U.H.a.t.d.: Mission Week 6 & 7

Geliefde vrienden van mij en familie,

Scripture of the Week -> Alma 17:13 - "...they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken."

Dutch Words of the Week -> hoi = hi

hoi hoi = bye

Wednesday - July 1

It was a pretty rough day. I got to take a nap because the temple was closed for cleaning, which was good, but at the same time no temple. Also I found out that I was one of the three who did not have a visa cleared.

Thursday - July 2

Another hard day. Today I found out that I was one of the only two to not have a visa. And the other elder put his papers in a month late, so that was a little disappointing. We watched a talk with Sister Moses, before she left. It was "Cast not away therefore your Confidence", by Elder Holland. Super good. I don't have my notes with me at the moment, but I would definitely recommend watching it. It is super super good. After that we said goodbye to Sister Moses and took pictures and everything so that was fun.

Saturday - July 4

Happy Birthday America!!! We had an activity with Sister Hansen that was super cool. We just wrote how we see our lives in two years and then our goals for how we want to get there. It was super helpful. Sister Hansen is awesome! We had to say goodbye to her though so that sucked. But we're definitely having a MTC reunion at her house after we all get back!

I got to see Elder Grondel and some other old friends so that was a lot of fun! I miss seeing so many familiar faces all the time in the MTC. That doesn't happen much in Vegas.

We had "fireworks". They took us out to the MTC parking lot and we tried watching fireworks but there were a ton of trees in the way so that didn't really work out. It was a nice try though!

Sunday - July 5

Last Sunday in the MTC. It was pretty sad. My last day with my district so we took a ton of pictures and we got to watch "Character of Christ" again. Elder Bednar (Character of Christ talk) said, "To be truly converted we need to be true to what we know each day". I'm trying harder to do that myself.

Monday - July 6

Such a weird and lonely day. Everybody left early in the morning except for Elder Meads (the other elder who doesn't have his visa). It felt so weird and was so quiet.

Tuesday - July 7

Another weird and even more lonely day. Elder Meads left early that morning for Washington so I was alone with the Trinidad Dutchies for the whole day. I got to be in their lesson with Brother Norton though, and snag a pic with him, so that was good. He's an amazing teacher. We had a discussion about faith, which is something that I definitely need more of.

I got to usher for the devotional that night so that was fun. Elder Condie spoke. It was cool because he actually spoke at the BYU Missionary Devotional a few months ago. This time he talked all about Joseph Smith's first prayer and the importance of it. One really cool point he made was that if people have trouble believing that Joseph really did see the Father and the Son then you can just tell them to pray to God, because He was there.

Wednesday - July 8

A really weird day. I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to go to Las Vegas. I got on a bus with a ton of elders and sisters I didn't know. The bus took us to a train, which took us to the airport. Luckily, I got to call home before I got on the plane. So I got to talk to the fam for like an hour and a half. But then it was off to Nevada. I sat next to a family from Minneapolis who were on their way to vacation in Vegas and a man who was working for the airlines and lives in Vegas. I was a little too nervous to talk to them or anything about the gospel but the man was really nice and he said that he has been to Amsterdam multiple times and loves it.

So we landed in Vegas and almost right away I got lost in the airport. I went to terminal 3 instead of terminal 1 for the baggage claim. So that was a great start. Anyway so I met up with the group and they took us in a van to the mission home. We got to eat and nap and meet the APs and the mission president and his wife (the Snows). It felt so weird. It still feels weird. Like it doesn't feel right. But, I'm here and there's not a lot I can do about it.

I got my new companion at 5pm. He's pretty awesome. His name is Elder Yoshida. He's from Texas/Mexico and he's been out here about a year. We met with two investigators that night, Jack and the Hardys. They're both pretty awesome. Jack says that he'll get baptized once he can get his daughter to come to Vegas. He wants her to see how important baptism is for him.

Oh and there are cockroaches, bed bugs (we think), and it is hot. So hot. I miss Wisconsin weather so much. But luckily it's only been in the low 100s since I have been here.

Thursday - July 9

It was Dad's birthday today! The first one I have missed.. ever I think. Happy Birthday Dad!

So, to add to the bugs and heat, we have no gas/hot water. Elder Yoshida's companion took too long of showers so they turned off the gas to our apartment.

We got to exercise though! But wow, running on a treadmill is hard. In the MTC and college I would always run on a track or outside so I'm just not used to the treadmill. But I lifted weights for the first time in like a billion years! I've been sore since then, but hey that means it worked right?

I miss Dutch a lot, and my district. There's not a lot of time to practice here, even though I'm supposed to have an hour each day.

I got to see Sister Robinson Thursday though! That was awesome. It's so weird. Elder Wihongi is also in this mission so I actually am with him right now doing e-mails.

The best thing about this week has been street contacting. I got to do it for the first time Thursday night and it's awesome! My "first" was actually a less active member so I can't really count that. My real first was a man named Thomas who was walking his dogs and he was super cool and he told us his mother-in-law was interested and that she was just around the corner sitting on a bench... so no mother-in-law! But we did find Liz. She was super nice. We talked to her for about 30 seconds and gave her a Book of Mormon and will hopefully see her again soon.

The rest of the night we went to a park and talked to people which was super cool. We met a Jamaican lady and her family who had talked to a lot of missionaries before in Jamaica. She wasn't interested but she was awesome. We talked to a lot of cool people the rest of the night. Street contacting is so much fun!

Friday - July 10

Lots of street contacting today as well. My favorite was Chris and his family. They were actually super interested and they said they want us to come back. We also talked to this lady who told me to pick out my colored angel and pray for the Jehovah's Witnesses and apparently she has more power than Obama so that was fun.

I had my first member dinner with the Becks. They were awesome and a lot of fun. After that we did more street contacting. We talked to this Catholic lady who tried to convert us and she told us to take off our missionary clothing and just go to church. She was nice.

Saturday - July 11

A pretty unproductive day, missionary-work-wise. I had two member dinners though! Way too much food. I'm so fat now. Probably close to 200 pounds. No I'm not. But it was so much food!

The families were awesome though.

Sunday - July 12

So church was good. I got to go to ward council for both Sunset and Silverado ward so I felt pretty powerful, except I started falling asleep a little. I went to sacrament meeting in Silverado ward so that was fun, except I had no idea what to do because Elder Yoshida left me for Sunset ward meetings. But then after that I met an investigator Paul. He's an interesting guy. Super nice though!

After church we had a little bit of time to eat lunch and have personal study but then it was back to street contacting/visiting people. None of the people we tried to visit answered their doors but we did get to talk to a cool Samoan couple who were members and they said they'd give us lava-lavas(?)! Yeah after that our dinner appointment got cancelled so I just had more quesadillas. Fun fun fun. That night we had two members go out and street contact with us.

We met this older guy named Jay who was just sitting out on his porch and he's awesome! He said he was Catholic or something but when he got out here from California he stopped going to church because all of the services he went to didn't feel spiritual or anything. So we talked to him for a little bit but he wasn't too interested. We invited him to church though, and then he started to perk up a bit and he asked for a Book of Mormon! He's so cool. I hope I get to meet with him more.

Monday - July 13

It's been a pretty good day. We had a relaxing morning, cleaned up a bit, went shopping (I finally got some sheets for my bed!), and got some food. Oh, and we might get our warm water back today! Yeah so it's been an weird week. I will probably be here about six weeks but you never know. I really hope that my visa clears soon so that I can start helping the Dutch people come unto Christ.

Spiritual Experience

I don't really have a lot to say. I do know that this gospel is true though. It has changed my life and I have seen it change many other people's lives as well. I know that God loves all of His children and that Jesus Christ died for us on the cross. Because of His atonement, we can live with our Father in Heaven again. I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, and that it is the word of God. I love my family and am so thankful that I can live with them for eternity. This is why I am serving a mission, so that I can help other people know of God's plan for them. I write(?) these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a great week everyone! And tot ziens!

Elder Wright