July 14th

Good afternoon and hello from the WKM!!! This week has been a blast!! Even with the crazy heat, we're still here and with huge smiles!!

So the Transfer calls and transfers have really made things a little harder during the week. I had no idea what was in store, whether I would be heading out or staying. And to add to that, I had no idea whether I wanted to head out or stay. But I know that I can trust in the Lord fully to know where I am needed and what I need to learn.

For me, He chose to keep both of us, Myself and Elder Ribeiro, in Mattawa. Although our district is a little different.... Our District leader is going home, and his companion is doubling out as well. They will be replaced with sisters, and one of the other sisters is getting a new companion. ...pretty crazy.

Although we were all the way in Mattawa, we really could feel the tension that Royal City was having, especially with our District Leader. Let's just say that he has loved every moment of his mission and by far is the last person on earth to want to leave.

But with all that, it left a really large gap and an opening as a District Leader...one of us.... To be continued.... No,

I have been asked to serve as the District Leader for the upcoming transfer. (Or with the others being sisters, a "Sistrict Leader," or "Relief Society President."

I dont really know what to expect with this calling, but I know that I defiantly cant do it without the Lord's help. So I am super excited to see what this upcoming transfer has to offer! I am super excited for everyone that is SO close to Baptism! These people, our wonderful brothers and sisters are so amazing!!

But things are going really well here in the WKM and Mattawa. This week has been a little hard with the World cup and the final fight for the cherrys. We have had a little less number of lessons and visits with people, which have been a really amazing and frustrating lesson for me.

Still within my first year, I have still been used to the amazing miracles of a larger number of visits to many different people. With the change in the working season, it has brought different circumstances for just about everyone. Here, everyone works at the same place, and has the same scheduled. When I got here in the mission, they all werent working, now they are all in full swing of work, and that has been something hard for me to get. I have been so used to running around with something to do every second. And if I didnt, I really felt like I was doing something wrong and waisting time, but to my joy, I have a fantastic companion that has really really helped me learn so much!

We went through all our potential visits from 12-4 in about 10 minutes. And we stopped for a second and went to the Seminary Building to discuss and learn something. We had a short time to discuss things that are happening, then both of us kneeled and said a prayer for Heavenly Father to help us know His will for the next few hours.

We then took the time to look at our list from Weekly Planning, then write on the board the names that stick out to us.

Within only a minute, the white board was filled with names, and we planned out how we were going to do things. We left after watering up, and every minute was filled for the rest of that evening.

I know that this is His work. And when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to His help and companionship. It is so amazing to see the hand of the Lord! It has been a little hard for me and my battling of wills and desires. I know that His thoughts are higher than mine. I am so grateful for the priceless blessing to be here in His vineyard, helping our brothers and sisters and His children!

This week has just been amazing! It's hot, humid, and a blast!! I am grateful for the chance that I have to be here for another transfer, as well to serve as the Relief Society President. This is going to be a great transfer!! I will keep all of you up to date on all of our wonderful brothers and sisters that are coming unto Christ!!

I love you all and pray for you all! Hope that your week is going to be just great!!

Lesqiero,

--

Elder Glen Wright Washing Kennewick Mission 

July 7th

Hola todos!!

I hope that everything this week was fantastic!! 

What a hot, fun and fantastic we were able to have here in the WKM!! 

Hot hot hot!! That's one of the biggest things of the week! The famous Washington wind has really died down to let in some really hot and humid weather. ...but I guess that's the magic of having a car right?? It's kinda funny how the crops, orchards, and vineyard have really changed a little bit of the climate. But the heat and humidity only add to the fun of missionary work!! Thank goodness for short sleeve white shirts!!!!

Ok...where to start!!?? 

So I know that I already talked a little bit on the Temple trip that we had last Tuesday, but it was so good that I have to at least mention it here!! I am SO grateful for temples!! Everything about them really help us see that the Heavens are not closed and are open and has constant communication with man. What an amazing blessing as members and people as a whole to be able to at least go and walk the temple grounds. That is something so hard here, but is seen as the greatest blessing and "treat" to do. Something I will have to get on and do more often when I get home. 

Just amazing!!

So as for super exciting things that missionaries do.... We got a call Wednesday morning telling us that our District Meeting was rescheduled for 10:30 for that same morning...and in Missionary time for those who dont have a car to drive...that is no time at all. BUT I have to say that the members here are THE BEST!!!! This was a hard day for many, especially Brother Yorgesen...but they are just so amazing to help us out and get us where we need to go! 

The meeting was fantastic! Elder Villegas, our DL, is super awesome! The only thing with him is that he is returning home this next week. It's really hard to see missionaries love and serve with all their heart, then have to look to the upcoming months, weeks, or days until they return. But he gave a fantastic training on talents and abilities that out Father in Heaven has given us to grow Spiritually and help those we come in contact with! ...SO GOOD!!

So with Daily Dose, we aren't the ones who teach the lessons, they have fantastic teachers for that. So we are really there to help them all and offer assistance if requested. This week, the assistance needed was two teachers for the two days that the normal teachers were going to be gone...woo!! 

Teaching English is harder than I would have though that it would have been! It was really fun with Elder Ribeiro as well!! We took an hour or so before, and I taught him the lesson that we gave! He wanted to make sure he sounded as gringo as possible! He did great as well!!! 

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a fun 4th of July!! The only down side...inside our houses by 6 and plan for the rest of the night. The harder part about that is that from 12-4 is the harder of the two times of the day to get with people. 

But I know for a fact that the Lord really made up for that! We had a lesson and discussion every hour! We didnt have time at all in between any of them. From the moment we left our house, we were moving from house to house teaching and sharing! 

We were able to end the evening with a very fun and enjoyable family who was having a huge BBQ later that night, but it was really amazing to see how they viewed having the missionaries over. Our time was theirs, and we were the center of attention. It was really cool and amazing to see the respect that they had, and the fun that we were able to have with them! 

The whole day, and especially the evening in our home, was a GREAT time to help Elder Ribeiro get a little more Americanized! I couldnt go all out, but I tried my best decking out our apartment will all the Red White and Blue a missionary could find! It was super fun!! He's pretty patriotic for Brasil! 

We were also able to have our next painting session with the Ponce family (we had already painted the outside of their house). ...I really do hope that they didnt want to paint in their house because we were really excited to help them paint...they are funny like that.... But we really enjoyed it! The heat was a little bad, but when the main room was Finished, we were able to turn on the fan. 

Continuing the rant on how fantastic our members are, we had dinner at the end of the week with our Branch President, Presidente Cruz. We had the intention to have Vicente Lopez there as well, but he didnt show up...ARGH!!! But the Cruz family made me all-American Hamburgers!! The next meal is said to be for Elder Ribeiro, something like Brasilian Meat-balls. We'll see! 

Updating on Vicente Lopez, we were able to really sit down and talk with him this week...it has been super hard juggling his work around!! But our good friend Vicente is on date to be Baptized on the 19th of July! I am SUPER excited for him, and I am very happy to see all the amazing blessing coming into his life. 

Another cool thing that he was able to get an upgrade on (may seen little but is pretty big), was a contract smart-phone. ...amazing how things are coming together for the better! He was also able to wish his daughter a happy birthday on the 4th of July!! 

Missionary work is something that is nigh-impossible to describe. It is something that is so amazing, joyful, and fun! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given as I am able to study and apply the Gospel into my life, as well as help others rediscover and bring it into their lives! I love my mission and know that those who are preparing are going to as well! 

Read the Book of Mormon! I was able to finish it a few weeks ago and start it up again! The Gospel Library (Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants) is amazing and true, and there is something very special about the Book of Mormon! 

I love you all and hope the best! Keep the faith and love it!

Chao!!

--

Elder Glen Wright Washing Kennewick Mission 

July 1st

Hello everyone!! First off, super sorry about not really letting anyone know that the p-day for the week had been moved for today. But it was a really good reason! We had the amazing blessing and opportunity to attend the Temple! ...and I just cant really believe how fast that the time has flown! It was like we were just there, but not at the same time.

It's always an amazing blessing to really go and feel the Spirit! The Temple is such an amazing and beautiful place to be!! Even spending a little bit of time walking the grounds is such an amazing experience...if its not too hot....

Ya, the weather is really picking up in temperature! This has actually been the windiest season so far...but the wind really has started to die down as the weather has gotten hotter. But nothing like that will ever be able to stop us!! Might just make things a little more fun...and motivational to get into air-conditioned houses to teach lessons and meet people! 

This week has been really good! ...it's just passed by so quickly, it's hard to look back and get stories strait from a this week...to say, last month! So super fast!!

Monday:

We were able to set up and have a Noche de hogar (family home evening) with one of my favorite families, the Ruiz family. We were able to watch a little from the Mormon Message DVD, the one on the important things in our choices, and it really led into the family. Then to end it, we played a game of Charades with family-related things....holy cow! It was super fun to brush off my pantomime skills!! 

Tuesday was a really amazing lesson! We went out with Bishop Calaway and saw a Recent convert, Tina, who is the "wife" of Isidro. 

The Spirit was really amazing and strong as we discussed everything that has been happening as she has personally applied the Gospel into her life. There have been so many miracles with that family in just the few months that I have been here in Mattawa. And each of them are still progressing, little by little they will all be able to really enjoy the fruits of the Gospel. One of the biggest things that we were able to talk about, and it came so fast, was getting married and going to a temple trip in 3 weeks. And to really help with that, Bishop invited the couple to come out to dinner with him and his wife, then to walk the grounds of the temple. ...My mind was blown as we talked about this! Not only was it just an amazing blessing to really talk about it, but how it just fit together, everything moved into place to help them and help her go to the temple...especially to get married in the next 2 to 3 weeks!! Love weddings! 

Later in the week, we were able to talk with the whole family. I knew that the lesson would be a little awkward, seeing that he was pretty happy when Trotter was the one that taught him...ya. But we made sure that it was plenty awkward at the start, but we got the impression that Tine should give the lesson on the Plan of Salvation. That was a really spiritual and amazing lesson! She has such a strong testimony of the Plan that our Father in Heaven has for us and especially for her! Both of us leaving the lesson were just awestruck! It was a really amazing lesson! 

Another really amazing miracle has been the recontact with Vicente Lopez...he was lost for another little while, but we have happily been able to get into contact with him again!! 

Last week started a little bit of a fiasco of him looking his wallet in the Church, then it going missing. But just this last Sunday, we were able to find it and get it back to him the following Monday! Then that really got us talking, again on the topic of baptism, and we will be meeting this Wednsday after Daily Dose! And BTW, we have the opportunity to teach the daily dose this week, due to the teachers being gone...so I'll keep you posted on how fun that's going to be!! 

So much has happened, so hard to tell it all! 

I am so grateful for the blessing of being here! It is really an amazing opportunity to grow and learn so much about myself, this wonderful Gospel and our beloved Father in Heaven! There really is no greater work to be a part of! 

Thank you all for the love and support and I hope and pray for you all!

Con abrasititititititititititititititititititos y besititititititititititititititititititititititos!

--

Elder Glen Wright Washing Kennewick Mission 

Good day! it is another fantastic day to be here in the WKM! Today is a little warmer than the week has cooled off to be, and I've heard that things will really be heating up, both in temperature and in work! As always!!!

This week has been a blast!! A little more fun with the added sickness of my companion.

It was really funny. Last week, we really hit it hard with fantastic things to do as a zone for P-Day. One of which was a fantastic game of Soccer, in the Spirit of the World Cup!! That was a great game...but made both of us really sore through the week, so that just made us laugh every time that we'd try to climb out of the car and walk around!!

it might have been the rapid change of temperature, but Elder Ribeiro got pretty bad, but pulling through, we made it to the start of a new week!! WHOO!!!!!

So to add to the great week, we had a really fantastic miracle with Vicente Lopez!! So this whole week has been impossible to get in contact with him...and a lot of the same things as last week. But on friday during our weekly planning session, we decided to call him one more time (we were not sure what to do if he didnt....). But we said a short prayer while it was ringing...and......HE ANSWERED!!!! And it sounded like it was just yesterday that we saw him, he was really excited to come to church and talk with us some more!

He was able to come to church! And we have an appointment with him tonight to talk a little more about baptism!

A little bit of the work has been slowed as the World Cup has slowly started to narrow. So I think that means that it's going really well.

Our district leader is returning home from his mission two days after the final game...so it's been funny to hear him trying to get with President to let him watch it. Elder Ribeiro has been really good about it! The members keep him up to date, but he really loves being here on the mission helping people, more than going to the games happening in his city just 30 minutes from his house! Not that he's told me that more than once!! XD With my companion, I think that I'll be going for Brasil for this one! haha. ...really crazy the culture here and events like this! Superbowl has nothing on this...and it lasts for 6 weeks!!

I almost forgot...but I have to add this to the growing list of fun things that I have eaten out here. Menudo!!

We were at the flea market with our ward mission leader, and then he wanted to feed us. Throughout the week, he had been joking about giving us a bunch of menudo...so this was his opportunity to do so. We got tacos before he could interrupt us, but he asked one of the women cooking to bring us out a little bit of it.

I just told him that I'll eat the whole thing if he eats one as well. He didnt believe me, so I just downed the whole thing, staring at him.... He was laughing so hard...until he put it into his mouth. It was the funniest thing in the world!!! His smile was still there, but it was disappearing slowly as he ate it. *checkmark*

Sunday was really awesome! During the Priesthood quorum, we were asked to give the lesson on the last liahona on the Priesthood. We hadent read it before, but with a glance, we led a really good discussion on the Priesthood.

the Priesthood is such an amazing blessing to have! One of the largest parts that really hits me hard is the ability it has to help us and others continue faithful in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are countless things that the Priesthood helps us with: Ordinances such as baptism, and the ability to seal families so that they can live and progress as a family for eternity.

But I had always though why our Father in Heaven would entrust us with something that has so much power and authority.

He could do this work alone, but He knows that as we act in faith as instruments in His hands, our faith will grow and our desires will change.

It's a priceless blessing that helps us all continue and progress, learning through the footsteps of Christ. Really amazing!!

I was also able to really help out my Spanish with having to translate in the Spanish Branch. This has been something that I have had to do since Elder Trotter left for Sunnyside, but this week I feel had really helped me work on my Spanish. It's just amazing to see the Gifts of the Spirit work though you, especially the gift of tongues!

I love my mission and am grateful each moment that I have to be here and learn more about our amazing brothers and sisters, my Savior, my Father, and me.
"He could do this work alone, but He knows that as we act in faith as instruments in His hands, our faith will grow and our desires will change."

The Gospel is such a priceless gift that I wish to share with the world! And I am grateful for the two years that I have to learn how to do it for the rest of my life!

I love you all and wish to share my deep gratitude for the amazing spirits that you have, as well as the love and support that I feel here in the mission field. It crazy to think how fast time has flown by...and amazing to see the change each day as I have continued to search, study, and apply the Gospel into my life!

Have a fantastic week and I love you all!!!

Chao! (there's the Portuguese word of the week!!)

--

Elder Glen Wright Washing Kennewick Mission

Hello everyone!!! You know what time it is?!?! MAIL TIME with your favorite missionary!! WOO!! It just gets me pumped up!

Cool, well this week has been really good! It has been a really hard challenge to get in a talking with people with the juggling act of work in the orchards and the World Cup...BUT that's not in any way going to stop us!!

But with the start of the week came one of the craziest times over here...World Cup! It might be because I'm hanging out with Hispanics all day, but being on a mission has really gotten me hooked on Football (Soccer for Gringos). It's a really fun sport to watch and talk about with many of the people here, especially with Guadalupe...who was just red carded on his team...this game is a life for many here, pretty funny and cool. But I'm still trying to get into the game knowledge-wise with my Brazilian Comp, Elder Ribeiro. BTW...might have to be rooting for Brazil for this one...XD

I think that I brought this one up a little last week, but we really had an awesome miracle with Jose3 Digonte and finding him back here in Mattawa. But it has been SO hard to get in a talking with him. We are able to see him just about every day, and he's excited and asking us to go to his house...but he's always doing something, so it makes it a little harder. We're supper close to finding the perfect time where we're both in the same place for more than a minute, so I'm really excited for that!

On a super excited note, Our good friend Vicente is moving forward and on date to be baptized this upcoming week! It has been so amazing to see all the changes that he has been able to do as he has been learning and applying the Gospel into his life. But with his amazing soaring progression, comes more challenges.

They came in the form of many things, things that hold back a lot of progression as he works to meet his baptismal date. It's kind of funny how that works. Vicente has taken this Gospel and found it to be true. He reads and diligently prays. He hasent missed one day of Church from the day we invited him to come. And he hasent touched a bottle of alcohol since the day he came to church 10 or so months ago. The moment that he accepts his date and prays for it, things start to get a little harder for him to do.

One of the biggest blessings that I have found is just how real the Gospel is. We can say that there is indeed adversary working every moment to frustrate the works of good and God. But with that...or greater than that is the surest knowledge that we have the power of God on our side as we strive to fulfill His will in our lives and in the lives we share with.

One of my favorite quotations:

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

It's so amazing to see the things that Vicente has been able to accomplish. And we look forward with great joy as we help him come to the waters of Baptism, to fallow our Lord's example, and to put into his life, the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.

So further in the week was just as awesome! We got to do another exchange with the Royal City Elders, and I got to go again down into the Royal. This time it happened to be with one of the Elders I served with from Kennewick, Elder Wadsworth! So we really had a blast! We spent a lot of the time doing service, one in a yard, and the other clearing out a garage full of just about everything (one of which was really good RC airplane equipment) for a guitar playing, forth-degree black belt, singing, hobbying, collecting guy making room for a workout room and fighting dogo. ...hmmm it kinda jogged some memories...XD

But we spent a lot of time working with another with his yard. I absolutely have come to really love doing yard work! Although my nose might think another thing.

At the end of the week, we went to Othello to enjoy and be edified through another Zone Meeting! These are always the best! And just to add to it, my trainer was there! The one who went AP just a week before!!! Holy cow it was really awesome to see that guy...Elder!!

The meeting was really good. It really focused on the ability to rely fully on the Spirit to help those we teach and share this Gospel to see the end commitment, such as baptism. And one of the scriptures that I loved: Moroni 8:16--"Perfect love casteth out all fear." So it was really good!

One a final note, Happy Fathers Day! It's really weird to be out and away when all these awesome days come, but it makes me all the more grateful for them. I am very grateful for the amazing banjo playing, kung fuing, singing, pantomiming, guitar playing, drawing/painting, rock staring, and Priesthood bearing example that my father is!

Things are really going well! I am really grateful for the opportunity that I have here each day! I love you all and hope that your Fathers day is just as great!