and we said a prayer of thanks after his dad left. And our investigador just got baptised this past saturday! He was sooo happy. When he was lifted out of the water, he just had the biggest smile on his face, and he only said one word, ``Incredible``. The Spirit was really so strong. He is going to make an amazing missionary in 2 years.

Miracles really do happen here in mission feild, and it is really amazing to see them happening every day in the work of Salvation. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ here on the earth today, and that we really have an amazing responsiblily to bring our source of peace and happiness to all those in our lives. This week being Easter and all, we really have the chance to celebrate the live of Christ and all that He has done for us so that we too, can live again. I know that my Redemer lives with all of my heart. :)

I love you guys and have an amazing week! Love, Hermana Wright

Quito!! ;D

Ya, conference was absolutely amazing!!! Wow, I loved it! My favorite talks were from Bednar, about how the loads we have in life give us life saving spiritual traction to progress, and Uchtdorf, about how gratitude is the key to happiness and we should have a grateful attitude, not just list off stuff we are grateful for, and boy have I learned that in the mission! Those 2 talks I really felt were just meant for me, and answered a lot of the questions that I went into to conference with. It was really a great testimony to me about how inspired the words of the apostles and prophets are in these latter days to address the needs of the church and individual members. Really amazing stuff. I also loved the overall theme of love and showing kindness and giving service that is so needed in the world today. If that is not a call to action, I dont know what is!

That is great about Sarah's recitle, I wish I could have been there to see her, must have been really amazing. Yay! Spring! Here it is warmer in Quito than where I was before, and it is really great experience city life! They have such american food here, makes me so happy :D And a real mall!!! Gringo land!! haha good stuff. And my comp is from Peru, from the coast and has very little time left in her mission, so I am learning a ton from her, and we are both keeping each other very animated and motivated with the work of salvation! The members here are great as well, super motivated to work with us and just great people, always happy and laughing.

But the second day I was here in my new sector, I fractured my foot :(
Here is what went down - I was just walking along, a happy missionary, and BAM! random hole in the ground! welcome to quito haha and ya, now I have a fractured foot... :( but ya know, the x rays are pretty dang cool! it's not too bad though, I spent a day in the hospital and I only had crutches for another day, and now I am working again! woot woot! Miracle of the mission, it is really healing soo fast! and I am actually really grateful for this experience, cause I was thinking that I would have to go home, and I was like NOOOOOOOOOO (I was on the verge of tears thinking about if I had to go home because of this) but ya! Now I am just SUPER grateful for everyday that I am blessed with here on the mission! :D Always be grateful for the opportunities and experiences you are blessed with from the Lord.

Dont worry about me, life is good, and I trust in the Lord with every experience working out to my good, to some lesson learned or attribute of Christ developed.

Hope all is good back there, and say hi to everyone for me!!! Love you! Have a great week!

Hermana Wright

Cambios de Emergenica!!! cray cray

Wow that is awesome! Thanks for sharing that testimony mom! Sounds like you guys are all doing really well, which is awesome.

We just had emergency transfers yesterday, and I am now in Quito! In the middle of the city and it feels sooo weird to be here, from having just come from pure country and hills and now we are in crowded streets filled with cars and buildings and latinos. It feels like a different mission honestly to be here. And I was a little sad to be leaving my first area of the mission and all the awesome ward members there, and our converts, and we had an awesome zone there as well, and everything was just so familiar and normal, but I am now in my second area of the mission!!! YEAH! I feel totally out of my comfort zone and it is going to be awesome and different and exciting working here, and I just feel super grateful to be here right now! And there is Subway here!! And somewhat normal food!!! haha que bendicion.

Life is good here, and everything is going super great, although I was kinda sick this past week, I am feeling a lot better, and here in Quito the food is more trustworthy, so that is a good thing as well. My new comp is from Peru, from the coast, and has very little time left in her mission, so I know that I am going to learn a ton from her, and I am super excited for that! I did have to leave my hija in Otavalo, but I know that she is going to learn a ton from her new comp and I am super excited for her, although a little sad that I will not be able to finish training her.

Other than that, things are good here, and I am super excited for conference this weekend!!!! And Easter!!! :D Hope all is good back home, and I love you and miss you a lot! I will let you know all about how different Quito is from my past area next week. Love you! Have a great week!

Hermana Wright

Carnival!!!! Woot!

Well, this week in Ecuador and especially in Otavalo is Carnival, which is basically a holiday where everyone throws foam and water and dirt and water balloons and eggs and flour and whatever else they can find at everyone else haha. It is actually super fun. Like we will be walking along the street and out of nowhere, water balloons will drop from the the buildings above us, right in front of us haha. People have really good aim here. We have almost gotten hit multiple times from super far distances. Also, people are spraying foam litterally EVERYWHERE. They drive by in cars and busses with the windows open and spray foam at the people walking by, or people will walk around armed with water balloons ready to throw at any random person. Needless to say, me being a missionary and a gringa, I am like a double target and can't walk around Otavalo without getting sprayed multiple times with foam. Hahaha it is absolutely the greatest! But dont worry, I bought my own bottle of spray foam for defense. hahaha it is absolutely hilarious in Otavalo right now though, everyone walks around with flour and egg in their hair and on their clothes, and there is foam everywhere. I dont really understand why we dont have this holiday in the US, cause it would be EPIC. But it goes on here for 4 days and tomorrow is the worst day they are telling me. Wish me luck haha. 

Also, you know you're in Ecuador when during church little kids walk around with beetles like 2 inches big, and the moms are laughing about it, like 'Oh how cute are our kids' hahahah I pretty much love the people here. 

Oh yeah, and I got bit by a dog for the second time as a missionary, on the same leg too! Gahh I just have really bad luck with dogs I guess. And I think that Satan posses some to be honest. But I guess there is opposision in all things haha. We were on the way to pick up an absoluting amazing family for church too. They are sooo amazing! We found them contacting and the mom said, 'Oh I'm a member of the church, and I was just thinking about returning back to church when you guys knocked on the door!' How amazing is that. And we are teaching her husband and little girl, who aren't members and they are most humble type of people. Gahh it makes me so happy to be able to teach them. They have a million questions and the husband is already super excited to recieve the Priesthood after his baptism so that he can give blessings to their kids, and they can have an eternal famiily. He also is super happy that he can do baptisms for the dead for his grandmother and other family. And they have their baptismal date coming up soon, and I am soo happy for them! God really works in amazing ways and I am so happy that I can be a part of the work of salvation here in Ecuador. :)

Anyways, love you! And hope you have an amazing week! 

Love, Hermana Wright

Training :D

MOM. Oh my goodness. I just barely got the package that the Shaws sent to me for Christmas, and it was soooo nice of them!!!! Can you please tell them thank you? I sent a letter to them a couple of weeks ago, but I didnt say anything to them about the package cause I just barely got it this past thursday even though they sent it like December 11th haha. That is how much packages get delayed to get here haha. Please tell them thank you!!!! It meant the absolute world to me! And all stuff I needed! haha I dont know how they knew, but man... Thank you. :)

And you need to write me earlier on Mondays so I get your email before I leave the internet place haha.

I also got the letters from the Relief Society sisters and holy crap.... SO NICE!!! I pretty much almost cried, it just meant the world to me. Please tell them all thank you!!!!! It is so good to hear that the Sanford ward is doing well :) It just made me realize how much I miss them all, haha... It makes me super grateful to be a part of the Sanford ward family. I can't wait to return back and see everyone!! gahh it will be great.

Haha yes, the weather here is Otavalo is mellow as always. Makes me grateful to be here, that's for sure. Me and my hija are doing really well, we get along really well and are really learning a ton together, which is great! She is sooo much shorter from me, and is from Lima Peru so she talks in spanish super fast!! haha but it is great, we have been having a great time together, and it is definetly a learning experience for me, and I am so grateful that I have the chance to help her start off her mission right, and be an awesome missionary!! She is super cute though, and has a really good sense of humor, which is always the best! We are really trying to improve as missionaries each day, and life is good. :D Being a trainer really helps me focus on what I need to work on to improve, and it really helps me be out of comfort zone and learn and grow. Service is the best though. I love being here serving these people :)

Keep being awesome, always look for ways to share the gospel, the members are really the key to missionary work.

Thanks for everything! Oh and how are Sam and Matt, have you heard from them lately?

Have a great week! Love, Hermana Wright

Transferss

Transfers... man a lot of crazy stuff happened yesterday. I am pretty much a mess right now... my amazing comp just left me, we were both balling and almost got hit by a bus haha. and I am going to be staying in my sector and training a brand new missionary... I couldn't sleep at all last night... this is probably the hardest thing for me right now. I just feel so inadequite.. man. I know I just have to trust in the Lord, but it's hard to think that I am now here, on my own, training someone, mi hija, and I am in charge of everything, in charge of the work here in my sector, in charge of making sure that she starts her mission well and learns everything she needs to learn, and that she is happy and everything. I am just so scared of failing I guess... But I leave for Quito on Wednesday to pick up my new missionary who is coming straight from the MTC... oh man... crazy stuff. I really do know that I am going to learn a ton from this though, it's true that Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to grow and really reach our potencial. I'm not really one to go out of my comfort zone too often, and this is like miles out of my comfort zone, but I know that I will learn a lot, and I know that this is the Lord's work and if I am humble and obedient and try my absolute best, we will have a lot of success in the next coming weeks... it's going to be hard though, but that's okay, no one said it would ever be easy.

And I am excited... a bit haha. I'm just pretty nervous and thinking about the million things that I have to do and have to remember and everything. But it will all be good, I know that I will learn a ton, and I know that I just have to trust in the Lord. :)

Also, we are doing a thing in the whole mission called, The Faith of Febuary brings the Miracles of March. So everyone in the mission is sacrificing listening to church music in the apartment, and doing a personal sacrifice as well. We also will be sacrificing haveing activities as zones on Mondays and stuff. For my personal sacrifice, I chose to sacrifice one of my favorite things- sleep haha, so every morning instead of getting up at 6.30, I will getting up at 6 and reading the Book of Mormon for a half hour woot woot. It's going to be great, and I know that these sacrifices are really going to help us to see miracles in the work of salvation in March. :D

Anyways, I am doing really well, nervous, but that's okay, it will all be good. I almost only have a year left in the mission!!! Crazy stuff. I really have to make the most out of everyday, time goes by so fast on the mission. But it's great stuff, and I am learning a ton, and love the people here, like always.

Thanks for the support and Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Hermana Wright