November 28, 2016

The subway is empty. 

Dart gun wars at the church.  Ouch.

The trees are taking over! Hehehehe it ate a brick! You see this often in NYC

Hello everyone!!! 

What a week. What a week. Lots of stuff happened. A crazy week. But first off, HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🦃 I hope it was good for everyone and everyone stuffed their faces full. Actually, I really wasn't looking forward to thanksgiving this week. As ASL Elders, we don't get fed. Ever. Elder Larson, in 16 months of being out, has had 1 dinner appointment in the ASL program. So that is fun. But hey! That way I stay slim! Still under 200! But also, I realized something. I really don't know how to cook. At all. #cerealeveryday However, thanksgiving wasn't too bad. We had a lot to do that day. We had a turkey bowl at 8 with some of the Elders and a couple of members and investigators. And one random kid joined us. It was fun! I got a lot of exercise, and scored two TDs. Go me. After Turkey Bowl, we went to the church for our Zone Activity! It was so fun! We had dart wars. PVC pipe makes really good dart blowers. We had a great time, and I got some nice welts on the face. It was good 😊. Then we had to rush back and get changed for our branch party. Okay. So Deaf parties are awesome!!! Every party lasts for like 6 hours. It's so cool, and they always have food. This one went from 12:45 to 6 (well, really 6:30 because Deaf people don't really leave on time.) I have to explain this a bit. Deaf people loooooove parties. "Why is that?" you may ask. Because everyone needs people to socialize with, someone to talk to. There are not a lot of Deaf people, so when they get together, it is a blessing, and they talk a lot! So it is really easy to get non members to a party. We literally call random people and invite them, and they are like, "sweeeet". All you have to say is that there is a party with free food. They will come. 😊 Unfortunately due to travel time we didn't get there til like 4. So that was a bummer. All the North Mission Elders were gone at that point. But it was still good, and we had a little bit of food!

Our Zone Leader wanted to make sure everyone had a place to go for dinner. So when he found out we didn't really have a place to go, he invited us to Mama Myers apartment. Oh my goodness. It was the best part of the day! She is the nicest lady ever!!!! She loves all missionaries, and always feeds them when they come by. She cooks really really good. It was awesome. Also, she just talked to me. It was really nice. She is incredible. I felt so blessed to be there. 

Friday was a crazy day, but at the same time ineffective. We went out to Far Rockaway to go see Jose Pagan. We knocked on the door... no answer. Ugh. Jose!!! I've been thinking about him a bit. I just wish he had the desire to come to church. But oh well. Then we walked a mile or two to go contact a referral. But alas, no answer. It's possible he moved. Or was just gone. Or the sisters gave us he wrong address. Luckily we have his VP number so we will try to get in contact with him and get the right address. 

Friday night we went and visited Karen and Byron. They are members in Brownsville Brooklyn. We are trying to get them to the temple to be sealed. But they haven't been coming to church lately because Karen works sundays and Byron isn't really motivated to come without her cause their two kids are craaaazy. But he and the two kids came on Sunday! Oh man. The two kids are my favorite!! They are CODA (children of Deaf adults) so they are soooo loud and kinda crazy. But their parents don't hear it, so they keep it up. But they are so funny. Byron Jr. is six, and Brett is 2. They are my favorite! So adorable. 

Yeah. Kinda a crazy week. Meetings, interviews with the President, traveling, lots of stuff. But I still feel like we're not working as hard as we could be. We have a lot of free time that I know we shouldn't have. So that's something I'm trying to fix. 

The language is getting better every day! I am starting to be able to follow conversation, and also make conversation. Interesting thing. When I talk with members, I sign better than when I'm talking with Elder Larson and Elder Brown. It's possible it's because I am intimidated or feel I need to be better when I am with my comps, rather than just signing and not worrying what they think. So I will keep working. So pray for me! 

I love you all. Remember to share the #LIGHTtheWORLD video, and do good to others! One of the quotes I heard this week really blessed my life. "No one can fall further than the Light of Christ shines"  -Elder Jeffery R. Holland. This means a lot to me. No matter how hard or how far you've fallen, you can't escape the light of Christ, and the blessings of the Atonement. He will always be there for you! That's a promise. 

Read this talk. What Is A Friend? by Marvin J. Ashton in the October 1972 conference. It is so good! And here is a quote from Abraham Lincoln, my all time favorite president! "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?"

I love all of you! Have a great week!

Elder Wright

"History has its eyes on you"