I made Thai Chicken! Turned out surprisingly okay.

                          Some of the street signs won't even stand up on this weather.

Called to Shovel

Called to Shovel

So first, we have a gator set for baptism. His name is E, he's 20, and we've been teaching him for a while. He's the De La C's nephew and he lives at their house. He has always had a desire of sorts to be baptized but he just hasn't taken things seriously at all, so he hasn't progressed at all. But he calls us up early last week just needing us to come by. So we biked over Monday night and just talked for like an hour and a half. He is going through a majorly rough time and just feels like no one understands him or even cares. What a glorious feeling it is to be able to testify that God loves all of us! He does care! And we do too. E was really humbled by everything he's been going through and is now seriously committed to learning. He's quitting his UPS job and getting a different one so he can start coming to church and he is getting baptized March 7th. We are stoked. So is he!

It snowed a bunch this week, so we basically went around with our shovels one day and shoveled a bunch of snow for people. It was nice to just do some service and feel good about it. Seriously, if everyone did more service they would just be happier people!

We also went out with a ward member named Brother R on Wednesday. He lives in Harrisburg part time so we haven't really gone with him before, but he was awesome. We visited this part member family that doesn't go to church ever, and he just got bold! We could really feel the Spirit as he basically told them that the church needed them to be there and serve. He told the kids they needed to get the priesthood so they could be blessing and passing the sacrament, and the dad (who isn't even a member) that he could be serving the Lord with a calling! It was awesome.

Final little story. So we were out Saturday night in the sketchy part of our area, and this guy is walking next to us on the sidewalk. He's holding a knife and I can smell alcohol on his breath, but he just comes up and asks if we're the missionaries. We tell him yes, and he asks if we can give him a pamphlet, then thanks us profusely and walks off. Freaky? Yes. But you learn to not judge folks I guess. 

The Sacrilegiously Nicknamed "White Bible"

Strictly because of my poofy hair...

We are just teaching tons of kids these days. It's awesome. For one, yesterday we taught sharing time in primary. We acted out the parable of the Good Samaritan and showed them all how Jesus Christ was the perfect example. It was pretty fun. As we left, this one little Sunbeam named T bolted off her chair, ran over, and just clamped herself to my leg in a big hug. Last night, we had dinner with their family (who are awesome) and the girl announced I was her favorite. Strictly because of my poufy hair. I asked if I would still be her favorite when I got my haircut tomorrow. She said no.

We are teaching a bunch more families besides that. It’s good, because it is teaching me to teach simply and clearly. No dabbling in deep doctrine, just teaching for a kid's level. It's awesome. You can see these kids just loving it. We were explaining the Plan of Salvation to three grandchildren of some a less active lady. N, who's 7, was just super into it. I asked what they thought Adam and Eve did when Satan tempted them to eat the fruit. They thought they didn't eat it. When I told them that they then did eat the fruit, she was just devastated. "No! Why would they do that?'' it was pretty awesome. And the oldest grandchild should be set for baptism in the future. We've already got parental consent. So that's awesome. I'll let you know when M gets dunked.

We also are teaching three siblings named PJ, P, and J. PJ is the oldest and is 12. He’s seen us on the streets a lot and just wanted us to come by to teach. So we stopped by this Saturday. It was tragic. These kids live in severe poverty. They are really scrawny and thin, but tough. We've talked to some neighbors; and the mom has raised them really on survival mode here. They look out for each other, will fight for each other, but they don't have any kind of sense of right and wrong. So they will steal if they have a chance and stuff, it's the way their mom has beaten it into them. But they really touched my heart by being so open and sweet. I think that if we can keep teaching them that they will really experience incredible joy and happiness through the gospel. It's awesome.

And speaking earlier of teaching simply, there's nothing like teaching kids in Spanish, super simply! That's about the level my Spanish is at anyway, so it works out. The kids love us, and so the adults love us because of that, and we love them because we are filled with compassion and charity, which is the pure of Jesus Christ! Yay!

 Also, this old lady on the street yelled at us one day. Told us she was a member, wanted us to come by so she would come back to church. We were like, “ OK." So we stopped by on Friday, only to discover that Sister L (or L?) is totally toothless. She just mumbles and cackles at us and chain-smokes, so we haven't really been able to learn too much about her. Mainly we're just trying hard to understand her, trying not to laugh, and praying for the gift of tongues. Man she cracks me up, it's hilarious. Well, that’s all I have time for, love you bye!

Elder Wright

The Curious Incident of the Dog...

National Argyle Day

Well I will just tell you guys a few quick highlights. 

Mike. Gotta say, that was the most confusing package I have yet opened. Where did you get the Monster's University pillow? Was it a cereal box thing? I gotta say, I love it and I now use it on my bed. Forgot to take a picture but I'll get one for you next week. It actually featured in my dream last night, I dreamt that I kept getting more and more Mike pillow cases every day. Vivid.

Basically, this week we met L and her family. They were referalls from J, another lady whose family we teach, and L is actually her sister. She is super pumped up for us to come by. She is from Peru, speaks only Spanish, and wants to have us over for dinner and be taught a ton. Her kids are really bright, they do make fun of my grammar mistakes though. One time I accidentally called L’s sister, Flor, "Flores". The kids were in hysterics. I don't know why. Anyway that was pretty fun.

So we found this pic in the Ensign. It basically is what we think Elder Packard looked like as a kid. Here's another pic of him as comparison. 

And this is what I wore Wednesday, for National Argyle day. Everyone was pretty astounded that I knew. (or cared.)

Love

Elder Wright