An Apartment Tour

                                                President Johnson

                                                Elder W

                                          Candid Son Shot at the Transfer Meeting

                                              Apartment Tour - Ties

                                                 Desks

                                             Beds

The Six Types of Last Transfer Missionaries

We're like gerbils, he just shakes the cage and we keep running in our little wheels day after day unless we can exercise some FAITH and get out of it!

So, I'm sticking around. That's good. I'll finish strong in Pittsburgh and there's a lot to do here, so it'll be a solid finish. The Lancaster sisters and the West York elders will be working with the branch, it doesn't sound like there are going to be new missionaries sent there. As E. Gates and I commiserated, “Lancaster Walk did all the work but gets gypped in the end."

This week has been a good and challenging week! We have really been trying to assimilate the iPads into our teaching; it's a little weird but also a valuable resource to have. There are some times though when it is the perfect tool that that moment, which is always really nice. This week we have training on get the Area Book Planner up and running, which will be a huge change. I am not sure how much I am going to enjoy that. One thing is that because it is all online, anything even remotely sensitive will not be allowed on the teaching record, effectively negating much of the value of a teaching record. For example, you could not say, "Bing is Chinese" but you could say "Bing moved here from China" and you could not say "Amy is living with her boyfriend" but you could say "We recommend teaching the Law of Chastity in the near future." So we'll see how that all rolls out.

M is doing great. He is all recovered from his appendicitis, he came to church Sunday and gave a ride to an investigator family as well! I don't know if I mentioned it, right before he went into surgery he ran into a pair of missionaries from the Oakland ward. He took that as a token that God really was looking out for him and had put them there to share a comforting word. I think the way the Lord often blesses us is with the capacity to recognize his hand in all things. He is getting interviewed in two weeks for a temple recommend, which is really exciting. He is doing just fine.

And yes, of course I had a pocket square! Pocket squares are in!

Did not hear about the oil spill. I am interested to know, how has the drought affected SB in particular? I don't want to come back if the whole place has shriveled up like a raisin. 

This week was a huge finding week, and it was great. We were out talking with everyone, bearing some heavy testimony, and finding a lot of people really interested in the Gospel! S and his girlfriend J are a really nice couple we started teaching, they also have a newborn daughter. S actually referred himself via Mormon.org. The son of a Baptist preacher, he has been everything from Messianic Jew to born-again. At every step in his spiritual journey, he has found himself looking at the Book of Mormon. After the latest pitfall in his life, he has decided that God's been trying to get him in this direction all along. He has actually read the Book of Mormon several times and has studied our doctrine extensively. For example he already knew about temple work and redeeming the dead, which formed a large part of why he wanted to join the church! His girlfriend is similarly excited but not as sure of herself. But we have high hopes for them! S came to church this Sunday and loved it. The third hour was entirely about talking to your kids about pornography, but even with that he really loved the members and the feeling he had. It was fantastic. 

We'll contrast that with S, a former investigator who we picked up again. He has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but cannot keep a commitment to save his life. We met with him twice this week, he was gung ho about getting to church and feeling the Spirit up until Sunday noon, when, just like every other week, a big and important thing came up which prevented him. You could almost hear Satan laughing at us, it was really annoying. We're like gerbils, he just shakes the cage and we keep running in our little wheels day after day unless we can exercise some FAITH and get out of it! Man. Oh well. Despite that, it was still a pretty awesome week.

Love

Elder Wright

See If You Can Find Me!

                                                      At the Pirate's Game

                                                   Fredonia Companions

                                                 Beautiful Pittsburgh

                                           The Field is White

                               The Entire PPM - see if you can find me... then my companions.

The Elder Linford Challenge

Cross that off the Mission Bucket List!

                                                        After the baptism.

                 Eating an almond cupcake thing from Prantl's! Cross that off the mission bucket list!

                                          The falling water experience.

                                          This angle- directly overlooking the waterfall- is probably the coolest.

The Fact That There is Now a Branch There is a Huge Miracle.

So thanks to the miracle of modern technology, we can email you today! We usually go to the Mt. Washington library near our apartment, but we just went to the church today and used the church Wi-Fi to email using our iPads!!!

This Thursday was our mission iPad training. The last time the whole mission gathered together was exactly a year ago, for the Elder Holland conference, and I honestly didn't think there'd be another opportunity. But it was great! I was able to see all my past companions and that was a really nice blessing.

It was interesting-I expected the conference to be mostly about how we use our iPads. But really about two-thirds of the training was focused on our own personal conversion and how our hearts needed to be in the right place before we could hope to use our technology to better other peoples lives. The Mission HQ people conducting the meeting referenced the talk by Elder Nelson about using technology and how in this age we need to be disciples in a digital age and need to be accustomed to using technology and productive ways, not wasting time and avoiding temptation. I originally thought the iPads to be no more than an expensive gimmick and accordingly was not that excited about getting them. However this gave me a better perspective and helped me to understand why the Q of 12 have made this decision. Using the iPads in teaching has been a bit of a transition. However it's given us a lot more opportunities to share quick messages and to see more people. I've got to say even though the range of apps that are approved are pretty limited, the pamphlets app is freaking awesome. I'm huge fan.

This week M told us that he had been having some stomach pains. He ended up going to the hospital. They took his appendix out! That was a surprise. It turns out it was black and ready to burst so it's a good thing he went in when he did. Ma, it turns out the devil never lets up, does he!? Satan don't kick no dead dogs. Think about it, it’s true.

A note about the Spanish people, last week from Elder G I heard some incredible news. Yesterday the Columbia branch in the Lancaster stake opened. It encompasses all the Spanish members in the Lancaster and York area, and it meets in the Elizabethtown building. At this point I don't know who the branch presidency are, but I have some pretty good guesses. I will have to text Elder G and ask him. This Spanish branch is the culmination of a long time, and lots of prayers, and a lot of hard work. I remember when I first came to the Lancaster walk area; there was a Spanish sacrament meeting that took place once a month. During my time there, as more Spanish members began coming to church we added an elder’s quorum and a gospel principles class. The fact that there is now a branch there is a huge miracle. If I happen to leave this transfer, I had better be transferred to the Columbia branch for my last six weeks. However that's probably unlikely. But I would love it!

This week has been a bit tougher to find investigators. Part of it is that we haven't had as much time as we usually do because of the conferences and meetings this week. We have just been focusing on a lot of service this week, showing the members that we are willing to work hard and to help them in whatever we can. This week that involved mowing an acre lawn, tearing down a patch of weeds and Mexican bamboo, and breaking up several large slabs of concrete. Ha ha tough work! As I mentioned the ward is really great and very young, lots of young families. For a while our bishop didn't have any counselors because one had moved away and the other just had a baby. Everyone here wants to feed us, I haven't had this many meals since Dover.  Not helping me with my six-months to sexy.

Keep the faith, 

Love,

Elder Wright