Tender Mercy #3 or 4... there are so many!

This is Kathy, Abby's mom for this post. I am so blessed to have met via facebook and become friends with Sister Helena Stanbury. There is an amazing story that goes along with us meeting. Thirty years ago in 1983, she was an exchange student and stayed with a family from Providence (where I grew up.) She went to Mountain Crest High School her senior year and graduated in 1984.

She went back, got married and is now living in Watford, England and mother to a daughter who is serving in Australia and son who will be leaving in October. Forward 30 years and Abby is now assigned and serving in Watford, England. She meets Sister Stanbury on her first Sunday in Watford and went to her house for dinner. They got talking and made the connection that Abby had also graduated from the same high school, which is also the same high school I graduated from.

Abby and Sister Pope went to Sister Stanbury's house for dinner on Wednesday, July 30th. After dinner Helena thought it would be fun to let Abby look at her/my yearbook. It was the only time I was glad I wasn't there to hear all the laughing!!

Later after the missionaries left she sent me this picture of Abby looking at the yearbook. I am on the top row on the right page. Abby looks happy. I wonder if its because they just spent who knows how long laughing at old yearbook pictures.

I am thankful daily for tender mercy's that remind me that Heavenly Father knows us and loves us and wants the best for us.

I never would have thought Abby would have met someone that had graduated from the same high school thirty years ago, and someone who will take pictures for me and let me know how she is doing and best of all give her extra HUGS from home!! I love you Helena for loving my daughter.

Almost 1 month!

Hi momma!
So sorry that I didnt get a chance to send individual emails, we ran out of time then we were busy the rest of the day! I will try to answer all your questions but sorry if I miss any... So my week has been great!  By finding I mean that we street contact, knocking doors is well, less than effective here in England. But I mean if I think about it, I would think it was weird if two people came to my door and said they wanted to teach me about God. But street contacting works really really good, we actually get one of the highest sets of numbers in our zone :) so we are pretty proud of that. Our Zone leaders are in our area so they drive us places sometimes and we hang out with them on p-days and other times! Their names are Elders F and H.   Me and Sister Pope had a photo shoot this week so you will like those!  It doesnt really feel like a month, but at the same time it does. The days go by slow, but the weeks go by fast, that doesnt really make sense but thats how it works! Im so happy your internet friends with Sister Stanbury!! She is the most amazing lady in the world and I love her! Her son s comes teaching with us a lot and he is awesome too! I love going to their house and it was so cool to watch Antony open his mission call! We share a phone, but its basically a brick and ya its great.

 So cool story of the week.. We were on our way to a dinner appointment and we ran into these two guys. One of them was not interested at all and was kinda loud, were pretty sure he was drunk. But the other guy who was kinda quiet at first started talking to us after the other guy left. He said he had to walk home so we started walking with him. Turns out his ex wont let him see his son and he has had a lot of other hard things in his life, so he just told him that God loves him and he honestly didnt really believe us. But he was almost home and we had to turn around to go to dinner and we asked him if we could say a prayer with him. He accepted and asked if we would pray for his son to grow up properly and pray for them, I said it and I did what he asked. While we prayed the spirit was so so strong!! And we knew he felt it too cause when we ended the prayer he had tears in his eyes. He thanked us over and over and then gave us his number so we are going to call him and start teaching him! It was the coolest thing cause at first he was not interested and then the prayer changed the whole thing. I know just from that that the power of prayer is real and that Heavenly Father does love all his children.

"God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, jsut as we always has. But he cant if you dont pray, and he cant if you dont dream."
-Elder Jeffrey R Holland


Also one of my most favorite things about England is when you are leaving some one and they say "Cheers Darling" say that in an english accent and you will know why I love it!! :)

I love you to the moon and back infinity times!!!!!!!
Peace out girl scout, and cheers darling!
Sister Wright

This is for you, Grange Family.

Thanks Abby for all the pictures. You know how much I love getting pictures. I LOVE YOU!!!

Watford Week 1

Hello everybody!!
So I'll start out with the sad news, we can't email back and forth like chat, I guess it's a new mission rule. We heard about it when we first got here at the mission office, I'm actually really sad about it, but oh well I guess. It's there for a reason. So this week has been really crazy, I dont even know where to start. Uh the bus ride was great! I slept and talked to the other missionaries most of the time, and coming into London was one of the coolest things ever. Dad, we passed an astin martin store, and I thought about you and James Bond and it was just really great. And yes, there are red telephone booths on every corner there! We got there and Sister Jordan ran out and gave me and the other sister, Sister Mcnamee, HUGE hugs! She is so so sweet, but she means business! President Jordan is really awesome and such an inspired man, but he believes in exact obedience, so no one breaks rules cause we dont want to disappoint him. We had some orientation there for a little while and they fed us lunch, then we went out finding on Exhibition Road for about 20 minutes, and taught some lessons, then we came back in and met our trainers. 

As you all probably know, mine is Sister Pope and basically we are meant to be. We both love all of the same things, and turns out not very many sister missionaries actually exercise but there is NO WAY I am getting fat, so conviently Sister Pope is one of the missionaries that does exercise! And... wait for the best part... she used to teach pilates!!!!! So we do pilates almost every morning and it is one of the greatest things ever! She was actually a professional ballroom dancer before she came out here so she is kinda a big deal. She loves to shop, as do I, as you all know. So guess what we are doing my first p-day, yup you guessed it right!! GOING SHOPPING!! (Sorry dad...) Also, night gowns are like the greatest thing ever so I will definiely be buying more of those. So like we all thought I would come here and it would be cooler than there, right?! But no.. false. Nothing could be more wrong. I would rather be in dry 110 degree weather than this. Its SO HUMID!!!!!!!! And hot, so basically all you do is sweat all day, then shower and then sweat again. And air conditioning like isnt a thing in England, and we live on the 8th floor, and heat rises so we really are always sweating. But it shouldnt be like this for too much longer, and actually today isnt too bad. It has sprinkled a little but it hasnt really rained. I cant wait for it to start raining though, its gonna be great! Plus I wanna wear my hunters real bad so hopefully it rains soon!! Even though our appartment is on the 8th floor, it is so posh! I love it! I will send pictures next week! I got the package, thank you so much for the pillowcase, and the food and the letters! It meant the world to read them and I still laugh everytime I take a second to look at the pillowcase! Im not gonna put it on my pillow cause I dont wanna have to wash it in case it all faded in the washer. 

We have a washer in our flat, but we just hang dry our clothes. So we have a lot of people to teach, which means we dont do much finding, but I really wanna learn how to be a better finder so we are gonna schedule some time in to go finding! :) We have so many investigators, some of which are crazy, but most of which are normal. Its so weird, when people talked about loving the people they teach I thought they were all crazy but now I totally know what they mean!! I love every single person I talk to, its actually kinda weird how I just automatically feel love for them. Next week I will tell you more about our investigators. So Saturday there was Stake Athletics, and athletics here kinda just means running so it was basically like a huge track meet and it was so fun!! We got to run for our ward, and Sister Pope is freakin fast!! We definitely killed it. 

Athletic Day Watford Ward England

Oh speaking of our ward, I forgot to tell you guys, Im here in Watford, its about a 20 minute ride outside of London, so we are really close. And one p-day each transfer all the close areas around London get to go into London, so we will probably do that in a couple weeks. And also, Harry Potter was filmed right here in Watford, so we are also gonna go to Harry Potter Land one p-day. Ok but back on the track meet, we were doing the 4x100 and sister pope was handing off the baton to me and totally biffed it. It was actually really funny, and she was laughing too. But long story short she broke her finger so we spent like 3&1/2 hours in the a&e yesterday (a&e is for accident and emergency- its like our ER) so that was fun! It was super gross there, like not sanitary at all and just ew. So ya.. theres that. 

Sister Pope's broken fingers

Having fun at the a&e

But she is doing a lot better today. And we ate lunch at the Stanbury's last night, mom thats the lady that you have been talking to on facebook who went to MC for a year! So me and her really bonded!! :)

It was so fun, it was kinda like our sunday dinners but without you guys.. haha I am learning so much here it is incredible. I definitely know I cant do this work without my Fathers help. Um ya so I think thats about it for this week. There will be more individual emails coming to you guys, so look for those. Also, I didnt forget.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY, TONNA, AND CLEMMY... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! I love you all and I hope you had/have wonderful birthdays and a great week! 
Peace out girl scouts!!! 
ps look up watford on google maps!
XOxoXoOx

Early Morning Bus Ride to London - Goodbye MTC

Hey everyone, sorry this is so short, its 5:30 in the morning here and we are just getting ready to get on a bus to go to london! This week was great, I will tell you more about it in next weeks letter, hopefully we can email when we get to the mission home but we arent exactly sure yet. One small story from this week is that I bought a curling iron but its gas powered... ya I didnt know they made those either, anyways Im gonna be taking that back so I will try to put it back on the card but if not I will just take cash and buy a new one! Hopefully one that plugs into the wall and wouldnt make my hair stink.

Well I love all of you so much and I miss you all, and today I become a real missionary! I just want to say thank you for all you have done for me, mom thanks for all the candy and the sweet notes, it really means a lot to see them and find a new one everytime I open my suitcase. I love you all and hopefully I can email again later today! Be strong, be brave, be true.
XoxOxoXO
Sister Wright

Hinckley Zone England MTC July 2014

I just wanted to let you know that your missionary arrived here and is safely in the care of her new companion.  She is serving with Sister Pope, from Provo, Utah in the Watford Ward.

We love her already-

Sister Jordan

Our Preparation Day is on Monday, you will be hearing from her then.

Sister Wright with President and Sister Jordan

Sister Wright with her new companion and trainer, Sister Pope (from Orem.)

They got to go "finding" or street contacting on Exhibition Road, London England before they left for her first area.

Sister Wright and Sister Pope on Exhibition Road, London England

Officially one week!!

So today, there are so many missionaries to email before we go to the store so we are on laptops, however, in gmail the keyboard doubles all the letters we type, ya we dont know why but it does so I'm typing this on notepad and then copy and pasting it to the email so if it ends up looking super funny when you read it thats why! This week has been amazing! Holy cow there is so much to tell you I don't even know where to start. We got here and got our companions, mine is Sister S. She is from sweden, but her mom is from chile so she has dark hair and darker skin, not what you think of when you think of sweddish people! ha so I love her so much!

She doesnt talk a lot in our lessons, but we are working on that! She is so funny and says some english words really funny but lets us make fun of her and makes fun of herself so it keeps in entertaining! I'm rooming with 5 other sisters, Its me and my companion, Sister K from St. George/Chorley(UK) she has moved back and forth, and her companion Sister M from Denmark who is going back to Denmark for her mission speaking Danish. Sister K is going to London South. THe other two sisters are sister W from ALpine who is going to London South and Sister M from Tennessee who is a convert and going to my mission!! wahooo!! oh i forgot to say that my companion is serving back in sweden speaking swedish. So ya thats all of us! Basically I have never laughed so hard in my life they are all so so fun! My distric is also super awesome! there is my and my companion then 6 other elders. Elders J, F, C, B, D, and C.  D is the one i flew with who was really quiet but turns our he is hilarious. Everything that comes out of his mouth either teaches me something so deep or makes me laugh so hard i pee my pants! ha Elder C is from Holland and he is also a convert. His story is so cool, he used to transport drugs and other illegal stuff and he got caught once and prayed to god and told him that if he helped him out of the situation he would give his life to him, they let him go he met the missionaries, and well, you get the rest. Elder C turns out went to Utah State and played football there so he is good friends with Tyler Weese, we played against each other in instramurals, sat kinda by each other at basketball games, but never met each other! haha how funny is that?? So basically all we do all day is learn and study, but its awesome!! You dont think you would get tired, but the most relaxing thing we do is exeercise haha we usually play soccer, or excuse me futbol. they make fun of us americans when we say soccer ha basically everyone plays together and its so fun!! Its not supposed to get competitive but you know, I cant really help it so i kinda have to show some of the elders up sometimes ;) But it is so so fun!! Um my companions first language is swedish so I help her with english and she teaches me sweddish! so far I can say i have to pee, wheelchair, tunafish, so we are making real progress!! haha I miss all you guys so much but im so focus on the work and studying and learning how to teach better that i dont get homesick all that much. So obviously today is p-day we get to go to the store and go to the temple and email! Wahoo!! they provide laundry and soap so we can do that whenever but we ended up doing most of it this morining. I thought waking up early would be the hardest part, but now it seems normal since i finally got over the jet lag. ha i dont even know what sleeping in feels like here! It is gorgeous, you have no idea. Green is an understatement, like this is the most beautiful place on earth. It has actually been pretty sunny here lately, by sunny i mean its rained all but one day. BUt the rain doesnt usually last all day, it is either in the morning or in the evening. I actually really love it! and the temple is so pretty!! Mom, to answer your questions, we dont really have time to do our hair, so usually all of the sisters here wear theirs air dryed. They only give us a half hour to shower and get ready, which is fine for the elders but we always end up going to class or lunch with wet hair since we get ready after we exercise. However, the sister that has lived here and in Utah has a straightener and I used that this morning so I feel super fancy!! haha ya, just cause my hair is straight. Apparently missions do change you! But when we go to the store I am gonna buy a blow dryer, straightener and curling iron. Hopefully my card works cause if not thats gonna be a real problem!! My favorite part about the MTC is how much I have learned. Not only from the spirit and studying but also from the other sisters and elders. I know for a fact we are all here together for a reason and I wouldnt wanna be anywhere else. you guys seem so sad in all your emails but there is no reason to be sad!! Im working hard, im happy, and we are all getting blessings!! :) plus ill see you guys super super soon, like 17 months and 2 weeks!! hahaha Well I think thats all for this week! oh also we leave the MTC next wednesday, so ya, thats a week from today. Oh and I almost forgot, when I came to the MTC it was the weirdest thing, there was already a package here for me!! haha thank you all so much! the only time I have cried was when I read those letters. They meant so so much for me and I am so thankful for all of you that wrote one. It means so much.  Thanks again for the letters and the emails! I will write personal ones and send pictures when we get back from the store! love you all!!

Peace out, girl scouts,
Sister Wright