Not much to write this week...

Beautiful El Salvador!

Familia!

First things first, the past two months was season for harvesting coffee and so lots of people were cutting it for work. But there are some factories that process it that are close by...and let me just tell you the smell when they are processing coffee is absolutely horrendous. It smells like toxic chemicals and penetrates the soul. There´s no way that can be good for us.

Other than that, this week we went to listen to an Apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook. It was really neat, besides the fact that I got super sick that day. I don´t know why, but I felt super sick from the moment we woke up (we had to wake up at 4:30am to catch a bus at 5:30). We finally arrived in San Salvador and I ended up throwing up before Elder Cook arrived around 10am. I still felt sick throughout and ended up with lots of diarrhea after the meeting. I didn´t end up eating anything else the rest of the day and by the time we made it back to our house it was about 3:30pm and we ended up going straight to our house, where I basically slept from 4:30 until 6:30 the next morning. There was just something in my system my body didn´t like I guess. Adventures.

At one moment this week me and Hermana Najera were laughing pretty hard at each other and some random thing that happened and it felt really good. Life is a grand adventure and I love it. There is so much it has to offer, so take advantage of it. It´s really simple actually, just enjoy it. Life´s too short to be stressed or unhappy all the time. We´re here to be happy. So be happy. Laugh a little more. Be yourself. And love others. My all time favorite quote is "Come what may, and love it." Enjoy the adventures life has to offer, even when they might be difficult or frustrating or hard, learn from it and love it.

Love you lots. 

Love,

Hermana Wright

PS pray that I won´t get attacked by perros. We had some pretty close encounters with crazy dogs this week. 

Francisco & Rosario's Home

We'll start with the pictures of cleaning out Francisco y Rosario´s home from last week. Picture on the left is me with the junk before we started the work. Picture below is the same space after our hard work.  See, it is quite spacious.

Next pictures are the bed area.

Bed Area Before de-junking.

Mattress

Las cucarachas, las cucarachas!

Familia,

Elder Quentin L. Cook is coming to El Salvador! (Or it´s possible he´s already arrived). There are 3 missions in El Salvador and all the missionaries are going to meet and hear from him this Thursday in San Salvador. Woohoo!!

This week we also rebuilt slash cleaned out Francisco y Rosario´s home. They are two viejitos (super old) and Rosario had a stroke or something and as a result can´t really walk well and struggles to talk and such. But their house was basically about to fall over. Their house I think I´ve talked about before, but it is absolutely incredible, incredible in the fact that it´s incredible how much garbage they have in their house. And I don´t mean garbage in a derogatory way, but literally garbage. Poor Francisco has a fetish for collecting garbage and I think he thinks it´s useful. But their house is literally full of garbage. Anything you can possibly imagine is there (or was in their house). A million bottles of all kinds, little ribbons, torn bags, shoes that have been buried in the earth for who knows how long, etc. Let´s play a game...think of something, anything in the entire world and we´ll see if they had it in their house...a toilet bowl? Yep, they had one of those. Part of a TV? Yep, that too. A million tape measures that don´t work for anything? Yep. Not to mention that all of this has been hid up for ages in this house and as a result is full of dirt, cockroaches (literally a million), ants, spiders, rats, and snakes. Let´s just say it was an adventure! As always. And to my surprise, while I thought their house was quite tiny, it´s actually a sufficient size, but it was just covered in garbage. It was a little comical because while we were cleaning out everything, Francisco was collecting some of the things we wanted to throw away and putting them aside. Pobrecito! (Poor thing)

Us and the members worked basically everyday this week to rebuild their entire house and clean it out. The members worked more as we could only offer a couple hours a few days, but the bishop bought new laminas (laminate) and wood and it looks pretty awesome. One day we dug through the clothes that they had and there were so many cucarachas (cockroaches). Like so many cucarachas. We lifted up a shirt and there were about 15 or 20 that would run away and scurry ha. We would pull out one shirt and shake it and then all stomp on the cucarachas to kill them. Divertido!(Entertaining). On top of that me and Paty and Hermana Najera started washing their clothes because they probably haven´t been washed in over a year, in the minimum. The water was pure brown. Like hot chocolate brown. And their bed was basically a few cotton balls on springs. But now they have a new bed, a new house, and no garbage. It´s absolutely beautiful. (I´ll send lots of pics). 

 As far as the rest of the week went it was a busy and tiring week. We were a little frustrated Saturday as we feel like we´re working hard and doing our best and we don´t have many people to teach, at least not many positive investigators. We don´t have families to teach, and we´re looking for new ideas and ways to find new investigators. Praying for strength to know how to find those who are ready to receive this Gospel. It´s hard to believe that´s it´s already Monday again, but I´m working hard and doing my best to improve. 

Love your guts,

Hermana Wright

PS I tried to send pics but we are writing in a ciber (internet cafe) today cause the internet doesn´t work in the iglesia (church) and it´s super slow so I couldn´t up load any photos. I was bummed  cause I have lots to send with cleaning their house and everything, but I´ll send pics next week. Hopefully. Loves!

Favorite skill I´ve acquired thus far...how to build a bathroom

Querido Familia,

Funny stories regarding how people hide from us as missionaries:

-One time we were walking down a street and the kids at the end of the street saw us and some of them ran away to their houses whispering "the missionaries!". When we reached the end of the street one of the kids said to us, "Is it true that you guys carry kids away in your backpacks?" Haha. We had a real good laugh. And then responded and told the kid yes, the rumors were true. 

-We contacted a lady in the street and she told us she was Evangelico but we could come to her house and visit. We came to her house and were greeted by some kids running around playing. We asked for her mom and she ran inside. She returned and said, "Sorry, my mom´s not here." We then responded, "Well just ask your mom when we can come back and visit her." The little girl, with a look of surprise on her face as we discovered her secret, went back inside to ask her mom. She returned and said the same thing, "She´s not here." We then asked her in a whisper, "She´s there isn´t she? Our little secret." The girl smiled, giggled, and nodded her head. Kids are the best. 

I´m ready for these ferrias to be over for "Cristo Negro". Each colonia has a different reina (like a miss america, but for the colonia) and each night there´s dancing, music, and a celebration for the reina in the colonia. I mean it´s cute and all, don´t get me wrong, but 15 days of this? Necessary? I don´t think so ha. It´s harder to find people in their houses and the fireworks and music literally last from 3am until 2am the next day. Ha. Adventures.

Arnoldo passed the sacrament today in his white shirt and tie. Super stoked about this. And his mom is progressing well. We´re working with her to put a fecha down, but there´s something holding her back...so we´re working on that. 

Yesterday we went to visit a new family that we contacted last week and they were working on building their "bathroom". Basically it is like a giant well in the ground. There´s a giant hole and someone repels down in this hole and digs up the dirt, and then we pull up the dirt with a pulley. After they dig the hole they are going to put a "toilet" on top to use as their bathroom. But it´s quite an adventure. I got to help them as they were working and we volunteered. I loved it. It´s fun being able to serve others and especially in random things such as building a "bathroom" in El Salvador in the middle of the mountains. Legit. We´re so spoiled in the states...we have bathrooms, lights, and running water (not to mention running, HEATED water). Simple simple things that we take for granted a lot.

Aside from that, this week was good overall, but hard to find families and people in their homes with all these festivals. We had a reunion on Tuesday with just the Hermanas in our mission and it was really great. I learned a lot and am working hard to improve and be better. As far as the work goes it can be frustrating at times, as I want people to just understand. I want this for others so bad. But at the end of the day it´s their choice. I know without a doubt that this Gospel is true. I know that this church has the authority of God and that through Joseph Smith we have the restored Gospel, the same Gospel that existed when Christ was here on the earth. I know why I am here on the earth. I know I´m a daughter of God and I have purpose and He has a plan for me. And I am so blessed to have this knowledge and it´s the reason I´m the person I am today. And I just want others to understand it and get it. But sometimes people have such hard hearts and are so close'minded. If only they will open their hearts and ask God...they can know for themselves. It´s simple, there is one God and He is all knowing and powerful and He answers our prayers. If we will just open our hearts and ask Him, with real intent, He´ll respond and we can know for ourselves. But some people don´t want to pray and don´t want to ask. I don´t understand this and I want them to soften their hearts and just do it. But at the end of the day I can´t choose for them, it has to be their choice. But I´m working hard to improve and be better. I have so many weaknesses and I make mistakes every day. I can´t do this without God. And I am no where near perfect. But I know that this is God´s work and He will make up the difference where I am weak and where I lack. So I´m working to do everything I can so that He can work miracles in the process.

I love yáll lots and lots. Thanks for your prayers and love and support. I feel it everyday. 

Love,

Hermana Wright

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Feliz Ano Nuevo!! I hope everyone had a great New Year´s Eve. 

This week was an adventure in many ways. The 31st of Diciembre was my companion´s birthday and she got all dolled up in the morning for her birthday (and all for a hard day of work!  J)

Friday we had an adventura. We went to the house of a less active member who has two daughters who are handicapped. We volunteered to wash her clothes to help her out. All of her dirty clothes were in this big bin of water soaking before we washed them. And as we pulled out the shirts and such to wash we discovered some lovely surprises...just little bits of poo throughout the clothes...and some quite larger bits of poo. And they smelled horrendous! Ha. We were laughing hysterically cause it was the only thing we could do. Adventures. Dad, I thought of you ha.

How I really felt!

But yesterday was an incredible day. We worked hard. Church now starts at 8am for us, which is pretty early in a country where nobody is on time and everything just functions a little different. But we saw lots of miracles today and had an amazing day. 

Arnoldo received the priesthood yesterday and we´re teaching his mom and sister (Sonia y Nancy). They will be baptized, I have no doubt; they just need a little more time. We´re also teaching a 15 year old who is very positivo and Mirna is still progressing. The only thing Mirna needs is permission from her parents to be baptized. The problem is her parents aren´t the warmest people on the planet. 

Something I just don´t understand is when people are so cold and reject us immediately without knowing us. Not just as missionaries, but as Mormons in general. As a parent I imagine that having my kid be Mormon would be great, we don´t drink, we don´t smoke, we don´t have sex before marriage, we focus on reading the scriptures and praying daily and growing and mejorando (improving) everyday. How is that a bad thing? I think if they would just get to know us. Find out that we´re real people. We love others, and we want to help. If they would just try they might see the difference. 

One thing I have definitely learned on the mission and advice I would give to others is to be teachable. It´s not easy to be teachable. It means we´re wrong sometimes, it means we have to recognize our errors and admit them to others, it means that we have to change willingly, and it means we have to let someone else teach us. But it´s ever so necessary. And when opportunities arise where we can be teachable, as a human our first reaction is to be defensive, and defend ourselves. But sometimes we just need to take a step back, humble ourselves, and work to be better and be grateful for the opportunity to be taught and to grow.

Overall my testimonio is strengthened every day. There are so many little miracles that are in reality HUGE in our lives. We just have to realize it and look for them and acknowledge them. I know that I´m nothing without God. I make mistakes constantly, and I fail constantly, but despite my weaknesses and failures in the mission, God knows my desires and my efforts to work hard and through Christ He makes up the difference where I lack. And despite our failures como companeras y personas (as companions and persons), we can do amazing work with the help from the Lord. I know it because I´ve seen it constantly throughout my life and am continuing to learn more each day here on the mission.

The church is true. Christ lives. God is real and He answers our prayers. I know it with all my heart.

Love you lots!

Love,

Hermana Wright 

Yep, this is actually how tall she is... I look like a giant.