10/20-10/26 Insert cheesy mission email title here

Hello again!

I hope you all are doing well. I just got my email up and running (I have been using my blog for the past two weeks) so I'm becoming closer and closer to feeling like a true missionary.

Speaking of "true" missionary, there's been a new announcement for the service missionaries. For decades at the teaching missionary training centers, a video by Elder David A. Bednar would be showed to all missionaries going through there. And since many missions in my area have been the headquarters for the service missionary training center, we've been wanting to be able to show that video.

Well, we just recently got a personal email from Elder Bednar himself saying that he would like to give permission to premiere that video to service missionaries. This was such wonderful news to hear because that brings service missionaries as a whole one step closer to being considered on par with our proselyting elders and sisters.

Other than that, this past week has been pretty typical. Here's the rundown:

Queen Creek Performing Arts Center- I had to take my cats to the vet on Monday so I didn't end up going there.

Gathering Humanity- Today, my project was organizing the baby formula; consolidating all the packages into an area where the temperature can be better controlled as well as marking and organizing it all by expiration date. We did not lose any packages from expirations! A tender mercy from the Lord!

Sequoia Deaf School- Last week, we changed teachers. So I still have the same students, but a different teacher that I'm working with. These kids are so amazing I love being able to dive in and immerse myself into a new culture.

Pioneer Village- I didn't accidentally bring my key home with me this time around! This week, some guys came by the church because they're gonna use it to shoot a film about an outlaw accepting death. Sister Critchfield and I got to show them around and look at different shots they could do. We also discovered the "basement" of the church and someday I hope to go down there and hopefully not get bit by a snake or something. We'll see.

Casteel Seminary Mentoring- I got to see my kids after about a month of break and I was so happy to be able to chat with them again. A lot of the kids gravitated towards D&C 121:7 where Joseph Smith was trapped in Liberty Jail. You can tell that hearing from our Heavenly Father to have peace unto our souls gives these students hope during the struggles of what all of us can understand is high school.

Saturday service project- This week, we got to refurbish a house near downtown Chandler. We painted the house, we put new rocks in the yard, and we fixed up the plants in their pots. It was great getting to see these people experiencing poverty be able to get a new yard and feel like new again. Since this project was brought about by the city of Chandler, we were then invited to a party hosted by the city and we got new State Forty Eight t-shirts!

Sunday- I had a special musical number with Sister Critchfield, Sister Garder, Elder Arnold, and Elder Johnson. Usually, I'm singing and Elder Johnson plays piano, but this time around, I played piano, Sister Critchfield played the violin, and the other three sang. I was pretty proud of myself since that was the first time I ever accompanied. I've done piano solos and I've sung while others accompany, but now I've had the chance to accompany. With practice, I'm sure I'll get better. The other musicians did amazing as expected.

Anyways, here are the pictures from this week:

One of the stinky students at seminary photoshopped Elder Otey's face over me when I was showing them their weekend assignments

Elder Wells and I twinning at the Saturday service project. He had to teach me how to rake and to keep my mouth closed so I don't taste dust

Me, Elder Wells, Sister Critchfield, Elder Tendick and Sister Kriser painting the house

Some of the other people from Saturday. Elder Johnson, Sister Gardner, me, Elder Wells and Elder Tucker sitting in front, Elder Otey, then Sister Kriser

Me, Sister Gardner, Sister Kriser, and Elder Dowdle filling up some pots for the plants

The whole group after the project. Top row: Elder Tendick, Elder Newton, Elder Dowdle, Elder Millet, Elder Davis, Elder McCurdy, Elder Perkes, Elder J Johnson, Sister Steadman. Middle row: Elder B Johnson, one of the volunteers who wasn't a missionary, the kind gentleman of the house (I think his name was Terry), Sister Gardner, Sister McCook, Sister McCurdy, Sister Conover, Sister Critchfield, Elder Egg, me, Elder Tucker, Elder Wells, Elder Steadman. Bottom row: the son of the lady mentioned before, Elder Otey, the two ladies of the house, Sister Kriser, and then two other volunteers who I think aren't missionaries.

Elder Tucker, Elder Wells and I after the church meeting on Sunday

Rosie after her vet visit. She's perfectly healthy despite being a few screws loose

Eli was so brave for his visit. He has yeast infections in his ears and needs medicine to fix it :(

Our charcuterrie board today at a picnic with some missionaries, there's meat (chicken tenders), cheese (munchie's cheese mix), fruit (pomegranate), and chocolate. Perfect right?

I hope you all have a wonderful week! God loves you!!

10/14-10/19: School Break!

 Hello everyone!

It's been another week of serving and socializing. If anyone would like to join my mission email list, be sure to send an email to amanda.wright@missionary.org. Preferably with a cute animal picture attached.

So this week, both of my school locations did not happen. Sequoia Deaf School was on fall break and Casteel High School rearranged their schedule so mentoring could not happen this week. So instead, I helped out at the QCPAC (Queen Creek Performing Arts Center) on Wednesday and Feed the Children on Friday.

Here's a short update about each service location from this week:

QCPAC- We've been working on completely gutting and reorganizing the pit (area below the stage). It holds costumes, props, and headwear for shows and we need to see what should be thrown away or donated. It's coming along pretty well and I'm pretty confident it will be an effective organization! Sister Critchfield has been in charge of the whole project and she's been such a wonderful lead!

Gathering Humanity- My current project is to reorganize the toy section. Currently, there's girls toys, boys toys, infant/toddler toys, and then sport balls (most commonly, soccer balls/footballs because of how universal the sport is). We're trying to streamline it so there's dolls for the girls, matchbox cars for the boys, smaller toddler toys, and then soccer balls/footballs. So I have to gut the whole set of shelves and prep for the new process.

St. Vincent de Paul- I had my last week there! I originally started there to fill in for a sister missionary who just finished up her mission (shoutout to Sister Skousen <3), but it ended up being too much for me. I would work at the Gathering Humanity warehouse on Tuesday mornings and SVdP on Tuesday afternoons. I loved working there, but I needed a free afternoon to myself. 

Pioneer Village- So I accidentally brought the key to their church home with me this past week. I promise it won't happen again. I may also try seeing if I can start working at the school house and teacherage. I think it would be fun and ever since I saw the teeny tiny teacherage house, I fell in love with working there.

Sunday- I had a special musical number on the piano and it was pretty good! Only a few mistakes! Oh, also on Sunday, I went to a YSA devotional that had the one and only ELDER SOARES FROM THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. It was so amazing to go there and hear his guidance. I feel so blessed to be able to go and see him in person.

As usual, here's the pictures from this week:

Me at Gathering Humanity organizing the girls toys

Feed the Children on Friday. Me, Elder Otey, Elder Perkes, and Elder Tendick

Us afterwards at Manuel's for the best shrimp tacos ever. My mom, me, Elder Perkes, Elder Otey, Elder Tendick, and my dad

My mom and I at the Vincent Van Gogh Immersive Experience in Scottsdale. It wasn't what I was expecting, but fun nonetheless!

Elder Wells and I at a mission birthday party for Sister McCurdy and Sister Steadman (happy 20 something birthday to both of you). We got soaking wet and got paint everywhere and had a blast!

This was at the first ward I went to on Sunday. Elder Johnson had the special musical number there and rocked it! In this picture is Elder Johnson, Elder Tucker, Elder Davis, Elder Da-Re, Elder Otey, me, Sister Gardner, Sister McCook, and then Elder Perkes on Sister McCook's phone

Anyways, I hope you have a great week. Be sure to email me so you can be added on the email list. God loves you!!!

A Slow Start then Quick Beginnings!

 I've finally begun!!! (Well actually, I've been on my mission for a little while now, but I'm just now getting my blog/email working)

It's been a long time coming, but I am officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I serve in the Arizona Tempe-Chandler Service Mission and I could not be happier to be where I am.

I started my mission papers in January 2021 hoping to complete them by April and be out by July, but that obviously did not happen. A few setbacks occured, such as:

-The dentist I went to in Provo for my dental exam said I had 11 cavities (we later went to my regular dentist at home and they said I had none)

-My blood pressure kept getting abnormally high when going to the BYU Student Health Center for my physical exam (turns out I just have white coat syndrome)

-I was under the impression that I needed a passport and wasted about a week or two trying to get one

-I got busy with school and ultimately decided to put my papers on hold until I went back home after the semester

-I had to wait for a pre-mission evaluation from LDS Social Services which added about a month or two

-It took six weeks for my call to arrive (average is 2-3 weeks)

So all in all, my papers took around seven months to complete. On August 19th, I opened my call and it said I will start my mission by September 17th. Well, by August 23rd, I was already doing missionary work. That whole week consisted of getting to know the rest of my mission as well as tying up loose ends.

Service missions are a bit different from proselyting missions. We serve the same length of time, we have the same application process, we both receive calls signed by the prophet, we wear nametags, we have companions, and we have very similar schedules. However, service missionaries live at home, can consume media (to a reasonable level), and of course, serve instead of teach.

The next three weeks after that, from the 30th through September 17th, I was doing more preparation (like getting endowed), beginning to serve at a few locations (Queen Creek Performing Arts Center and Casteel High School Seminary), and going through the Service Missionary Training Center!

So a little bit about the SMTC, it's a pretty new program and included people from places like Arizona (obviously), Virginia, and even Canada. For me, I had classes every Monday and Wednesday from 1-3pm in person and then a Friday Zoom class from 3-5pm.

On the 12th, I was set apart as a missionary, and on the 19th, I gave my launch talk. Another difference about my mission is that it's not called a farewell talk since I won't be living away from home. So we call it a launch talk and my farewell party became a launch party. That brings us up to now, where I am a part of the following places/projects:

-Queen Creek Performing Arts Center where I help backstage working on shows

-Gathering Humanity where I will be doing apartment pulls for refugees

-Sequoia School for the Deaf where I will be a teachers aide in a classroom for deaf and hard-of-hearing children

-Pioneer Village where I will be wearing pioneer clothing and spending the day outside teaching students on field-trips about how people lived without air conditioning or indoor plumbing

-Casteel High School Seminary where I will be mentoring about 35 students on life issues and relating it to the gospel

-Social Media Team where I help work on the daily videos for the mission morning show

-Christmas Concert Committee where I will help organize the concert in December

So I'm pretty busy with the seven different projects I'm a part of. I'm super excited to be a part of this mission and I hope you enjoy the pictures to follow!

When I opened my mission call. The iPad has a picture of Arizona on it. From left to right, it's Elder Johnson and Elder Tucker who are also service missionaries, then James, my boyfriend before the mission, and then my friend, Taylor

Me with two other service missionaries. Sister Critchfield on the left and Sister McCurdy on the right

Sister Critchfield, McCurdy and me again with the service mission leaders, Sister and Elder Steadman in front of our missionary door. Every proselyting missionary serving in our ward/branch and every service missionary that has been in our house since my sister left on her mission about six years ago has signed this door. I'm so happy that I got to sign it!!

My new car! I needed a much more dependable one than my nearly 20 year old Honda Civic so now I have a Chevy Spark. Meet Appa, he's really small and I love him. And yes, he is named after the Avatar: The Last Airbender character

This was taken the day before my temple endowment. I thought it would be funny to make a satirical post about being able to serve in Arizona and learn about their culture and language, but I then proceeded to forget to do that 

Right after I was endowed at the temple. There's Elder and Sister Steadman, Sister Gardner, me, Sister Conover, Elder Tucker, Elder Johnson, and Elder Parrish

Me with my family after my endowment

My pioneer wear for Pioneer Village. I ended up wearing a different hat, new boots, and a new apron

Right after I was set apart as a missionary with my family

A closer picture of me with my new missionary tag!

Me with Sister Skousen at St. Vincent de Paul

Me with the totally real life Pope

Me with Sister Daines and Sister Skousen at St. Vincent de Paul

Right after giving my launch talk. There's Elder Tucker half cut out of the photo, Elder Da-Re, Sister Steadman, Sister McCook, me, Sister Conover, Sister Critchfield, Elder Parrish, Elder Otey, then Elder Mlazgar

My family tried taking a family photo for Christmas afterwards, but the sun hates us. There's my brother, Nick, me, my mom, my dad, my sister, Cilla, and her husband, Matt

Me pulling my hair back that same day realizing I wanna cut my hair someday

Me and Sister Daines at Pioneer Village

Me again at Pioneer Village in the church building with lovely acoustics

Me with Sister Critchfield in the same church building. The piano is out of tune, but it fits the vibe

A better picture of the whole church building. Despite how warm it is inside, I love being in it

Me donating blood with Vitalant. Donate blood if you can!!

Me after donating blood. Honestly, the worst part is when they prick your finger to check your hemoglobin

At the Mesa temple open house with Elder Wells and Elder Tucker

Mesa temple again with a better picture of Elder Wells, Elder Tucker again, Elder Johnson, and Sister Critchfield

The temple was soooo pretty at night

The whole gang at the open house. Top row: Elder and Sister Christensen, the Phoenix service mission leaders, an area seventy (I forgot his name oops), Elder Tendick, Elder Davis, Elder McCurdy, Elder and Sister Steadman. Middle row: Elder Tucker, Elder Wells, Elder Egg, Elder Newton, Elder Perkes, Elder Arnold, Elder Garcia. Front Row: me (bc I'm short), Sister Kriser, Sister McCook, Sister Daines, Sister Critchfield, Sister Conover, Sister McCurdy, and Elder Otey

Me at Gathering Humanity organizing pots

The Tempe-Chandler Service Mission played against the Gilbert Service Mission in frisbee and kickball

We lost both games, but here's me with Elder Tucker and Sister McCook

Sister Gardner and I just chilled on the side for the frisbee game

Heres Elder Johnson wearing the wrong shirt and moving too much to take a photo

Anyways, I'll try to update every week and go into more depth on each service location. Be sure to stay tuned! God loves you!!!

If you wanna subscribe to my email list, send an email to amanda.wright@missionary.org :)