"I love this cute grandma."

"I love this cute grandma."

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

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Beyond amazing....

---- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 5:47 AM
Subject: Weekly Yehhh

Hey it's Elder Wright, and I am doing beyond amazing. Today was just one of the best days I have had at the temple since being here in Hong Kong. My summer missionary asked if I would do baptisms for the dead with him, we regularly as missionaries are not allowed to do this. So I sent my companion up to do an endownment session and went forward with my summer missionary to go ask if I could join him. The temple president said because no one else could do it, that I would be able to go with him. We were able to give so many of our ancestors this wonderful opportunity to accept this gospel into their lives. As I was baptizing Brother Yihm ( benjamin ) the spirit was so strong, and as I took him into the water, every time I was able to witness the smile on the persons face up in the spirit world and feel of their love and how grateful they were for worthy members to be able to give them this blessing that would now allow them to enter into Spirit Paradise. It just made me really remember how important the work that happens through out temples in the world really is. For the past year and a half I have done an endownment session everytime and as each time comes and goes I seem to get more sleepy and sleepy every time. But today was special. I really came to realize the importance of this work. Therefore I remember why I was doing this work, and who I am doing it for. We represent them, do you remember your first time, the feelings that you had? The spirit that burned strong with in the chambers of your heart? That's what we need to feel everytime, as we do it for them, their first time. What a blessing it is for us, to help these celestial beings keep progressing on their way. Sometimes we forget why we are here, what we are to do, who we are to become, and how we can accomplish all that Heavenly Father has in store for us. Let us remember we are down here on his time, to represent him and do all that we can to help our brothers and sisters, his children, to prepare to return to him once again. He is counting on us. He is counting on YOU!
This week has been just fantastic. Miracle after miracle, has just come into our lives. We first of all, have the most amazing summer missionary, I'm so grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father has given to the young men and women here in Hong Kong to be able to serve with us, full time missionaries, not only does it give them an opportunity to grow and learn, adapt to the missionary life, but 100% of the time it molds us missionaries into powerful, effective tools in the Lords hands. I have learned and grown so much with each summer missionary I have had and I love them all so much. The youth here in Hong Kong are unlike any other youth in the world. They are so strong. All of them are the only members in their individual schools and not only do they stand strong, give impecable examples of christ like love to all, THEY INVITE ALL TO COME UNTO CHRIST, they share their testimony, they aren't scared of what others think because of how new the church is over here, they know that EVERYONE needs an opportunity like they had to partake in this heavenly message. They know that if they dont give it to them no one will, that in the afterlife their friends, classmates, family members, work collegues, and others will come up unto them and ask them why didn't you tell me of what you had in your life? They don't want that, and they know how to share their testimonies. I just love the youth over here and am so grateful for all that they have taught me, it really has had a large impact of my life.
This week we have had one large miracle that I would love to share with you. So I want to share with you all the little miracles that lead up to this large, life- changing miracle. To start, I have my toes, my finger nails, my nose, my eyes, my sight, sense of belonging, my own personality, my health, fresh air to breathe, the book of mormon, this amazing gospel message to share with all, a man named joseph smith, my savior, redeemer and brother, Jesus Christ, my Father in Heaven, Thomas S. Monson, other church authorities, other missionaries through out the world and here in Hong Kong, music, the bible, the restoration, the plan of salvation, my house, my food and money, and so much more. All this leads up to the amazing miracle that I have to serve here in Hong Kong, to serve right now in Dai Po and Tai Wo. About three months ago as I served with Elder Palfreyman I remember a night in paticular that we were contacting on the streets, getting rejected and rejected and rejected and went home miserable and happy, including every other emotion that comes with rejection feeling like failures to our Father in Heaven. We gave out a lot of materials that night, but did not recieve any phone numbers or names. Well, on monday night I got a call from a member saying there is a young lad at our church right now that has a pamphlet with your name and number on it and wants to talk to you. So Elder Wu, Benjamin and I run to our church thinking who could this be. We get there and the first thing he says is sorry. We were all so confused why he said that. So we go inside to give him a tour of our beautiful chapel and to continue to talk with him. He says 3-4 months ago when I saw you I was having a horrrible day, I wanted to die. You gave me the plan of salvation pamphlet and your number, you made me laugh because your chinese isn't that great and you are funny. Sorry I rejected you then, but I've prayed liked it taught me to in the pamphlet and God told me this is what I need in my life. So we have been teaching him every day for a week now, he will be baptized in two weeks. It showed to me, that there will be a lot of rejection in our lives, whether it be in missionary work, or our real jobs, our children or schooling, there will be rejection. But it's always for a reason, it's apart of the plan, and Heavenly Father has promised us, if we continue onward ( endure to the end ) then He will continue to guide and bless our lives beyond our wildest imaginations. I know that heavenly father is there and he is aware of all of his children. He loves us all so much and just wants the best for each and every single one of us, what if I wasn't worthy that night and today, would KAY still be alive today? Are you worthy to represent him and to help those in need? What does endure to the end mean to you? How can you better your life so that it's more pleasing to our father in heaven? HE IS COUNTING ON YOU>
All of my investigators are doing great, I love them all so much and would do anything for them. They are what is keeping me going, they are the reason I am still here today, they are my inspiration, my motivation, my drive, they are what keeps me breathing from day to day. What is yours? How can you keep developing your testimony? The best proven way is to SHARE it with others. You may feel inadaquate to share your testimony thinking, " its' not strong enough," or " my testimony is not worth sharing, it's really just too simple and not complex like all of the other members of my ward or stake. " I promise you some one right now in your life is counting on you to share your simple testimony with them, they need to hear it so they can know how to keep progressing to recieve an eternal family and return to live with him again. My area is great, I have now been here for almost 6 and a half months, it's really long, at the same time it's amazing. I have gotten to know my members on a very close relationship and have been able to gain their trust in missionaries and have a desire to help and love us. What a joy it is to work with them. My comp and I are doing great. It will be interesting to see what happenns with move calls in 2 weeks. I love this little guy, he has just improved and become the most amazing missionary ever. All my recent converts and investigators truely are my life right now and I love them. I know that this work in which we are doing is that of what the Lord has in mind of us to do. I know that he calls upon the " weak and unlearned to thrash the nations with the spirit ," because I am weak and I am unlearned, but at the same time I know with the Lords hand in my life, I can do anything.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

It's a long one...making up for 3 weeks of no letter!

From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
Date: Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Subject: This week
To: Jolene Wright


This week has been magnificent, we have had our annual yearly mission tour, this year we had an amazing opportunity to be in the presence of three members of the quorum of the seventy, Elder Watson, Elder Gong, and Elder Wong. All three of them, within the last two conferences gave talks! It was a very uplifting time, we learned how we can become better missionaries and how we can "recongize and understand the holy ghost, within our lives and giving others the same oppt to feel it in their lives." I got a call the night before the mission tour, getting told that my companion and I would be this years subject interviewers. So we had an amazing opportunity to sit down with them and conduct and interview. They asked us questions and we got to know each other on a deeper scale. It was fantastic. I learned so much from this mission tour. Their wives all accompanied them and brought with them just the most amazing spirit, something I have never felt before, the way they conducted themselves and talked is undescribeable. We all learned something that day, the spirit bore witness to all of us, that these three elders have been called of God so serve over the Asia Area, not only did they recieve the gift of tongues, two of them shared with us, their testimonies in languages that they are very unfamiliar with, showing to us, that with faith anything is possible. One talked about jacob and the stones, not only did he talk about it, but brought one of them with him and showed it to us. He told us as this stone glows in the dark, we need to do the same, we need to be the light of the world, at all times and in all places, we need to emulate Christ like love to all and accept everyone for who they are. It showed to us and confirmed to us, that the Lord is there and He answers our prayers. I went into this meeting, asking three questions before hand to Heavenly Father. Having faith all three questions would get answered. They got answered and I got humbled. Funny how that always works out. The Lord works in mysterious ways I promise you that. I do promise you that he is there and he will answer your prayers. As I was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost at this conference I prayed and asked Him what to talk about because of how broad this topic was. My topic was, "What can the Holy Ghost do for me, my investigators, members, less-actives, and everyone?" As we read in St. John 14:26, it tells us that it can bring to past a remembrance of the truth of all things, such as the plan that we chose in our pre-earth life. It really can do anything, if you rely on it. I go into talking about the blessings it brings into others lives if we are worthy to have that constant companionship and I told the story of my friend, "Anthony". . . what a miracle that was! That I was worthy at that time to recieve him and find him, and answer his prayers, he had a vision/ dream of me, (I shared this experience a couple of letters ago. Anthony had a dream of my name badge.) If I wasn't worthy to find him.. who would have? As we know the Lord is preparing people for all of us right now to serve, love, and give an oppotunity to partake in this gospel message. When you were baptized you promised to take upon you His name, do you feel like you are living up to him? What can you drop or change in your life, that will enable you to come closer to him, he's waiting for you to help his children, whether it be your own childern or friends, family or relatives, or those that you haven't met at this time that you will in the future, are you preparing yourself? Your testimony? Are you unshakeable? Where is YOUR foundation built, in the unwavering sand or the sturdy unmovable rocks? How can you form your sandy foundation into the the rocks of the Lord? Are you converted to the Lord or the church? He knows, you know, and I'm sure at times you convince yourself that you are converted to Him, but in reality you are converted unto the church, I see it daily as I work with the members. It's a concern of mine, trying to find ways to help them to continue to develop their testimonies, find ways to serve and love everyone, it's hard as time goes on, with my recent converts I have to continue to give them goals and ambtions, things to look forward to, so that they don't give up and they continue to develop their love for God and his perfect church. One is to go to the temple monthly, (yes Ernest monthly!) go to church every week, to partake of the sacrament, to find ways to serve others and let them feel of Christs love through you . My mission has taught me a lot. I have grown and I really am so grateful for this opportunity to be out here in Hong Kong, among my brothers and sisters, living, loving, and serving them. They are close to my heart now, they have had an impact that will and can't ever leave me. It's changed my life in a way that I can't even put into words. It talks in my p blessing that I would serve a mission in an area where my best friends are waiting to find me again, well I can tell you I have found a lot of new best friends because I was able to have that constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Think about what you could do for yourself, your family, your neighbors, your wards, stakes and so many more people, if you had that constant companionship. Pretty spectacular. It is the best gift that we could ever receive. I am so grateful for all of you and all that you have taught me, because growing up I was stubborn and I would say I was not an active member, but now as I see the blessing of this church and what it can do for me, my friends, my family, I would tell everyone that a mission is the best decision I have ever and probably wil ever make in my life. I know that if I didn't go on a mission, I wouldn't have the amazing future that Heavenly Father has in store for me. I encourage you all if you are able to, to start preparing now to serve the Lord. Whether with your husband or wife or alone, whether its in 30 years or 3 months, start preparing now, because the Lord has been preparing people for you for years and years now. Remember with faith, we can speak any language, but the most importnant language is that of the spirit. The spirit is what leads others unto conversion, that helps us, as members to serve others, and to continue to develop our own testimonies. Rely on the spirit. First you need to recognize what it can do for you and everyone else, have a desire to have it, ask for it, have faith you will receive it, look and listen for it, and act upon it (to act is to do ), and than give thanks for it. Remember all that is good is of the spirit. It may be awkward and weird and you may be shy, but get over it, thats what I have learned as a missionary, this isn't our time its the Lords, if he needs our help you best be the first one to help him. As missionaries we run into so many awkward situations that we just think to ourselves, do you REALLY need to talk to them and sometimes we doubt, but I know everytime I have listened to the spirit, miracles have been wrought about and now I listen and act upon it 24 hours, 7 days a week, giving all an opportunity to come unto Christ. Since we are all his children, don't judge anyone love all, they are his children, accept them as He would. No matter what!. I love you all and know you are all amazing. now I want you to go, " thrash the nations with the spirit, calling all unto repentance" go and make the earth trumble and clouds rumble ( with the spirit ) its up to you now...

Friday, August 5, 2011

Quick update. Really busy right now......

Subject: it be august.

Time has just absolutley flown by. I can't come to comprehend that it is already august right now. So much has happened recently. We have moved apartments, gone through typhoons and floods, we have had a dramatic change in our best friend ( investigator) pool ( loosing old ones and getting new ones ), new companions, district leader, training, and so much more. I have come to realize that everything happens for a reason. Let's start with apartments, we use to live about 5 minutes away from our chapel and in our serving boundaries, now we live 30-40 minutes aways and have to travel everyday, fun fun fun haha. It gives us great opportunties to find on the way to our destinations, so thats a huge bonus. But, it is quite tiring to travel so much. Now for investigator pool, since starting this new english class program it takes up a lot of our daily time, therefore we have lost a ton of investigators. Right now that we have one week off of the english school and Heavenly Father has definately blessed me, and this week alone I have found 5 new investigators through my own efforts which is amazing. So many miracles. Two which are families, so I am just stoked out of my mind. Moving on, since I have very little time, to training and new companion....... He's from new zealand and his parents originate from mainland China, they speak chinese but he doesn't speak a word. He's learning though at an incredible speed. I have one story to share with you about his first day in Hong Kong. We just left the mission home to go back up to our area and got all of his suit cases and on the trains, within five minutes we are looking out the window and we see this man jump and baaaam a train slaughters him into pieces. Welcome to Hong Kong baby. no joke. It was his first day in Hong Kong. Awful! He was stunned as was I. It's so fun to be a missionary and experience new things. First, I had to adapt to the Chinese culture, now New Zealand.. next Africa? haha it's been great, training is just a rewarding experience. I love being able to feel of that fire my new comp has right when you get out of the mtc and the faith they have is just so strong. What a privilege and learning time for me. I'm the trainer, but in this situation I am the one being trained. So grateful. I love serving..... I don't have time to write right now, but next week I'll make it really long with pictures. love you all so much. remember why you are here and what you need to do... read your p-blessing inbetween the lines. Keep smiling to change lives. love you all . elder wright.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Don't give up....

---- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 8:56 PM
Subject: weekly email

" There is a difference between intention and action. Those who only intend to commit may find excuses at every turn. Those who truly commit face their challenges squarely and say to themselves, "Yes that would be a very good reason to delay, but I made covenants, and so I will do what I have committed to do. " They search the scriptures and earnestly seek the guidance of their father in heaven. They accept and magnify their church callings. They attend their meetings. They do their home or visiting teaching.
A German proverb says, " Promises are like the full moon. If they are not kept at once, they diminish day by day. " As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have committed to walk in the path of discipleship. We have committed to follow the example of our Savior. Imagine how the world will be blessed and transformed for good when all the members of the Lords Church live up to their true potential, converted in the depth of their souls and committed to building the kingdom of God.
In some way each of us stands at a decision point over looking the water. Have faith, move forward, face your fears and doubts with courage and say to yourself " I am a committed Saint!"
What are you waiting for? Whats holding you back to give your all to the Lord? As a missionary I have come to find the true meaning of "Work." As missionaries we start every day at 700 am and don't stop until 1100 pm when our face hits the pillow for the night. It's a day full of blessings, miracles, life changing experiences, and work. It takes effort to receive answers and blessings. Recently while serving with Elder Palfreyman we have come to find the true meaning of work and team work. We walk in the door each night, sweating from every pore, shirt complelty drenched and soaked all the way through to make our skin visible, pants with salt lines on them from our sweaty legs, and a smile on our face. We drop down to the floor and give our Father in Heaven thanks for such an amazing day. Knowing we did as he would. Because at this time, we represent Him more than any other time, even you as members represent him. When we go to the other side of the veil, he will ask YOU, " What did you do with MY name?" What will you say? and more importantly, will you feel like you have done your best to represent Him? Elder P and I each night after we pray, converse with each other to find a way we can better ourselves and become more like our savior. I've never been so emotionally and spiritually drained in my whole life, but at the same time I have never been this happy either. But, I also realize with work comes, trials, challenges, difficulties and thousands of obstacles, it's part of the job. It's a part of all of our lives. No one ever said life would be easy, but I say like in dnc 100:15, if we do all that we can do to be like unto him, it will be well worth it! Knowing one day I'll receieve eternal happiness and better yet an eternal family. The joy that we can't comprehend right now is awaiting us, if we do whats RIGHT. It puts a smile on my face knowing that if I do all I can Heavenly Father will give me these blessings. But one thing that dawned on me this week, is, that as a family we need to be in it together. If one isn't willing, then this dream and these blessings, will not be able to be given unto us. Are you doing your part, so that you yourself are able to receive the blessings of an eternal family? Or are you what's holding your family back? Do you love your family? Do they know that, can they feel your love? If you are doing all you can do, how can you help that wayward brother/sister, mom/dad, son/daughter, relative/friend? Have you fasted and asked Heavenly Father what you can do? Because I know if you do he WILL answer. In 1 nephi 3:7, if you keep his commandments and do all things that which are right unto him and are seeking his way not your way, he will give you a way to accomplish all things. He loves that person as much as you do, times 5 trillion, he wants to help them but he's waiting on you to ask Him and He will work through you to bring them back into the kingdom. Whether this person is a family member, less active, neighbor, relative, someone you home/visit teach, and name you have heard of that is struggling, they are counting on you, Heavenly Father is counting on you to help them. Whose ever name that you have thought of, that has entered into your thoughts, thats revelation that you just received and it's up to you know to help that person. If you deny that revelation, it is as if you are denying Heavenly Father himself. That person needs your help, Heavenly Father sent his son into this world to atone for your sins, and to give you a way to come back unto him, this is the least you can do to return him the favor. He knows who you are and is very aware of you, loves you dearly, and wants the best for you. As I sat in the temple with a member of the 70 and his wife yesterday, and my companion I was thinking, how do I become more like him? What does he have that I don't? Then Heavenly Father reminded me again, of one of my most life changing experience that has happened on my mission, that I will share with you. It's showed me that Heavenly Father knows me, Jeffrey Romney Wright, and He knows where I am right now, and every second of everyday. About 3 weeks ago, we had a small missionary gathering and just had some ice cream and talked for a little while, the meeting came to an end and we all headed different ways. David ( summer missionary ) myself and my comp, were walking home that night, and on the road there where so many people, but we were late and didn't have time to contact and talk to all of them. We thought it be best if we just not talk to them and just head straight home, so we were walking and I saw this young man from a distance, I thought the least I can do is say "hello have a great night," therefore I said that to him, and kept walking. The spirit just hit me, and said, go find him and talk to him. He needs you. I thought nothing of it. So I dropped my bag and just sprinted to try and find him. It was dark and he could have gone anywhere. I found him and talked to him for 5 minutes, exchanged phone numbers, told him I would call him tomorrow. He said, sounds great. I thought, why did I do that? It was just as if I talked to any other person, why him? Called him the next night, tried to schedule him and he said no, no, no, no, I heard your church was awful and very much into satan worshipping ( whatever that means ), I told him otherwise and bore my testimony, scheduled him for 3 weeks later, which usually means you'll never see him again. The day came and we went hiking that morning with our investigators, thinking we wouldn't hear from him and didn't need to worry about that lesson. We got lost on the mountain and make it home at 2:45 and his lesson was at 3. Weren't planning on going because we called so many time and he never answered, thought he's not going to show up. I get a call at 2:59, Hey "jeff" where are you. ( I never told him my english name. weird but yeah thats how that went down ) and I said oh, we are on our way as we speak, he wanted to shoot some hoops. So we thought, why not won't hurt and we can make a new friend. Met up with him and he had some amazing questions, so prepared to bible bash and prove to me that this church was fake and not true. Well it turned out the other way. The first time I talked to him, it was too dark and he didn't see my name tag. So we played ball, gave him a tour of the church, and then sat down with him, had the most amazing lesson with him ever, and then at the end, he saw my name tag. He asked me if he can share a spiritual, personal thought with me, I said of course, " he said, "the night before I met you, I had a dream, all I could see was a black name tag. The whole night, I couldn't read any of it except for 3 chinese characters, they were "waih jeung louh," I don't know why I had this dream or what would come from it, but I knew I needed to find him to figure out what the name tag meant." Well, that was my name he saw in the dream, on the name tag, that changed my life. As I have been in this area for 5 months now, not having much success, that proved to me Heavenly Father knows where we are, who we are and what we need. He loves us. Maybe were not going to have booming success in every area, maybe it's you that needs the area, not the area that needs you. Mabye it's you that needs the members or investigators, not they that need you. Dont give up, its just the weight of the world, when your hearts heavy, I will, I will lift it for you. It's just the weight of the world...dont give up, because YOU are loved..when your lost inside, I'll be there to find you..if darkness blinds you, I'll be there as a light to guide you! DONT GIVE UP.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Importance of the Book of Mormon

From: Jeffrey Romney Wright
To: Jolene Wright
Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2011 8:35 PM
Subject: weekly email

Hello From CHINA! Today is a great day, I'm sitting in Kwun Tong, with Elder Liu visiting all of our best friends. It's been a great day so far and we have a lot more visits to go! I have a quick email this week, so at the beginning of this week I decided I need to re-read the Book of Mormon, so that I could become more familiar with the stories and passages in it. It's amazing how everytime I read it, I come across something new. The first verse talks about goodly parents, this reminded me and kept me thinking about how grateful I am for my parents and all they have done for me, and what they continue to do for me. Then the verse that hit me most recently was, 1 Nephi Chapter 1:12 . "And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." This verse has never hit me as hard as it did this week. Something so simple, but so complex, at the same time. All we need to do is read, and it's then they ( we ) will be filled with the spirit! So all our investigators, all they need to do is read and it's then that they will be truely converted. It's so simple, but yet so complex and so deep. The Book of Mormon is the true book on the earth today, and many of us do not keep the commandmnents by reading it everyday. Why don't you read it everyday? What's holding you back? This is in english 531 pages or in chinese 667 pages of straight answers. Answers to YOUR salvation. As we visited the oldest member in Hong Kong at the age of 101 years old, I came to ask him, what is the most important thing he's ever done in his life? His answer, " I have read the Book of Mormon everyday since I was baptized, and I encourage all to do it, it is the only way to receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for you!" Do you want answers, this book is a map to you salvation, can answer any question that you have or ever will have, but it's up to you and how you decide to use your agency!
Much love,
Elder Wright