Where true happiness comes from...

 Hey there! It's twig talk, with Elder Wright.

The twig is going well. The ice storm hurt expected attendance, unfortunately-we are still in the mid 30s but hoping to grow that! But unfortunately the twig will be closed the next two weeks, for fast Sunday and then for Ward conference, both of which will happen in Jamestown. So that's lame! But it's ok. We'll figure it out and get things happening again after a brief interlude.

And story time! Well, some families have been bringing cookies and stuff for after church, just to encourage folks to get to know each other better. Sister W, a less active member who's coming back to activity, was going to bring Oreo's but she slipped on a frozen STOP sign (long weird story) and landed hard on her back, so she didn't go to the store on Saturday. She was like, "The Lord would definitely understand if just this once I went to Wal-Mart on Sunday to get the cookies, right?" And we were kind of like, "Um, keeping the Sabbath day is pretty non-negotiable..." But anyways we said we’d just buy the cookies so she wouldn't have to break the Sabbath. So Saturday night we are driving back and it's like 9:15, we've been jam-packed with appointments all day, and we haven't bought those cookies yet. So we are going to do a Wal-Mart lightning visit, and I tell Elder S, “ There's no way we'll get in and out of here without running into a member of the church." Sure enough, we are almost to the checkout line when this random dude finds us (he's not even in our stake or mission) and is like, "Elders!" and proceeds to launch into a 10-minute monologue. By the time we extricated ourselves we were most certainly late to get home. But we helped Sister W keep the Sabbath! Yay!

About R: He said something that really describes his personality pretty well-he was with his wife, who is just an all-around stud member, and he was asking just tons of questions on church organization, functions, etc, and K gets perhaps a little fed up and asks, "Why do you have ALL these questions?" He goes, "I'm an I-N-V-E-S-T-I-G-A-T-O-R.  I'm investigating! It's what we do!" The core of it is he really is a good, genuine, guy, with a very firm testimony of Christ and a true desire to do what's right. I really have enjoyed teaching and learning from him.

The gospel is true! It's awesome! I had an interesting thought last night as I flopped down, exhausted, on my bed after a long day of talking, teaching, testifying, listening, and praying. I'm essentially working 6 days a week, not getting paid, fulfilling the equivalent positions of street minister, therapist, and unskilled laborer, without girls, media, or even a decent cell phone. But I am the happiest I've been in my life. What a weird thing that is! There's something to be said for that, I think. About the kingdom of God, and our roles in it, and how we manage our time, and where true happiness comes from. 

Love,

Elder Wright