Mission Week 5

Yeah so apparently if you just say "vriend" in Dutch it's like saying girlfriend/boyfriend. So you have to say "vriend van mij" for friends. Sorry, you've all been "vriend van mij" zoned.

Four days left in the MTC!

Scripture of the Week 

Mosiah 2:41 - "And moreover, I would desire that y should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that theses things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

Dutch Word of the Week 

gevechtsvliegtuig = fighter plane (best word ever)

My Week

Wednesday - June 24

Wednesday was a good day, and pretty eventful. We had zone soccer in the morning, followed by laundry and e-mails. I got to go to the temple again after lunch and that was super good. It really makes it so much easier to get through the week. Unfortunately the temple is closed for cleaning this week so temple today. It will be hard not to be able to go every week when I'm in Europe. Sister Moses says that we get to go to the temple in Den Haag three times a year though. 

So, 600+ new missionaries came in this week. There are so many elders in are zone now, but only three sisters. Our zone added thirteen Swedes, thirteen Nords, and five West Indies. Elder Ocampo and I got two new roommates. There are too many new elders thought to be able to get to know all of them like we did with the previous ones and the new Danes. The Danes are hilarious. Elder Ziegler from Switzerland is crazy funny. He is so proud of Switzerland and he freaked out when he saw my swatch. He's a good elder though. I gave him a Lindt truffle last night and he was so happy to have some Swiss chocolate.

Thursday - June 25

So today was cool. In our first class block we got to Skype with a member, Cobie, from the Netherlands. She was super nice and it was a really good experience to get to talk to her and discuss keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Another cool part about today was that we got to have a lesson with a random new mission president, President Hogges(?), and his wife. They were practicing teaching missionaries. He will be the new mission president in the India, New Delhi mission (such a sick mission). Him and his wife were both super nice and it was cool to get to know them. They talked to us about how we can teach prayer better and about the importance of it and then on Friday they talked to us about the importance of using the Book of Mormon to teach and how we can better teach it.

Yeah so all of the apostles were here training the new mission presidents (including President Bunnell) Wednesday through Sunday. And... I didn't get to see any of them! Yammer. It's okay though. The Spirit was so strong all week so I could definitely tell that they were here.

Friday - June 26

Friday was a big day! We got our flight plans! So we will be leaving early on July 6 and will fly first to Atlanta and then to Amsterdam. It's crazy exciting. I mean it's a total of fourteen hours of flying but I have been told that we will get to call our families in the airports while we are waiting for flights. That is definitely something to look forward to. Six weeks is a long time to not be able to speak with my family. After that I'll have to wait another five or six months to talk to them again on Christmas so this will be big!

Another great part about Friday was finally meeting President Bunnell. Him and his wife are super nice and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better over the next two years. They talked about how they know that we have a difficult mission and that they need our help. That whole one hour we had to meet with them got me so pumped to get out there and start sharing the gospel and serving my Heavenly Father and His children.

Sunday - June 27

Sunday morning personal study time is always really great. During the time I had this past Sunday I read the chapter about Alma the Younger and his conversion (Mosiah 27). Verse 29 was the best part and is one of my favorite scriptures. It says, "My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and now my sould is pained no more." This is a very important verse for me. It makes me think back to where I was a year ago and then to where I am now. I mean I didn't mess up nearly as bad as Alma did but I did do things that I regret and that I am not proud of and I distanced myself from my family. My conversion was not nearly as abrupt or as complete as Alma's, although someday I hope to be as fully converted unto Christ as he was. I was in the "darkest abyss" of my life, but oh, how great is my God, for "I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more." I love that. It is truly amazing what Christ's atonement can do for us. I am forever in His debt. We all are.

One of the greatest parts of Sunday was blessing the sacrament. I hadn't done it for a while and I really felt the Spirit strongly. I felt a profound comfort and warmth that could be from no one but the Holy Ghost. Another great spiritual moment of the day was the Sunday Evening Devotional. Elder Allen, an area 70 who is in charge of all missionary work, spoke. As Elder Ocampo said, "Maaan. He has no chill." Seriously though. He was so blunt and bold but very funny at the same time. The best part of his talk was when he called up an elder from the audience who was the son of his first convert in Guatemala. It is amazing that by helping just one person come unto Christ, we can change hundreds of lives. So after the devotional we had a movie, which is usual for Sunday nights. 

Oh one last thing about Sunday. I was watching some General Conference talks earlier in the day and I watched "Be Strong and of Good Courage" by President Thomas S. Monson. It was so good and it made me feel a lot better and pushed me to try and have more courage and it's so good. I would highly recommend that you watch it - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/be-strong-and-of-a-good-courage?lang=eng

Monday - June 28

Haha so grap je! I'm going to Vegas! So a lot of other Elders and I didn't get our visas. Elders Perry and Meads are going to the Washington Federal Way mission. Elders Fairbanks, Crowder, D'agostine, and Leishman are going to Reno, Elder Stanger is going to New Mexico, and Elder Thornock, Zuster Stewart-Chester, and I are going to VEGAS! Haha so actually some of us could still get our visas before Monday but if we don't then we'll be in our respective temporary missions for one transfer (6 months). I'm actually really excited. Like yeah I probably won't go to Europe right away but hey Vegas! There are like a billion Native American Reservations in the mission and it seems pretty legit. Too legit. Like seriously I could see a real live cactus! I might even be able to snag one of those sick Native American ponchos and get a picture with a tumbleweed! Yeah I'm actually super stoked though. This means I get to serve in two different missions! I get to go to an area where it's over 100 'F each day! Woah yeah fun fun fun. 

Yeah but seriously I know that if I do go to Vegas that it is where God wants me to go and where I am needed. There will be someone there that I will be able to help and change their life. It definitely feels right to me. VEGAS!

Tuesday - June 29

Yeah so yesterday was pretty great. Elder Fairbanks and I made Nevada and similar jokes all day. Like, how many European missionaries does it take to screw in a light bulb? Yeah but, poor guys, they have to go to Europe. We get to go to Nefada (how you would say it in Dutch)! We had some really good lessons with Sister Larson and Sister Moses and I can definitely see an improvement in my Nederlands. 

Last nights devotional was great. It was with Elder Satiti of the 70. He spoke in this past General Conference and he has a sick accent. But yeah his talk was really good. I especially appreciated how he told us that our missions would be a foundation for the rest of our lives. That just sounds really cool to me. 

Spiritual Message

Yeah so I found some really cool scriptures that talk about the importance and the special bond between man and woman. My favorite is Moses 3:22-24 - "And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto man (22). And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man (23). Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh (24)." Yeah I really like the last part of verse 24 especially where it says, "they shall be one flesh". The bond between man and woman, man and wife, is so important. 1 Corinthians 11:11 says, "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." The bond of marriage is so important. It allows us to live eternally with the one we love and with our families. It is not something that should be distorted or that should be taken for granted. I used Family: A Proclamation to the World this week in a lesson and I think that it really helps to clarify things and state the Church's stance on families - https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng&cid=PA0414-02

I love you all. My love for the Lord and for His children grows each day, along with my testimony. I know that this church is true and I am so excited to get out to Vegas, the Netherlands, or wherever to serve my God. I hope that you all have good weeks and I encourage each of you for look for God's hand in your life each day.

Tot Ziens!

Elder Wright