It’s mid-December and I’m sitting in a hot, humble living room in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. I’m wearing new shoes, blue slacks, my lucky tie, and a white short sleeve dress shirt that still smells like JCPenney and the food court. I’m also wearing that iconic black tag with my name and the name […]
Author: Jason Wright
Elder W. Mark Bassett’s three word legacy — ‘How are you?’
Like so many members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was heartbroken by the passing of Elder W. Mark Bassett. As tributes from around the world have poured into social and mainstream media, and with his funeral now concluded, I’ve been reflecting on an experience from January 2021, when […]
Five things our full-time missionaries want from you
In a previous Church communications calling, I asked hundreds of missionaries a simple question: “What do you want from members? I mean, what do you really want?” Their answers were surprisingly consistent. They did not speak first about referrals, rides or additional dinner appointments. They shared candidly a desire to feel loved and linked to the members […]
Chapter Thirty-Six
July 4, 2026 Annie woke to a sound she didn’t recognize. It took her a moment to understand where she was. The chair. The blanket. The pillow wedged between her neck and the backrest. Room 14. The monitor. The hallway light through the open door. Ron. The sound was his breathing. It had changed. She’d […]
Chapter Thirty-Five
July 3, 2025 Annie brought a blanket from home. Not for Ron. For herself. She’d told Carol she was spending the night and Carol hadn’t balked, which told Annie everything she needed to know about how much time was left. Carol negotiated everything. Visiting hours. Med schedules. Hydration. Sleep. If Carol wasn’t debating, it was […]
Chapter Thirty-Four
June 25, 2026 Kim visited Ron on Thursdays now. Not because Thursday was special. Because it was what she could manage. The shop needed her the other days, not that business was booming, but there had finally been an uptick. More traffic. More curiosity. She’d launched a thriller bookclub that had sparked some sales and […]
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Two
June 8, 2026 Ron was having a good afternoon, which meant he was awake, talking, and the crossword was in his lap instead of facedown on the nightstand. Annie brought him more butterscotch from the Bridgeton drugstore. He unwrapped it one-handed. His left hand didn’t work as well anymore. The fingers curled inward and didn’t […]
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty
May 18, 2026 Annie didn’t rehearse this time. She drove to Meadow View with the windows up, the radio off, and nothing prepared. No gentle version. No direct version. No in-between. She’d spent two weeks trying to find the right words and the right words didn’t exist, so she was going in with the wrong […]