Transfer ZL (Week 65, Deparo, Elder Auseuga and Elder Lougee)

Well it is the last week of the transfer! i am so excited for the new things that are going to be happening. I found out that i was called as a Zone Leader and i will be with one of my best friends in the mission. Elder Lougee. We will be serving 21 missionaries and it will be great! I am sad to leave the people that i have just met and the companion that i have been serving with but I know that everything will be alright. Elder Auseuga has grown so much in the last 2 1/2 weeks, his tagalog speaking has improved drastically and just in the last couple days the gift of tongues has taken over and yesterday we witnessed miracles. I am so proud of him and i love being a part of someone's growth i also love the growth that i have experienced with him. The good thing is that we will be still in the same ward and i will be living in the same house, hahaha just moving desks.

Alright so i got a new look alike. I got told by this family that i look like Ansel Elgort from baby driver and fault in our stars. I dont really see it but people are telling me that we are a match but hey i will take it over what my companion gets. he probably doesnt want me to say but we have had some good laughs about it...alright i got to say it Mr. Bean hahaha. Its not actually a look alike that much but it makes a laugh so hard because every Filipino will agree!

We had some other funny experiences like one day where a kitten was following us out to work but eventually went inside someone's house so he could have been going home but i sure like to think that he was following us because he came a long way and walked with us. We named Elder Mittens and although he couldnt speak, i think his cuteness could have gotten us new investigators.

We had such a great week! We have met so many wonderful people and have been teaching a lot of people i love the area because it seems like everyone just wants to talk to us!

We had a great lesson with our investigator Jyyyoy and she ended up coming to church she told us that she felt that we were sent to her and it was no coincidence that we met! Isnt it jsut great being a blessing to someones life? many more people did we see that as we were in their home, the spirit was felt and we knew we were sent there to help them.

I am sorry i have been sending a lot of short emails. i will send a better one but let us look out this week and see who's life we can help bless!

Love you all!

NOCTURNAL HOUNDS MEET KARMA

Yeah although i live in the nicest apartment right now, things are not perfect hahaha there actually isnt a problem but for the past days there have been this gathering of dogs near our house. they love to wait until dusk and gather near our house to bark at each other and fight...i can only imagine what they are having a discussion about but Elder Lougee and i have pretty much been woken up to hear it in the middle of the night and will look out and see them barking from the balcony right next to where we all sleep. He can always get them away with this noise thats like a loud "shhh!" and that will get one to go away, hahaha it always makes me laugh. Elder Lougee also at one point threw a hanger at this dog that just started to join the group discussion next to our house. it was pretty fun. he missed but it definitely scared the dog. I may have thrown a piece of a hanger too...i did miss as well. i cant say i am proud hahaha but it didt make me laugh. However, we did notice though the next day that are neighbors might slowly be solving our problem as we watched them get ready to barbecue a dog by shaving it hahaha! We were all shocked! looks like that karma has now taken control of things.

Besides that this week was good in other ways, Elder Auseuga and i have been doing a lot of teaching and have been making contacts and are really trying to focus on specific progressing areas. We had a good experience with an investigator we taught yesterday, she is being prepared by the Lord. After hearing the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ she had still been questioning what is missing in her life but later when she prayed she had a dream and i wont go into too much detail but she is just all in and golden. it is absolutely wonderful. God has also prepared a way for by her work schedule changing and with her now being able to go to church. It was such a nice lesson with a strong spirit.

We have had the opportunity to see people accept our message and we hope that things will get more progressive this next week

I want to talk about my beloved companion Elder Auseuga. i love this Elder he just makes me laugh so hard and he has so many funny stories. if i could describe him in two words it would honestly be Isaac Berrett. He reminds me of him so much. In two of our lessons he has made me laugh so hard by telling me after that he was trying to hold back feelings of throwing up! it had me dead! he even debated in one lesson throwing up outside but told me he didnt because there were kids around. hahahaah! thats not the part that reminds me of Isaac Berrett but it gave me a great laugh.

We are really loving the people around us and i just love being a missionary. I love helping others and inviting them to come unto Christ. I love sharing my testimony! and i am so happy! love you all!

FANCY LIVING HERE WE COME

Guess who got emergency transferred again...!? ME! hahaha i promise i am not doing anything to get myself transferred hahaha. i have only changed areas in a normal way on transfer day once my whole mission. I am now in my sixth area living in the Deparo area in Novaliches and Elder Auseuga is my tenth companion. President also told me that i might be moving again, so we will see what happens. Right now i am finishing Elder Auseuga's training and still district leader.  Elder Auseuga is half australian and half samoan. he is also 24 years old. my last trainee was also way older than me!

If you are wondering why i chose the title that i have for this it is because the apartment i am living in is incredibly nice! I sent some pictures out so all of you can see but it is the second apartment that i just feel super comfortable going around with no tsinelas or flip flops on. We also have no mosquitoes or at lease i have not seen any but the gecko and cockroach problem i had in my last apartment has now shifted to killer ant problems. these ants are insane i set down my candy wrapper and the ants were there in like ten minutes! also these ants before i got here ate my companions cereal before he even opened the box! they just bite through anything! that's bugs in the philippines for you. Also we found a huge moth the other day that with standing my blows with the broom as i was smacking it around.

More fun things about the Philippines is that they just have the all time worst side walks and streets. just like how last week i almost face planted, and ruined my food but still managed to catch myself, two elders have both fallen in this deep opening in the ground big enough for their leg to fit through just this week. one of them was the Elder i am living with and his leg is all purple and bruised! gotta love the streets here hahaha they are deadly but make for some interesting stories. I think i have seen my new companion trip in the streets quite few times just as we are walking around.

side note: because i fell last week i think it is a tender mercy that i got transferred so i dont have to walk by those old ladys anymore that totally saw me fall on the side walk. i mean what funnier thing could there be for a filipino than seeing a foreigner american just about almost face plant. that's pretty shameful hahaha. but now i am gone so status level of Elder Wright's dignity = recovered. hahaha jk

Also things here are very small. i need to show what a full jeep look like but anyway we had to travel to the new area with all my luggage by jeep and my two bags were just so heavy and big it was struggle! also the amount of times i have either ran into people by accident or stepped on their feet when trying to get out of the jeepney has been too many times. Things just are american sized nor are they Polynesian sized especially hahaha i love it

Last night was like Christmas not only did we have general conference but we also got to eat at President and Sister Hughes' house. but on Elder Auseuga and I's way back we totally went past where we were supposed to get off and got lost for a little bit. we are both new to the area but we found our way back, it is a good thing i know tagalog.

It is fun because i have been trying to help Elder Auseuga with tagalog, i honestly love the language and it is has been a blessing learning it.

Because of general conference we havent been able to teach too much so far in the new area but we have had some interesting lessons, one started with me having to explain polygamy and what committing aldutery was because of false claims a less active gave...didnt think i would ever have to do that. but we have had some blessings already come with people giving us referrals and i feel like that there will be new and good things happening in Deparo.

I want to end with just a few words that I really loved General Conference. I know that in this Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, there is a prophet, this is Christ's church. I also know that Christ lives, He is real and not a made up being. He is as real as everything He created here on earth and i know that He has one true church and this is the church and the Book of Mormon is a testimony of it along with the Spirit. I love you all and i say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Elder Wright

PS send me your favorite scripture or part of general conference, all of you! i would love to hear!

Face Plant (Week 62, Elder Brown)

Sorry this will be another short one this week! but i want to express my love for all of you out there reading this. I am really grateful for the big impact that you have had on my life. you really all have.

I want to start today with a funny experience. as we were on our way to the activity with the zone and after spending time making a really nice meal for us to eat i was talking on the phone and carrying the food and just about face planted in the middle of the side walk in front of everyone and a couple old woman that i always pass by. not going to lie it was pretty embarrassing as my body fell straight with out bending just like a domino toppling over and i threw the phone and made grunting man scream and then barely caught myself...the good thing was i caught myself in a pushup position and the food did not get ruined. but my dignity was a little hurt as i totally fell hahaha just kidding it was so funny. i hope that you enjoy reading this.

Elder Brown and i had a really good lesson with are investigators the H_____ family because they have not been going to church so we went over there and taught about the Plan of salvation but really stopped at the Atonement and taught about the importance of what Christ did. the Spirit in the lesson was really strong. as we really focus on Christ and the Atonement it invites the spirit in  a lesson. We lovingly and boldly told them in a nice way hhahaa that they need to repent and give time to God and follow his commandments. the lesson turned out really good and we knew they felt the spirit.

We also had a great lesson with M__ and R____ and Mo______ and talked about receiving an answer because they dont yet believe in what we have shared fully but my companion felt prompted to read 3 nephi 11 and we read it together and talked about the part where the people heard a voice but didnt understand it until they really tried to and we talked about that with them relating it to the things that we are sharing to them and we invited them to read the rest of the chapter. The Book of Mormon really does teach how to solve our concerns and problems.

K________ and S____ M__ are doing great and are continuing on the path to being baptized and are helping others to make the same commitment. Things are great! I will send a more detailed email next week when i get to watch 

General conference.

I love you all so much!

MIRACLES (Week 61, Elder Brown)

Hey friends! Elder Brown and i are doing great! we are seeing miracles! I love it! We have had a great week and again have felt the spirit burn within us. honestly the best feeling ever! I dont understand why anyone will want to feel anything else! I love being able to serve!

We are still both adjusting to having two areas but we see that are getting a better hold on things and idea of how we want to go about with both areas! I will probably talk about some of my highlights this week.

One highlight this week was a lesson that we had with investigators that have been long time not progressing but have been taught for a year. they are nice but we knew we had to have a lesson where we took things to a more serious level. They didnt take the lesson seriously because i dont think many missionaries have gotten serious but we testified of the Restoration and the importance of the message and although they didnt accept it. when i testified of Joseph Smith being called as a prophet i felt the spirit burn within me again that what i said was true. No greater witness of the truth can come from the Spirit. Laman and Lemuel had angels and the voice of the Lord appear to them but because they did not soften their hearts unto being converted by the Spirit, they were never changed.

After praying for Knnth and Shl M they both have been able to fully follow the word of wisdom so that they can be baptized! We are so excited! it was truly a miracle! Also, we had a great lesson with Jhnsn and got to finally teach his sister Jln and it was a great lesson. We could tell that she was prepared by the Lord. The spirit in the lesson was so strong and as we were testfying of the Restoration. we were able to ask questions to help her accept the things we were teaching but we could tell that truly her heart had been prepared to receive our teachings. we asked her how she felt and she said light and i testified to her that that was the Spirit and it was a wonderful lesson!

I will have to write more next week but i love you all and really encourage you to find opportunities to share your testimonies to those around you! invite the spirit of the Lord in your life!

Elder Wright