"I love this cute grandma."

"I love this cute grandma."

Friday, September 30, 2011

"Learn to Laugh"

From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:53 PM
Subject: "Where you are it is always good weather, ALWAYS"

There is in the mission field the tendency to be discouraged. Sometimes a missionary will tell me, " I have had just a miserable day. Everything has gone wrong, and I am discouraged. It just isn't going to go right. I feel very depressed." Should that be you, I would say, " Well, I am glad to hear that. At least I know you are normal.! DId you know its not either normal or healthy to be on cloud 9 all of the time?" -Elder Packer

Some would say that I ( elder wright ) am happy and on cloud 9 all of the time, but this week has showed to me that I am compleltly "normal," haha. It has been a long week here in West Point. Walking 6-10 miles a day, on the streets for 9 hours straight with no chance to have a break, sweating from every pore, in 100% humity, and maybe if we are lucky by the end of the day having a chance to talk to 1 person ( not always positive ). This definitely will get old really fast. But on monday as I was walking, a familiar story came into my head, and as I walked on the streets I just died of laughter. I was thinking of one of my favorite talks. I want to share a part with you now, that helps me to keep going, each and every day of my life. " Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to adam? Or have you had an encounter with the overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore headed victim? THERE IS AN ANTIDOTE FOR TIMES SUCH AS THESE: LEARN TO LAUGH. The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable!" -Elder Wirthling. So lets recap a few incidents in which I had to use this fantastic antidote in my life this week. 1. Lets start with monday, we had district meeting from 1130-1230 and than Elder Chang and I had finding planned for the rest of the day. That means we would be walking the streets for at least 9 hours. Well, the end of the day came and we had a great day, then I thought I would talk to one last person before I went in for the night, try and give him his salvation and what not. Well, instead he gave me his cup of boiling hot coffee which indeed stained my suit ruining it. laughed. 2. Going up to my previous area of service trying to help those missionaries recover recent investigators that have left since I left. We had a lesson with me and the new missionary, well the investigator, my best friend, called me that night and said he will never in his life see that missionary again. Laughed. ( broke my heart but I know Heavenly Father has a plan for him. Right now I am not sure what it is, nor is he ) 3. We had a typhoon this week and were locked in our houses for a full 24 hours, no food, no water, laughed 4. I was walking down the stairs as we were finding in my last suit that I owned. Slipped and ripped the pants all the way from the crouch down to the ankle, that was a fun hour walk home, laughed. 5. A man thought it would be funny to spit in my face, laughed 6. We were contacting a lady who is from Hong Kong. I'm talking chinese and she says in chinese, " I don't understand english. " Well mam I'm speaking chinese! LAUGHED. Those are just a few of the many incidents I had an opportunity to use this antidote in my life and I'm so grateful for it. The joys of a mission. These are all perfect moments that I had an opportunity to grow close rto many h.f., because I could have reacted in so many different ways, but where would that have got me? This journey out here is an emotional rollar coaster and I am so grateful for it. Through each and every trial, we are able to learn so much and continue onward on the path of righteousness to return to our Father in Heaven again. A mission is the most rewarding thing, yes, there is a lot of trials and hard times, but when you focus on the blessings of a mission its then that you will start to love your time out in the field. When you truely love the people with all your heart and are willing to do anything for them, it's then that you are fulfulling your purpose as a representative of christ.

" I thnk a friend is someone who will alays be around you whenever you face challenges and difficulties in your life, to give you a hand and being sincere and trust each other anytime" -19 years old
" I thnk a friend is a kind of support, there will have so many happen in everyones life and can share the things with friend no matter happy or unhappy" -45 years old
" friend means to me he or she will be nice to you and want to stay with you through thick and thin, no matter what happens, they will love sharing their feelings with you and you with them" -22 years old
"I think real friends understand peoples situations, they trust each other. They are like family outside of the homes, to me sometimes friends are one way Jesus Christ will show his love to us because no body can survive in this tough world with out family but because we don't always have families Heavenly Father will put friends in our paths as we go to work, church, and school. Its just one way Christ shows his love for us." -17 years old
"Somebody you treat like family" - 19 years old
"Friends mean the world to me, really. Sometimes like family. I feel so relaxed and comfortable with him or her. No need to pretend. ALways so friendly towards each other. I can do what I want to do and say what I want to say and he or she will always support and love me. They wont ever judge or critize me or my opinions. We really love each other and we both know it. We are always there for each other." -21 years old
"The ultimate friend to me is Jesus Christ " - 6 years old
DnC 121: Thy friend will stand by thy side
Ex 33:11 Lord spoke unto moses...as a man speaketh to his friend
Job 42:10 pray ye for your friends ( pray ye for your enemies for one day they will be your best friends )
Proverbs 17:17 friend loveth at all times
27:17 Iron sharpenth an iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend
John 15:13 That a man layeth down his own life for his friend
What are you willing to do for your friends? I was given a chance to do a sharing on friends.. so I asked a few of my friends and above are the answers that I have recieved. What does it really take to convert our investigators, friends, families, loved ones, collegaues, class mates, and people we see as we walk on the streets? Of course the gift of the holy ghost, without we can not do anything and there will be no conversion. But how can we make them feel more comfortavle so they can feel the holy ghost easier, faster and stronger? Through our relationship with them... they are not just numbers to us as missionaries, they are our best friends from the pre-exsistance! They are waiting for us to find them again. These are our best friends and Heavenly Father is and has been preparing them for a long time. When we see them, we need to do the best we can to help them remember us, one way is through sharing our testimonies with them because it will bring all unto their remembrance. Through our testimonies they will hear bit and pieces of their own testimonies they once had and still have! Friends are so important in this world. As a missionary I have come to realize the importance of friendship. A lot of missionaries come out into the field and want to get the highest numbers, set records, and beat everyone elses numbers. I have come to find out for myself thats a bunch of bull crap. That is not why we are here. We are here to find our best friends, to love and support them through their lives. Sometimes, they don't need to be taught the gospel day after day, sometimes all they need is your example. Sometimes all they need is your friendship. Thats where conversion starts with some people. Everyone is different but as I was flipping through the childrens hymn book I came across a song, I'm not sure the melody or tune of it but the lyrics hit me. I will share them with you now. "1. I'm much to young to go abroad to teach and preach the word of god, but I can show I know it's true, quite simply by the things I do. 2. The people in my neighborhood will judge the gospel bad or good by how I act at work and play, and not just on the sabbath day. 3. I'll take my friend to church with me, where I will act with dignity, my revrence and my happy face will tell him its a sacred place. 4. In EVERYTHING I do he'll see I am what I profess to be, Then when the elders find his door, he ll say " come in and tell me more. " Sometimes through our actions in our daily lives people are being converted and can feel of the holy ghost. Learn to laugh, and love everyone for who they are. Be the friend someone needs you to be. This email is all over the place, but remember come what may and love it. Hong kong is great now that we are allowed out of our apartments again haha! love you all and keep up the great work!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hello from West Point, Hong Kong

From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 8:48 PM
Subject: hello

Hey, its me Elder Wright and I can't tell you how happy I am to email you today. We have just been having a blast in this new area, but we have had our challenges. Coming into this area, the previous elders did not have any investigators, or recent converts, or less actives that they were actively visiting and teaching, so I knew that Elder Chang and I had our work cut out for us. West Point is a very special place, a lot of construction, thousands of high rises and billions of people, as well as, all these great worldly features. This place has had a horrible reputation for missionary work. When I got told I was moving here, many said, " oh good luck Elder Wright, that place hasn't had success for a long time ." " that ward is awful and doesn't help with the work at all. " Many other negative things about the area, and every single time I heard that, it just put a huge smile on my face because I knew the Lord sent me to this area to change what everyone thinks of it. To involve the ward in everything, to develop a strong relationship with them, to find investigators to teach, to bring less actives back unto the fold once again, and to make this place have a nice little ring to it when others get called to serve here! We will be having a baptism for a young man named Benjamin next week, and he is so excited. Benjamin is special, he did research on the church, and found out for himself that it was true through our church online website and other articles and then came to the church and found us missionaries. That shows to me that the Lord is always preparing people, and then on the other hand, other people need to be prepared and thats my job. I have recently come to the conculsion while talking to other missionaries and friends, that the key to missionary work is the members. We can find all day, knock on doors for hours, make calls day and night, and of course we will find little success, but the real work starts when members start doing the work and inviting us to become a part of their friends conversion. Prophets for generations now have said that missionary work is NOT effective unless the members are invovled in the work. Are you involved in the work? Since realizing that the last few months of my mission, I have made a goal to visit and talk with, be friends with, every member in my ward. I did that in my last three areas and great success came from it, and it was so easy to schedule the members and I thought it would be just as easy here in this new area, haha boy was I humbled. They would say, " elders we will see you on sunday and that shall be enough for us. " Same thing call after call, finally we got to the point where we just dropped to our knees and fasted with the Lord, to find a way that we could get to know our new members and friends. The next day we called again, and since that day we have visited over 15 families and have 6 more families to go! Miracles! We have had several referrals and made some great new friends! This area is changing slowly, but its changing. A normal day for us right now is to wake up do exercises, studies, and than from 1130am-10pm we are contacting ( walking down and up the streets ) the days are long, hot, and at times we want to give up, but a talk always comes into my head whenever I think I have it too tough. That talk is from a recent conference talk from President Eyering, he talks about a time in his life when he was sad and discouraged and wanted to give up and them he thought about the savior and what he did for all of us, and the words came to his mind, " REMEMBER HIM "... wow, it gets me every time. He could have given up so easily and yet he didn't and nor shall we. There is never a circumstance in which we need to give up, as hard as things get, and as sad or as discouraged as you get, you can never give up. The Lord knows exactly how you are feeling at all times, just talk to him and have the paitence he needs you to have to overcome this trial or hard time. The work is great and how blessed am I am to be here in hong kong today. I never want to leave. my time is going by too fast. I love it here and all my new best friends I have made. I am so glad Heavenly Father gave me this chance to meet them again, because I know they were my best friends in the pre exsitance and they've been waiting for me to find them again and I've been waiting for them. I love you all and remember Alma 13:24. " Your smile might be the closest thing that someone will feel of the saviors love " SMILE TO CHANGE LIVES."

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Week of surprises and greatest news ever!

From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Thursday, September 8, 2011 3:00 AM
Subject: Week of Suprises!

This picture that I have attached to my email this week, catches my attention for many reasons. I have walked past this tree for about 6 months wondering what I could relate it to when teaching lessons, due to the fact it is right outside of our chapel building. I have seen this tree go through a lot in it's life, at one time it was a massive beautiful green tree, thick at the stout and very abundant of life. It has now been tappered down and given a new start, it has embraced the unbearable humidity and heat of Hong Kong, the tropical storms and thunderstorms that come during this summer season, it has handled the coldness of the winter, yet it still stands strong not willing to give up. Not willing to call it quits because of the worldly cicurmstances in which we all live in. It's been through it all. Time after time it has been cut down, ( or humbled ) and has started all over again, relying on the lord at all times knowing through him anything is possible. When you are humbled, do you see it as an opportunity to re-start and grow up all over again?How amazing is that, that Heavenly Father loves us so much, he will find ways to help us come closer to him. I get humbled daily out here in the field. Whether it be the language barrior and them yelling at me saying my sounds and tones sound like a 2 year old, or it be my companion telling me that I need to calm down and take it easy, or my favorite times are when I am able to humble myself and recognize that I need to change ( yeah.. daily). Happens often when I read the scriptures or words of the prophets. We need to find time each day to humble ourselves, see what we have done wrong, and find where we can improve for the next day. Heavenly Father doesn't answer prayers if thou art prideful! I was recently reading a general conference talk and loved it when he said, " If you want to talk to your Father in Heaven, you need to pray, BUT if you want your Father in Heaven to talk to you, then you need to read the Book of Mormon." That is so powerful. Another article I was reading, talked about Brigham Young, one time in paticular he was having a very difficult trial and he said this of it, "When I came upon this trial, all I could do was ask our father for more patience and I continued this until I myself could figure out why I have been given such an amazing time to grow and learn." When we come upon trials in our life, why not ask Him for more patience to grow and learn in that time instead of asking why..why did you give it to me, let us ask, can I have more patience so that I myself can find the answers? This tree could also represent many more things, it could represent the fact that we all will make mistakes in our life and will continue to make them and that Heavenly Father will keep forgiving us according to our desire. We could relate it to the restoration in several different time periods of the church and right now its not as big as it was back in the day it's small, strong, and unmoveable. As I walked by the tree each day, there was always something that would spark into my mind and that is, there is something common among all mankind and that is we will all at one time or another in our lives, have trials, unanswerable questions, unsolveable concerns, and we just won't know what to do. At times, it destroys our faith and our testimony, but let us be like Brother Young and instead of asking why, lets ask for more patience.
This week I have left my area of Tai Po and Tai Wo, it has been the hardest thing that I have done up until this point in my life. I love those two wards, especially Tai Po. I have come to love them as family, been able to grow with them and learn with them, what a blessing it is that Heavenly Father has given me, to be able to serve his children in this part of the world. I will miss them terribly and never will I forget them and all they have taught me. In sacrament meeting, a lot of the members got up and with tears in their eyes were able to share with me their testimonies and sense of appreciation for all I have done in this area, the young men especially were so grateful. It was a way that I could feel and hear Heavenly Father saying "thank you Elder Wright, for all you have done here, but it's time to meet more of my sons and daughters and do the same as you have done here." It was a bitter sweet moment in my life, but I know that this call is of Heavenly Father, so the time has come and gone by so fast, and Heavenly Father has new plans for me. It's time to open a new chapter in my life of fourtnante events. I have been moved down to the island, about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from my previous area. They are on complete opposite sides of each other. This is one of the busiest places here in Hong Kong, and wealthiest. I have heard it is a very difficult area but the ward members are amazing. Therefore I am beyond excited to serve here. My new companion is Elder Cheng from Hawaii! He has been serving for about 6 months now and is a little shy, but such a stud. I am so excited that Heavenly Father has given me another one of his marvelous sons to serve with. Companionships are so important and with out unity and being of one, we are nothing to the Lord, so I am so stoked to be ONE and as it says in dnc ( he calls unpon the weak and unleard to thrash the nations by the spirit ) well, Westpoint needs to prepare themselves because we are getting ready to thrash ( with smiles on our faces of course )!! I am thrilled and ready to go!
On to the best news, my sister, Lindsay, has here by been called on a mission to serve the Lord for 18 months of her life, calling upon his children to repent and partake of this wonderful, life-changing gospel message. She will be leaving on oct 19, 2011 for Morristown, New Jersey. Sister wright, you my dear beloved sister are going to be an IMPECABLE missionary. There are so many people that have been prepared for you and are still being prepared, they are waiting to see that smile and hear of your testimony, prepare now to give your time, your thoughts, your actions, and 100% of you, to the Lord. He's counting on you during this time to forget yourself and go to work. It puts the biggest smile on my face knowing that she will be able to feel of the joy and happiness that I feel of right now. Serving is just amazing, you can't really describe the feelings you have while serving a mission, it's just ahh so great. I am so grateful for you Lindsay, and the constant example you have given me, you really are amazing. So willing to give yourself to the Lord, for others it's hard to do. But you are special, Heavenly Father has a smile on his face right now, because He knows whats awaiting you out in New Jersey and He is so grateful for you and all missionaries. Thank you Linds.
Lauren, start preparing now to serve a mission! ... And remember, right now don't worry what other girls and boys think about you, it doesn't matter. What matters the most is what Heavenly Father thinks about you. He loves you so much and is so aware of you and your concerns. I love you so much, don't let the little things people say to you get you down, just ignore them and brush them off, it's hard, but like it says in proverbs 3:5-6 He will direct you, He loves you and will lead you so that you too can receieve eternal happiness. Remember during these times that you always have Him, when you feel along pray, talk to Him like you would me, your best friend. He will listen and He will answer! Love you Lo! SMILE!
Proverbs 17:17, 18:24. Doctrine and Covenants 6:36