Selfless Service

This week my companion and I had the privilege to help clean the home of an older Sister in the ward. She is unable to do many things on her own anymore, including getting to church. Seeing her situation was truly hearbreaking. She could barely take care of herself and she also had both of her adult sons living with her who had strayed from the gospel fold. One is constantly drunk. I can't imagine the hearache she feels everyday because of them. 

A group of Relief Society Sisters organized this service project to clean her home from top to bottom. It was amazing to see these women in action! There was so much love in the home. These women don't have muich but what little they had they gave to this Sister. We always have time and love" That is true charity. No matter how much, or little, we have we are using it to build others. 

I invite you all to be quick to observe the needs of others this week. Find what you have and give it , out of love, to someone what really needs to feel God's love. 

--

Irmã Wright

Culture Shock

I've been in Brazil for almost a month now and am still learning so much. I knew that I would be soaking in a new language but I didn't realize how much I would be learning about the culture as well. I still feel like I'm in culture shock. 

Duing my two week stay in the MTC in São Paulo I learned quickly how warm and open the people are here. Everyone has so much love for the people around them. They are so open and will smile at and great anyone they see. 

In the MTC I also learned that Brazilians love Americans. During meals my small little district of Americans would sit down at a table and it would soon be full of people! The missionaries really enjoyed helping us learn the language. My companion and I shared a room with a Brazilian companionship and every night they would teach us new words. I always looked forward to spending evenings with Sister Ferreira and Sister Faria laughing and playing seraides to figure out what we were trying to say to each other. 

When it come to food here I have just accepted the fact that I won't know what I'm eating most of the time. It has been great so far though. I have found a new vegetable down here that I love! Its similare to a potato excet its more stringy. So good! Also make sure you know where the water people give you comes from here or you will regret it, promise.

One thing I love that doesn't happen down here is people slamming doors in our faces. It is fantastic! Everyone is so nice even when they don' want to hear our message. 

Something new I learned this past week was that you don't wave at people you don't know. Apparentl, it is a way of flirting. Whoops" You can say hello to everyone but waving is out. That is going to be a difficult habit to break. 

It has been a huge adjustment to life donw here, and I still miss my carpet, but I love it! I can feel God's love for the people here and I am so blessed to be surrounded by some of His choice children. 

--

Irmã Wright

Enabling power of the Atonement

This week I am so grateful for the Atonement. One thing that we have to teach people about the Atonement as missionaries is that it is not just something we turn to when we have done something wrong. There is also an enabling power of the Atonement. It was this enabling power that I'm grateful for this week. 

It has been a little frustrating learning Portuguese. I was impatient with myself that I wasn't picking things up quicker. I just wanted to be able to communicate with people. I wasn't using the Atonement. I had a negative attitude and was trying to learn without the help of my Savior. When I realized what was happening I had to quickly repent! I prayed for humility, patience, the gift of tongues, and most importantly charity.

I am here learning this language to help other people, not for myself. I forgot that its not about me! I turned inward instead of outward. It is so easy to do! I have a strong testimony of the fact that our hardships are to refine us into people who turn outward in love and charity toward the people that surround us like our Savior did.

Once I started relying fully on the Atonement to learn Portuguese several things happened. The first was that I was able to understand a lot more of what was going on. Second, I was much happier. Thirdly, I am able to focus on the needs of others during the day rather than stressing out about trying to cram Portuguese into my brain! I was truly enabled this past week. I know that Christ wants everyone to be blessed by this enabling power, That's why we have missionaries. I know that the happiness that comes from the Atonement is available to everyone that will accept Christ by living His gospel. His arms are always open to lighten our burdens. The only things standing in our way of receiving His love is ourselves!

I invite you all to take a moment and inventory what things you are struggling with right now. Then make a choice to turn those things over to the Lord. Choose to be made whole through His Atonement. Pray for strength and I testify you will receive it!

--

Irmã Wright

Pictures from June 2015

Here are several pictures Sister Wright has sent us since she has arrived in Brazil. She is now serving in a city called Sete Lagoas.  It is located about 2 hours north of Belo Horzonte.

Finally going to Brazil

This last Saturday I received my long awaited visa to Brazil. When I
was told this by President Craven I had a strange mixture of emotion
that I wasn't expecting. Even before entering the MTC I was dreading
being reassigned to a mission in the United States. That was the last
thing that I wanted to happen. I was so excited to go and teach the
restored gospel of Jesus Christ in a foreign country in a new
language. It sounded like an adventure that I had been longing for!

When I got my reassignment in December to Charlotte, North Carolina I
was excited to spend a little time out east then head to my ideal
destination in South America. I expected to stay here for 6 weeks then
be on my way to Brazil. Obviously, things didn't quite go according to
my plan.

My stay here in the Mission of Miracles has had some ups and downs but
I have become a much better person because of it and I wouldn't trade
it for anything in the world. At this point I'm a little sad to leave
it behind. It seems that whenever we get comfortable with where we are
God decides to change things around. One of my favorite one liners
that I've heard so far is "There is no growth in the comfort zone or
comfort in the growth zone." At the beginning I definitely wasn't
comfortable here. It's not because it was extremely difficult
adjusting to missionary life. It was because I wanted to be somewhere
else. I wasn't where my feet were.

This past transfer in Greensboro I fell in love with missionary work.
I have enjoyed all my time as a missionary but I gained a passion for
it here. I think that's why I'm leaving. Because I love this area, the
people, and my companions! God can't let me get too comfortable! :)

I expected to be much more excited about this transfer. I've been
looking forward to it since I got here! It's not to say I'm not
excited, I know it is going to be a blast in Brazil! However, I am
going to miss my home in North Carolina. This is where I learned to be
a missionary. North Carolina has changed me.

This is a bitter sweet moment. I know that I'm going where I need to
be though. I am excited for what the future has in store. I've become
comfortable here and so it's time for me to move on. I am so thankful
that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me enough to put me where I
need to be to grow the most. That is the point of this life. To learn
and grow to become like Him. I know that I'm nowhere near but I know
my potential and I trust His plan. If I've learned one thing so far
it's that it's always God's plan, not Sister Wright's. I am so
grateful for that. I have learned to accept what comes and love it.

I know that God puts us where we need to be for a reason. The people
that come into our path are there by divine design of a Father with
infinite love for you. We can learn so much and be he happiest in our
current circumstances if we simple look for what He intends for us to
learn.

I invite you all to go about your days for consciously. Happiness and
knowledge is all around you. It's placed there by your Father in
Heaven. You just need to take the time to notice it. It is your
choice. Choose to be happy and grow everyday!

We all need the help of others

Every week during our planning session we compile a list of members
that we want to involve in the work that week. After that it is a lot
of calls and voice mails before the real magic happens of laboring in
the Lord's vineyard with the members of our ward.

This past week we called a Sister in the ward to come out with us and
we were surprised with the response we got. She came up to us at
church and told us the voice mail we left for her about coming teaching
with her made her cry. We were a little confused by this. She went on
to explain how it has been years since she has gotten a call from the
missionaries for her. Her husband is not a member of the church and so
every time the missionaries called it was to see if ye could teach her
husband. She told us how she felt very used and unappreciated.

It was a great lesson to me of how easy it is to overlook some of our
Heavenly Father's precious children. I'm sure that the missionaries in
the past had their hearts in the right place. They wanted to unite
this family for eternity by bringing the father into the gospel fold.

Through this experience my attention has been heightened to the needs
of everyone in the ward. Just because it someone may be firmly planted
in gospel soil does not mean that we can over look them. Every single
person you encounter is a child of God who needs love and support.
None of us are perfect. We all need the help of others.

The structure of the church is divinely inspired in such a way that we
have many opportunities to serve each other. We need our brothers and
sisters. Heavenly Father often meets our needs and the needs of others
through acts of kindness from His other children.

I invite you to take the time to observe the needs of others this week
and then act. It doesn't take much exertion to brighten someone's day
and make their burden lighter. Pay extra attention to the person who
doesn't get a lot of attention. I can testify that when you do this
you will be the Lord's hands on the earth.

Mosiah 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn
wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your
fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

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Missionary Panel

Missionary Panel

This week my companions and I had the unique opportunity to
participate in a missionary panel at Guildford college. They have a
course in Mormonism and this past week they were studying missionary
work. We were talked to a class of about fifteen people with the
Elders in our area and answered questions the students had about
missionary work. The questions were all mostly about our routine and
why we decided to serve missions. But we did get some weird ones like
"what sort of guidelines are there for women's safety?" We told them
we just follow the Spirit and we don't have any problems.

They were all really fascinated with the white handbook. Apparently
they read through it as a class. What?! They were all pretty curious
about if we follow all the rules and who enforced them. We told them
that no one makes us follow the rules but we keep them all because we
love God. I think every person in the room scribbled that down on
their notepads!

It was a great opportunity to bear testimony to a captive audience. I
made sure that I bore frequent testimony and explained the Holy Ghost.
If nothing else I wanted them to know that God answers our prayers
through the Spirit. Judging by the amount of notes that class took on
what we were saying I'm not to worried about that point being missed.

The teacher provided us a copy of the syllabus for the class and one
of the Elders noticed that the Book of Mormon is not part of the
required reading! None of them have a copy. We remedied that very
quickly. I have never seen anyone so excited to receive a copy of the
Book of Mormon as these college students! I wish everyone we talked to
had as much enthusiasm! We also distributed the pamphlets we use for
teaching. It was a great way to give out a lot of media.

The best part of the panel was that we found a new investigator. She
is so sweet and she is getting baptized next month! It just goes to
show that you will find people prepared to receive the gospel no
matter where you go! If we simply follow the promptings of the Holy
Ghost we will be given opportunities to share the gospel of Christ.

I invite you to make an effort to recognize the promptings of the Holy
Ghost. I testify that when we do follow the promptings God gives us He
will give us even more and we can come even closer to Him.

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Guildford college

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