December 30, 2013

Hello family,

This week was good. We had a good Christmas Day. I enjoyed talking to you as well. 

 

Today we went to the Nike employee store and I thought since everything there is 50% off and I will never be there again I should buy something. I spent about 25-30 minutes deciding on whether or not to buy the cool shirt that I found. I didn't want to spend $48 dollars on it, but it was a cool shirt. I left it and while my companion was looking at some shoes I saw some shoes that I thought were pretty cool. They were $80 dollars and I tried them on really quick and gave up stressing over what to buy and just bought the shoes.

We were able to teach some of our investigators this week that we haven't taught in awhile. Weird...right? ya, they went well. One of them, we gave a church tour to. He committed to come. We had a lesson also with our Hindu investigators. It's interesting with them, because while we read scriptures in English they read them in Hindi. They actually understand them now, which is awesome!

We gave a bunch of blessings this week, which was awesome. How great it is to help others in need. The sisters in our area never hesitate to offer them to everyone they meet. It's great.

I think that's about it.

Love, Elder Udy

December 16, 2013

Hello family,

 

All of our investigators are doing pretty well. Although it seems like all the people we find end up being taught by the sister missionaries in our ward. We found a part member family that scheduled to have us teach their daughter, but then we got a call from them saying that it would work better for their schedule if the sisters taught her. That way the dad didn't have to be home. Also, last week we were tracting and found this lady named Tiana that was super enthusiastic about the church. She has a Muslim husband, but doesn't really participate. We found her and talked to her and gave her a BoM. Then we had the sisters go over there to do service for her, because they could go inside the house. They ended up teaching a lesson. Also, she came to a performance that the stake did about Christ's life. We'll see if we end up teaching her again or not.

 

We have been focusing a lot more on getting our investigators to church, because then they can feel the spirit and receive answers. One of our investigators we found out has an easier time reading in Hindi than in English so we got a translated BoM. Hopefully it will be easier for them to read, now that they don't have to force themselves to do it.

 

Another investigator moved out this week to Hillsboro. She told us that we were some of her best friends and that she felt super comfortable talking to us and wasn't sure why. We talked about the holy ghost and how she can receive it in her life as well. She felt like it was true. We are going to send the missionaries in her new area over to her house. She will get baptized, I know it!

 

Other investigators aren't progressing as well, but slowly and surely. We started teaching two new less actives this week though and are planning on inviting another one tonight to take the lessons. Hopefully that will work out well. We are going to ask for referrals from them as well.

 

This week was interesting. My bike broke! Don't worry though.

 

Also, the ward had a high priest Christmas dinner party. We got recruited as the entertainment to sing for everyone. Also, we got recruited by Sister Morby (mission presidents wife) to sing at zone conference and we are singing in the missionary talent show. Lots of singing for our little quartet. We are getting better and better I think. Maybe we should start charging. Just kidding. For the dinner we sang some Christmas songs that we added a little harmony to as well as some solo verses. For our zone conference Thursday we plan on singing 'Joseph Smith's First Prayer'. For the talent show we are singing "I'll be home for Christmas" with some words that we changed. I might have told you about that already. Hopefully they all go well. We kind of had a mutual agreement that we aren't going to spend a ton of our time doing rehearsals and stuff. We are just going to learn it on our own, then put it together right before. That way we can spend more time proselyting.

 

I really liked what you said about the "Intimate" atonement. I think about Mary when she saw Christ right after the resurrection and it's true that she did know exactly who he was and what he did for her. She recognized him as her savior and redeemer in her own personal life. It makes me think, if all the pictures that we have that depict Christ aren't correct, will we be able to know enough and recognize our personal savior when he comes? If you think about the common children's song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", would we recognize him as our personal savior if he was standing next to us? Would we know him well enough and have a testimony strong enough to know who he is and what he did for us? That makes me want to live the gospel and be true to my covenants so that I can know and be able to feel when he is standing next to me.

 

Anyway, I am tired of typing. Love you all.

Elder Udy

December 9, 2013

Hello family,

Thanks for the great picture. It was exciting to see all the snow. My companion is from Texas and I showed it to him. He didn't really react, but it's unusual for him. The weather here has been super, super unusual. It has only rained 3 times this whole winter. Everyone is a little freaked out about it. Also, this last week has been below 30 degrees. Nobody knows what to do and they are all staying inside. It gets pretty cold riding down hills on your bike, but we got hats. Don't worry. Also, three days ago, it snowed for about 2 hours here. Everyone was kinda excited/scared about it. It reminded me of Utah a lot. Luckily, it went away by the next day.

James Thomas had Bro Brownell baptize him and confirm him and ordain him. He asked me first, but I said it would be better to have someone in the ward do it. Bro. Brownell is the ward mission leader.

I watched the First Presidency broadcast at the bishops house with our recent convert James. It was sweet! I think I liked last year's devotional better though.

I love you all and am grateful for an awesome family.

Love, Elder Udy

December 2, 2013

Hello Family,

This week was fairly slow. We had a bunch of people cancel. Next week should be good though.

This week we had a special training meeting for people that were training. It was pretty fun though because we got to teach all of the lessons in order. Each one in under 10 minutes. It was Elder Stone's first time teaching the law of tithing.

Also, we had a baptism. James Thomas got baptized. He referred himself through mormon.org about a year ago. He has been waiting for a long time to be baptized because his mom was NOT supportive of it. He had to wait until he was 18 so he didn't have to have his mom sign the baptism record. He has such a strong testimony though and is truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so super stoked to know him. He is going to grow up and go to the temple and he even wants to go on a mission. We told him he couldn't go until after he was a member for a year. He was a little sad, but it will be alright.

The lady whose sons ran away, one of them came home for one night and then left. The other is in jail. She is still looking for a place to live. Hopefully she will find one soon. We have been giving her a few suggestions on where to look. Missionaries always know where all the apartments are.

Thanksgiving was great. We had some weekly planning to do and then we ate with the Jones family. They are a cool family. After that we went and ate some pie at the Bennions home. They made about 10 pies for everyone from scratch. They were really good. We finished our day by playing some scrabble with them.

We also had an exchange this week with our district leader. His name is Elder Brown and we were in the MTC together. It was a lot of fun being with him for a day. To see how much we have both learned.

That's all.

Love, Elder Udy

November 25, 2013

Hello family,

That picture of Chad is the funniest thing ever! He looks super young. I'm stoked that he is in the field now though. It will be the best thing ever for him.

This week was a great week. We were able to teach a ton of lessons and found two new investigators. They are two single woman that have struggles in their life. One of them has three boys that get into a lot of trouble all the time. When we talked to her she said that they went to a friends house about three days ago and now she has no idea where they are. They don't have phones or any way to contact them. For all she knows they could be in jail. On top of that, she was asked by the manager of the apartment complex to move due to all the vandalism and trouble her kids have caused. She has read the bible a little, but doesn't understand and hasn't felt comfortable in any church. Wait till the gospel comes into her life. :)

When she talked about having three sons It reminded me of our family. The only difference is the way we were raised. I can't even imagine doing something that would send me to jail. Or get into enough trouble to the point that we had to move. For them that's probably a natural part of their life. We are lucky.

Singing in stake conference went great. We got lots of compliments from everyone so that's always a plus. We sang "Savior Redeemer of My Soul" from 17 Miracles and "Because I Gave Been Given Much". For Savior, we all had a little solo part and a bunch of 4 part harmony. On the hymn, the two sisters sang the melody and Elder Stone and I sang the alto line. It turned out well.

Anyway, I'm done typing. I love you all and hope everything is going well.

Love, Elder Udy

November 18, 2013

Hello Family,

This was a pretty good week. Our investigator passed his baptismal interview and is ready for baptism on the 30th. He has been meeting with missionaries for a while. He self referred himself on mormon.org.

Also, we had zone meeting this week and they talked a lot about family history. We are trying to use it a little bit more in our efforts this month to share the gospel. I shared about how I have an awesome connection to family history back home and how it relates to our family. Later in the week we actually talked to a guy that said he wasn't really interested in our message, but loved all our resources for family history. We talked to him about coming to the family history center that they have here at the church and he said that he would come. It was super cool to see that at work. Also, at zone meeting, there was a challenge that was given to us: To leave a commitment at every dinner appointment. We have been challenging all the members to invite a friend or neighbor over for dinner within the next two weeks so that they can feel the spirit in the home. Also, to help them work on Elder Ballard's promise of preparing someone before Christmas.

Chad is headed to Arkansas this week. That will be fun.

Our stake conference singing hasn't happened yet. We are going to be rehearsing for it Thursday. They asked us to do some prelude as well and asked us to sing "Because I have Been Given Much".

Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Udy #1

P.S. I bought some new brake pads today so don't freak out about the charge. My bike will stop a lot better now. Rather than rubbing metal on metal.

November 11, 2013

My New Companion. Elder Udy

Hello Family,

Another great week in paradise. No flat tires, no late appointments, no new investigators (wait, what?!!) Ha ha. It was a pretty good week though. Biking is getting easier or maybe I am just getting stronger. I am trying to drink more milk. In other words, eat more cereal. It says it has protein in it. It must be healthy.

Anyways, this was a pretty funny week. Elder Stone and I laughed a lot. He is a pretty funny guy when he wants to be. We went tracting this week and found a bunch of new people to potentially teach. One of them actually set up an appointment for us to come back. We went back and then he re-scheduled again for the next day and he wasn't there. :( It was sad, but it happens. We also were invited in to a house that just wanted to bash with us about how we are going to become gods one day. That was fun for my greenie. We had a couple lessons fall through, but we were able to teach our Hindu investigators. They are going to continue reading and they agreed to come to church sometime!

Oh, we sang in church on Sunday. That was fun. We did an arrangement of Savior, Redeemer of my Soul. The one from 17 Miracles. It was us and the sisters serving in our ward, It turned out well. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Our ward mission leader set us up to sing at the adult session of stake conference on the 23rd. That will be fun also.

Last night we gave a blessing to a less active family. It was Elder Stone's second blessing ever! I had to coach him through the anointing.

My new companion, Elder Stone.

I think that's about it for this week.

Love, Elder Udy

November 4, 2013

Hello family,

Yes, I did buy some lights for my bike. The lights work great though.

Yesterday was the first day that I rode my bike in the rain. That was fun and will continue to be. It seems like we ride about 6-7 miles a day about. I a working off some of the fat that I have gained out here. :)

I think I am going to make a list of things I am grateful for.

My new companion is doing well. He taught the restoration for the first time this week. He did great. Much better than I remember doing my first time. He already has a strong desire to be obedient as well so that helps. I am working on teaching him to plan better though and on how not to talk to girls. He is a funny guy though.

On Halloween, we stayed inside and did our planning for the week. It was a lot of fun... We live in an apartment so nobody came to our door. Apparently, we were supposed to have a ghost on our door to allow them to come. Whoops. It's OK I didn't really have any candy to give to them.

I'm excited that Chad is leaving this week. Seems like yesterday when he got his call. Is he nervous? He will do great. Tell him to just listen to his trainer and have fun with his trainer. Being a trainer, you have a lot of stuff weighing on you and you forget to have fun. I'm glad that Elder Stone reminds me to have fun sometimes and to laugh. Make sure you ask questions as well. Your trainer doesn't know what is on your mind unless you share it with him. Umm... that's about it. Be happy, work hard, and be obedient!

That's about it for this week. Thanks for the prayers. I love you guys a lot.

Love, Elder Udy

October 28,2013

Hello family,

This week has been super crazy! We had about 15 hours of meetings that we had to go to. I had to quickly coordinate rides to get everywhere that we needed to go, due to our lack of transportation. It really humbled me this week and helped me realize how much of a blessing a car really was for me. When you can just get into it and get anywhere within 5 minutes, it saves a lot of time.

We did get a couple of bikes and a member bought us each a new helmet, water bottle, bike lock, and water bottle holder. What a blessing. Seriously, without the members nothing would have happened this week. They are crucial to this work and my testimony of them increased so much this week. We need to buy lights for our bike still so we can ride in the dark.

It was crazy, Elder Stone got two flat tires this week that we had to spend time repairing. We were able still to teach two lessons and set up a bunch for this upcoming week also. Hopefully things will start rolling along soon. We got a referral on Sunday as well. It's the first one that I have received in a few months. Yeah!

On Sunday they had their primary program. It was super well done. The rest of our meetings went well also. Something that has to happen in this ward is that the ward has to fill up two separate dinner calendars due to the two sets of missionaries. Things are crazy with two sets of missionaries in one ward. Tons of coordination has happened between the two sets. The ward all seems supportive though. Everyone was super stoked to finally have sisters in the ward. Their calendar filled up way faster than ours did. It's alright though I would probably be the same way. Change is exciting.

Please just send letters to the mission office they forward all of them to where I am at currently and I always get them. Nevertheless, you have your agency. 

I took Elder Stone tracting for the first time this week. It was awesome. He was pretty scared just like I was at first. It's sweet to be able to help him in his first stages of mission life. Training is going to be fun.

Miracles are happening all over the place in this area. It's a miracle that we were able to get everywhere that we did this week considering the situation.

Also, this week the ward had their ward party, which we went to so that we could meet the ward. They had one of those guess how many candies are in the jar game and I won it. Everyone in the ward gave me kinda an evil look since they didn't really know me very well. I got to stand in front of them all so they could see me though. Later, I felt kinda bad so I gave the candy to the bishops son. He'll appreciate it more than I would have.

That's all that I can think of for this week.

Love, Elder Udy

October 22, 2013

Hello family,

This was a crazy week. I got transferred to a new area yesterday. I am also training a new missionary so I had to "white wash" into a new area. (A white wash means that both companions get assigned to a new area that neither of them know about until they get there. We have to start from scratch without any help from other missionaries. The Ward mission leader can help sometimes though with a very general idea of what is going on.) It's crazy, because I have no idea as to what is going on here. I will figure it out though. The first day here we met the ward mission leader and talked about the ward and how the work was going in it. OH!! also, there is another set of sister missionaries serving in this ward as well. Two sets of missionaries for one ward. That is proof to me that the work is moving forward. The sisters are taking the west half and we are taking the east. Also, I am going to be on a bike here so that will be fun. I think that the mission will give me a loaner bike, but I am not sure. I might end up having to buy one, but I am not sure. In the meantime, will you transfer over some money to my debit account.

The ward I am serving in now is Cooper Mountain. I have met just a couple members here, but I have loved them all so far. I can't wait to meet the rest of them.

Something really cool happened to us on our walk to the library just barely actually. We were walking and these two ladies walk around the corner and we started talking to them and  explained where we were going and who we were. They told us that they had been looking for a church and they haven't had good experiences anywhere yet. We invited them to our church and asked if we could come by and talk with them again and then we set up an appointment. It didn't take long before I realized that I haven't even been to church yet and I am inviting people there already. Haha. Kind of funny right. Does that count as being a hypocrite?

I am training a new missionary also so he loved that experience way more than I did. It was his first real encounter with an investigator on his mission. Pretty good right? Heavenly father has big plans for him I think. His name is Elder Stone from Houston, Texas. He loves singing and cooking. Also, he was really into Calculus before his mission. He just barely graduated and came out here at 18 years old. Super cool.

That's about all that is going on here. Thanks for the prayers and yes I got the box. :)]

Love Elder Udy

October 14, 2013

Hello Family

This was a good week for us. We were able to teach twice as many lessons as the previous week. We also started teaching our recent converts son. He is really confused with religion because his biological mom is wicken. She doesn't approve of him joining our faith, but ultimately it is up to him. He is only 9 so he has a big decision to make that will impact his life.

This week I studied a lot about the priesthood, the oath and covenant in particular. Holding the priesthood is such a huge responsibility to uphold and to honor. I have seen a lot of people that depend on worthy priesthood holders. In Doctrine and Covenants it mentions the oath and covenant that we enter into. We promise to also be worthy to hold it. Something that I heard someone say once was that there is nothing that we can use the priesthood for that is for selfish purposes. The only uses of it are to bless the lives of those around us. I especially liked how they talked about it in conference and how much the priesthood blesses families. I am grateful that dad has always been worthy of his priesthood.

This week we also had an amazing ward council meeting. The ward has started doing splits with the missionaries twice a week. Also, in ward council, they discussed their home teaching. I was super happy when they did that because they will start introducing themselves to the less-active and inactive members. Hopefully the members will start getting on board with doing the things that they need to do.

I also had an interview with the mission president and it is outstanding how personable he is and how much he cares for all his missionaries. I love President Morby so much.

That's about it for this week. Bye!

Elder Udy

October 7, 2013

Hello Family,

This week was crazy busy. We went to the temple this week. It was so amazing. I learned a lot of new things. The new video is soooo good. I love it so much.

Also, at the temple, I met the other Elder Udy for the first time. He said his grandparents were John & Nadine. He said his parents were Kevin & Pam. I have heard the name Nadine before so I bet we are related somehow. Tell grandma about it. She will probably know.

Also, General Conference was amazing this weekend. I learned a ton of stuff. I loved the talk Sunday morning about spiritual stamina and the one right after about repentance.

Something else that was super cool that happened. We went and just stopped by our investigators house this week and talked with them a little. They started to tell us about the rough day that they had been having and about how much they dislike the lady down the street. I guess that earlier that day she came to their door and started just yelling at them for something about the HOA. Our investigator explained that what they did was decided on at the HOA meeting that week, at which the lady wasn't there. Our investigator asked us to go to her house and try to convert her as a joke. We went there and started talking to her and found out that she was catholic. We were a little bit persistent and she agreed to feed us and to hear our message this Wednesday. That was exciting to report back to our investigator. They were astonished. The lord is preparing people and is guiding us to where we need to go.

Also, this week there was a huge storm all week. The power went out in a lot of places. We went tracting in it and I was glad that we got those rain-proof shoes. The rainy season is about to hit here super hard.

That's about it for this week. Love you all.

Elder Udy

September 30, 2013

Hello family,

Great to hear that Chad was endowed. That's the best thing ever. I still remember when I went through the temple for the first time. I remember what the temple president said before the endowment...somewhat. I have thought about that a couple times during my mission.

I will try to find out the other Elder Udy's grandparents. That would be sweet if we were related.

This week we found someone new to teach while tracting. He is pretty old, but he said that he believes the Book of Mormon to be true. Hopefully we will see some good things come from him soon. We actually tracted that entire street and gave away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon. It was pretty sweet.

We have been trying to do a lot more work with the members here to get things going. We started teaching them since we don't have many other people to teach. Teaching members is much different than teaching people who don't have the gospel, because they teach us and expand on things that we just talked about. I probably learn more from them than they do from us. We are trying to get them all more involved with the work. Hopefully they will all catch the spirit of the work and share their testimonies with those around them.

I am super excited for conference this weekend. As a missionary it is the best thing ever to watch. To listen and observe how they teach others is incredible.

I love you all. Elder Udy

September 23, 2013

Hello Family,

This week was pretty good. We found a couple more people that we will be following up with this week. Hopefully they will be interested. We are trying to work with the ward members more as well.

That's sweet that Chad is going through the temple already. That was the best thing ever. I have gone through the temple here a couple times and I learn new things every time. It's amazing how things you find in the scriptures relate to the temple endowment.

This week somebody fed us liver and onions. It was actually pretty good. The lady who made it for us is such an amazing cook. She has a goal to feed us something that we have never eaten every time we come over. I especially like going over there because we get to talk with and share a message with her non-member husband.

I found out that one of my recent converts gave a talk in sacrament meeting already. I was so happy when I found that out. It's amazing to see how people change when they are part of the gospel.

We had a really cool experience happen this week. Last P-day we were at the senior center playing ping pong and this guy walks in. After talking with him, we found out that he was an inactive member. Too bad he went to another ward. We strengthened his faith though and alerted the other elders.

I almost forgot. This last transfer another Elder Udy came into the mission. Guess who his trainer is...my last companion (Elder Awtry). Grandma can you find out if we are related to him. His name is Andrew Udy from Utah. I don't remember the city, but I will find out.

That's about it for this week.

Love, Elder Udy

September 16, 2013

Hello Family,

My birthday was very different without family around. We did some fun things though. We went to goodwill and I found a business type folder that I could take to meetings with me and take notes and also it has a place to put papers that I get. It is going to work out great because I don't have to carry around loose papers at church anymore and worry about them getting destroyed. Also, it worked great for this weeks district meeting since I was in charge of doing the training and practice portion. I was able to just open my folder and read my notes and outline from it. Much more official than a random sheet of paper or a notebook of some kind.

Also for my birthday, one of the members in the ward found out it was my birthday so she brought me over a red velvet cake. We invited over the missionaries that lived nearby and ate cake together. We also gave some to our non-member neighbors.

This week has been pretty good. We are still trying to find some people to teach, but we were able to find some great potential investigators this week. I am hoping this week to teach them all the restoration. That would be awesome. During ward council this week something I did notice is that, although the work is slow, we have built up this ward a ton and increased their involvement in missionary work. There are a lot more members that have missionary work on their mind now than when I first got to the area. Hopefully things will start being brought forth soon.

That's about it this week.

Love, Elder Udy

September 9, 2013

Hello Family,

Well I am 21 now. It feels like an ordinary day. It's cool having your birthday on a P-Day and a transfer day as well. We met this morning for a zone breakfast. I haven't told anyone that today is my birthday. Although, my companion found out a couple weeks ago and near the end of the breakfast he remembered and blurted it out to everyone. Today we are planning on going to Goodwill. It's a store basically like Deseret Industries. We'll see if I find anything interesting.

Mom both you and grandma sent me the same thing. The 11 tips for missionaries thing. :) Those were awesome tips though. All of them are true and obedience is definitely something that we should strive for. Not only as a missionary, but when your not as well. D&C 82:10 is applicable to everyone wherever they are at in life.

This week was a pretty good week. Stats are not important (Chad), but they do tract your progress really well. This week we were able to increase ours. We didn't find any new investigators, but we did go on a blitz this week with some other missionaries and found some awesome potential investigators. Hopefully they will investigate after we emphasize the importance of our message. 

 

I read Alma 26 this week and if you haven't read it it's about Ammon when he is teaching his brothers. Ammon talks about how if it weren't for God being involved in the work, nothing would happen. That alone should be a reason to rejoice in God and to believe that he is real.

We did teach a bunch of less-active members this week and they came to church as well. We were able to find a bunch while tracting as well. It has been interesting bringing up these names in ward council of people that they have no clue about. Many of them have said to us that they would like to start coming back to church, they just have some things to work through. One lady stated, " This is the closest that I have ever been to coming back to church." That proves that the work is moving forward and that god has people prepared for us to find.

I am staying in Canby for another 6 weeks with the same companion (Elder Clark). Interesting fact: everyone in our zone is staying where they are.

I think that is about it.

Love, Elder Udy

September 3, 2013

Hello Family,

Sorry I didn't write last week. We got busy doing a bunch of stuff so we didn't get around to it. Also, my companion doesn't really like emailing, because often he doesn't get any mail. Yesterday was Labor Day as you guessed so things were closed all day. Just like you predicted.

Things have been interesting here. Since I last wrote the only two investigators we had left after our baptism's are now gone. One moved to Idaho to be with her dad. The second we soft dropped, due to lack of commitment. We will eventually go back to visit him though.

Other than that we have been trying our best to find some new investigators. I have never been this low on people to teach, so it has been a humbling teaching experience for me to realize how hard it is to find people to teach. We have been tracting quite a bit, along with visiting members. We are going to start teaching members the message of the restoration to gain their trust along with keeping our teaching skills sharp. Hopefully people will see that we bring the spirit with us and that they can refer us to their friends. It kinda feels like a waste for me a little bit, because out of any other companion so far, Elder Clark and I teach the best together. Too bad we have nobody to teach. We'll find some people though. This morning we got a media referral that will hopefully turn out to be fruitful.

Did I ever send you pictures of my last two baptism's?

Chad is super lucky his mission president called him. I love President Morby so much. He has taught me a ton and has been an awesome example of what I want my relationship to be like with my wife one day. The way he acts around people and helps others is extraordinary.

Sounds like you have a lot of work to do Chad in Arkansas. I keep hearing that the church is growing down there. That means a lot of teaching opportunities. That will be good. I am stoked for you to get down there and start sharing the gospel with others. It's the best thing ever. I bet you will get to see stakes get divided while you are down there. That would be awesome.

Transfers are on September 9. I'm not really sure if I will get transferred or not. I have been in this area for about 4.5 months so I could leave.

I think that is about all for today.

Love, Elder Udy

August 19,2013

Hello Family,

Yesterday we got to witness our investigator receive the Holy ghost in sacrament meeting. It was sweet to see the gospel in progress. Later that day we were able to baptize another one of our investigators named Josh. He is an 18 year old guy that has been wanting to be baptized for over a year. He finally got his moms approval this week to get baptized. His mom was a member, but had her named removed a long time ago so it was hard for her to let her son do this, because she knows the commitment involved. I know that he was ready though and that he will always stay faithful. Hopefully he will inspire his mom one day. The dad hopefully as well.

Other than that we don't have many investigators left so we are doing our best to find some more investigators and people to teach. Working with the ward and tracting are what we are doing now.

We had a lesson with one investigator this week that was crazy. It happened on their front porch and we basically ended up just answering all of their questions. We tracted into them so they had a bunch. Turns out though they actually had a member friend in California and they called her up and she helped us answer some of the questions over the speaker phone. It was sweet.

This week we served dinner at a Lutheran Church. It was pretty fun. It was a ward activity so a bunch of the ward went. We weren't allowed to proselyte, but they all saw us when they got food.

We also did service at the adult center that they have here in town. We prepared and served food there as well. We do that once a month.

Also we did service for one of our less actives. She has a really big yard and isn't able to do all the yard work at her age. We did a lot of thatching for her. I am glad that there isn't any moss in Utah, because it isn't fun to get out of grass. I am glad that I was able to help her out though.

Something funny and also pretty dumb of me happened this week. We were visiting this older less active lady that is in the assisted living facility. We came in and she didn't say anything so we tried to start up a conversation with her, but she was only giving us one word answers. I had a brilliant idea  come to me to ask her about her family. I should have thought about it more, because what came out of my mouth was, "So, do your parents live nearby?". Not the best question ever to ask an older lady, but my companion and I laughed about it later.

We also went to a BBQ at a non-members house who invited all her family that are non-members. It was fun to associate ourselves with them.

Anyway, we did a ton of service stuff this week.

Love, Elder Udy

August 12, 2013

Hello Family,

That's super cool that Chad is going to Arkansas! The mission will be the best thing you ever do Chad. I Promise.

My new companion and I get along great. He is such a cool dude once you break him out of his shell. We are going to start doing an Ugly Tie Tuesday. That will be super fun.

This week we had the baptism of Chad. He is a great guy and has been meeting with missionaries for over a year. He finally entered the waters of Mormon though. He will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. I hate how he has to wait an entire week before that happens, because Satan is going to try his best to stop it this week. We will be having daily contact with him. I hope all goes well. I might be giving him the Holy Ghost so that will be fun to do in Sacrament meeting. This will be my second time doing it.

This week I went on an exchange with a brand new missionary. It was his first exchange ever! I took him tracting and talked with him about his mission thus far. I gave him some tips that helped me when I started, but I think I learned even more from him. He reminded me of when I first came out here. I saw where he was and where I am now and saw how far I have come. It was weird. We got ice cream while we were tracting though from a guy we gave a book of  Mormon to. He was really nice. I also gained an appreciation for my trainer and how amazing he was. I had an amazing trainer and I didn't realize it until he left. I think that I will write him soon.

Anyway, this was a good week. I can't wait and am super excited for Chad!

Love, Elder Udy

August 5, 2013

Hello family,

Too bad chad didn't get his call. He needs to get it soon so he can get himself out here. Heavenly Father needs his help! It's alright, because he will arrive when he is supposed to. My mission president is always saying that the people that arrive are foreordained to come exactly when they are supposed to.

This week was my first week with Elder Clark. He is a pretty funny kid, but I found out that he turned 18 in January so he is probably the youngest missionary out here right now. It was also my first week only covering one ward. It's super weird and we really depend on the ward members to do their part in fellow shipping and and finding. Luckily, they have been helping us out as best they can. We had a lesson with one of our investigators at the bishops house this week that I was stressing out a lot for. I knew that it would be more than just a lesson for our investigator. It would also make or break our trust that we have with the bishop. I knew he would be evaluating our teaching and our testimonies. Luckily the lesson went super well. The spirit was really strong and our investigator agreed to baptism this Sunday. It's funny because we had planned to talk about the first part of the plan of salvation, but the lesson didn't even get to that point. We ended up just talking about baptism the whole time along with the temple. We talked about how it should be a goal to get you and your family to the temple. Last Sunday, in priesthood opening exercises, the bishop told everyone there about the lesson that we had at his house, and how the spirit was strong and about what a great experience it was for the investigator and also his family. PHEW!!!

Also, our other investigator set a date for the 17 of August. He has been wanting to get baptized for a few months now, but his mom didn't agree. Hopefully this date will go through and he will enter into the fold.

Elder Clarks' first area was somewhere in Portland area. He has been out only 3 months so I am trying to be as obedient as I can to set a good example for him the rest of his mission. Luckily, his trainer was also obedient and taught him well.

Love, Elder Udy

July 30, 2013

Hello Family,

Well things just got changed up dramatically here in Canby, Oregon. Yesterday was transfer meeting and I got a new companion named Elder Clark. He is 18 years old and I am follow-up training him. It's interesting. He seems like a super cool guy, but he is either really shy or in shock, because he doesn't talk much. Oh well it will be fun nonetheless. Also, Before transfer meeting we were serving in both wards here in Canby, but they just got split and now we are only in the second ward. Also, what WAS my district just became a zone by itself because of the increase in missionaries. Crazy!

Elder Clark is from Brigham City, Utah. I know you would like to know that.

He only had 15 minutes to email this week, because he couldn't get a library card. so he is sitting there waiting for me so I need to go quick so he doesn't have to wait very long.

This week went pretty well though. Lots of changes.

Love you all, Elder Udy

July 22, 2013

Hello Family,

Our teaching pool did increase a little bit. We found a new investigator that is super interested in the church. She has some member friends. Also, by working with the members, we were able to make ourselves aware of a bunch of people the ward is working on by inviting them to church, activities, lessons, and such. There are actually quite a few. Also, on Sunday, we received a referral from a member that she said had questions about the church. I guess she has taken the lessons in the past and was on the edge of getting baptized. I can't wait to go and meet her this week.

I haven't heard a single thing about pioneers the whole time I've been here. I forgot all about that holiday. I have started reading Our Heritage. It's a super good book so far. I learned a bunch of stuff about Joseph Smith and the process of translating the plates. I knew about about the 116 lost pages, and luckily the lord knew it would happen.

Chad, I am super excited for you! My call came after 3 weeks.

O, this week we went and bucked hay for like 5 hours with the district. That was fun.

I think that's about it.

Love, Elder Udy

July 15, 2013

Hello Family,

My poison oak is pretty much healed all the way, but I think the scars with be there for a while. You could see the poison oak on my skin as it was totally elevated and red. The steroids that the doctor prescribed helped a ton. The drug seemed to make my skin dry and killed a lot of the skin that was infected. Now it just looks like newly healed skin.

A really cool miracle happened this week with us. Even though we didn't do much teaching, which we are working on, the Lord used us as instruments. On Wednesday we had our lesson cancel and our backup plan didn't work so we were trying to figure out what we should do. Elder Awtry asked if there was anyone that we needed to follow up with. I don't know how I thought of it, but for some reason I said that we should go follow up with some members in the ward that we had seen a few weeks ago. We had eaten dinner there and did some role-playing with them to try and get them out of there comfort zone. When we arrived there we asked if we could come in and follow up with there missionary work. The family gathered and shared some of their efforts with us. As we were leaving the father walked out with us and told us about a 7 step program the bishop showed him to help his missionary work. He had just finished the program and prayed to ask "what should I do now?" Right as he did we rang the doorbell. Good timing right? Pretty cool.

This week our new convert Kevin got a calling as a young single adult leader. Also, he received the priesthood. Pretty cool. Loren, our other recent convert, is preparing for the priesthood and for a calling. He brought his daughter to church this last week for the first time as well. I hope that we can teach her soon.

You should be glad that in Utah weeds don't usually have thorns. In Oregon, when people say weeding they usually mean tear out blackberry bushes. They are everywhere in Oregon and dominate all plants in there path. We spent a few hours tearing those out of a rose garden this week. Also, We haven't had rain here in like 2 weeks or so which is weird. It has been in the high 70's with lots of humidity.

We also had dinner with a family that the parents weren't members. That was fun. I always feel that when I am in those situations that I have to be extra careful as to what I say.

I think that is about it this week.

Love, Elder Udy

July 8, 2013

Hello Family,

Well this week was honestly kinda dumpy. The 4th of July kinda messed everything up and on top of that I had to go to the doctor and also one of our investigators dropped us.

Last Saturday Elder Awtry and I went and did some service for an older lady in the ward cutting down blackberry bushes. It was a ton of fun until I started itching. My arm started to turn red so on Friday I went to the doctor to get checked out. He said that I had gotten poison Oak. Not fun stuff at all. He gave me a prescription for Presnidone. It seems to be helping out a little bit, but I wish it would work faster. I'll be alright though. It took away most of the itching which is good.

Both of the people we baptized last week are doing super well. I will send Pictures.

There are a lot of people that don't have jobs still. I will start praying for them specifically.

Well I guess I will tell you about the 4th. We started out by doing our weekly planning for the week. Then we went to the parade that they always have in Canby. The parade consisted of a bunch of local school groups and super nice cars both old and new. Also, some military organizations were represented. The parade goes through the streets of Canby. The streets are blocked off by police just for the parade. Afterwards everyone crowds the streets and hangs out. There is a car show and many booths set up selling food, advertising, and games to play. It lasted from about 2-5. I took a few pictures.

After that we went to our dinner appointment with a lady in the ward who invited family and friends over to her house. They had a party with good food. There were a bunch of non-members there also so we got to talk with them. Around 5 or so we went to the Perez's house and had food again and played volleyball and badminton. Then the family had purchased a bunch of fireworks and we set them off. They were fun to watch, but I wish I would have been able to actually light them. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to do that. They were still fun to watch them though. Around 10 Canby had a big firework show for everyone at the park. Luckily the Perez's live right next to the park so we had great seats sitting in the street. Then we went home.

This week we also had to do a spiritual thought about how to esteem Christ in district meeting. It went alright I thought.

Yesterday one of our investigators sent us a horrible text saying that we were not very good missionaries. It's alright though. We are here to find the elect and at the very least we planted a seed with her and missionaries in the future can harvest her.

I think that is about it. I love you all.

Elder Udy

July 1, 2013

Hello family,

Last week was super hectic. We had a baptism on Saturday, which went really well, but preparations for it were sudden. We had to suddenly move one of the investigators getting baptized because of his living situation. Good thing though he did get baptized. Also, another investigator of ours got baptized. Two investigators in one day getting dunked. That is the best.

One of them was Kevin (the guy that randomly showed up at church).. He is 21 and he has a huge desire to go on a mission now. Also, he went by himself to the missionary broadcast for our stake. Also, he signed up to go do baptisms for the dead by himself. All of that the same day that he got baptized. Sweeeeeet!!! I am going to remember him forever.

Also, this week was zone conference. It went super well. Elder Awtry and I were picked by the mission president to do some of the role playing during one of the sessions. It went alright, but now I know what I need to work on. We were role playing on how to invite less active members to take the discussions from the missionaries. President Morby had a bunch of messages, but the biggest message that I took away from the whole conference was Love. In every aspect of missionary work you can relate everything back to love. Whether it be the love you show or the love you receive from others or the love of our Heavenly Father.

Yes, today is the first day of the new missions. It's pretty exciting except there isn't that much of an uproar about it today, because we have been preparing and anticipating it for a while now. It's actually kind of a sad day for people. From my MTC district there is only one person that went to the new missions. His name was elder Klapheck. I wasn't super close to him, but in the MTC he was in my same room. I had no idea that he would leave when I was with him there. It's kind of a weird thought. Other than that though nobody that I really knew left the mission..

Good Job Dad!!! I am proud that you were able to step up to the plate and fill in when someone was in need of your help. That's one of the responsibilities of the priesthood. We are called to minister to those around us in whatever ways we can. You never know when you are going to be called upon to use your priesthood, thus we must always be ready and willing to administer to the people around us. Stay worthy and always look for ways to serve those around you.

I think that's about it for this week.

I love you guys, Elder Udy

June 23, 2013

Hello Family,

I don't have much time to mail you today, because we have a bunch of things that we need to get done before tomorrow and we have 3 lessons tonight so we have to go quick, but I thought it would be good to let you know that we are alive. Everything is going well. Our baptism is still going to happen.

Tomorrow is zone conference so that will be fun.

Glad to see the family is growing. :) Multiply and replenish the earth!

I think that is about it.

Love, Elder Udy

June 17, 2013

Hello Family,

Today is a monumental day in the Oregon Portland mission. Today is the last transfer meeting before the mission splits. That means that whatever area you are assigned to today is what mission you are going to be in for the rest of your mission. Luckily I am staying here in Canby for another 6 weeks. That means that I will stay in the OPM. Although I am not getting transferred President Morby asked everyone in the mission to come to transfer meeting today so all the missionaries in the mission will be at the transfer meeting today. Lots of pictures will be taken.

Other than that, one of our investigators had his baptismal interview this week. He passed so that means we will be having a baptism on the 29th of June. Actually though we will be having 2 baptisms because Kevin is still doing amazing. Two baptisms in one day. That will be a good day here in Canby. That ward hasn't had a baptism in over a year.

Also, we did some service on Saturday morning cutting down some blackberry bushes for one of our less active ladies. She is a super nice lady and she gave us pink lemonade. Working outside on Saturday morning reminded me of weeding at our house. Do you still do that?

On Friday we had something called a mission tour. Elder Whiting, which is an area seventy, came to our mission to speak. He talked about chapter 1 in PMG and also gave us some insights into the Doctrine of Christ. He explained how as missionaries we mostly focus on bringing people to baptism and then hand them to the ward, but after baptism it's not the end, because they still need to continue progressing all the way to the temple. That is more of the wards job, but we help them out and the ward helps us out. We don't have two separate jobs, rather we both help each other. That's why we work with less actives. Also, that is why we do our home and visiting teaching, to help others increase their faith and encourage them to progress in the gospel so they can make the next step. Whether it be priesthood or temple ordinances. I hope you guys are being diligent in your home and visiting teaching. Also, Chad, if you want to practice teaching and being a missionary. Practice when you go home teaching.

We also had the opportunity to take one of our investigators to the Portland Visitor Center on Wednesday. I think that the family had a good time. We talked about how families can be together forever and watched some of the displays that they have there. It was sweet.

I think that is all.

Love, Elder Udy

June 10, 2013

Hello Family,

This week wasn't too exciting. Taught Kevin twice this week. He is progressing super well. He came to church and is still going for his baptism on the 29th.

This week I had to give the spiritual thought at district meeting about charity & love. I studied for about an hour trying to find something that I really wanted to share with everyone. I didn't find anything that really really stood out to me so I just kinda winged it with what I had. I read a little piece of PMG with them about how, like faith, charity is something that we have to develop inside us. Over time it will become part of us and we will become more like the Savior. Also, I read Luke 7:11-15 about when the Savior helps out a widow. I talked with them about how Christ showed charity & Love to the widow and why it's important. It was cool because even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing, I came prepared and I thought it turned out pretty good. I was able to invite the spirit in, which is basically the whole point. I have seen that a lot on my mission. When you prepare and plan effectively. You might not teach anything that you planned, but the spirit will be with you and you will be guided as to what you need to talk about. Even if it's a completely different topic.

On Saturday, we had a meeting with the entire district and the stake presidency and all the bishops at 7am. Had to wake up at 5:30. That was fun. We had breakfast and we talked about the ward mission process and what needs to be happening in ward council. They said that missionary work should take up 90% of the meeting. It was pretty sweet. Bishop Glen in the Canby 1st ward is super missionary minded and he did exactly that on Sunday. He is also a super cool guy and is way happy. We have 8 investigators in the 1st ward and only 2 in the 2nd.

That's about it I guess. Love,

Elder Udy

April 3, 2013

Hello family,

This week went pretty well. Nothing too much out of the ordinary, but something awesome happened. On Wednesday, we got a new investigator named Kevin. I think I might have written about him last week to you, but our lesson with him this week was awesome! The spirit was super strong. Funny how that happens when you bear testimony. On Friday he went to the water falls for fun all by himself and then he texted us and said that he got some answers. On Sunday we found out that he committed to be baptized on the 29th of June. That is going to be an awesome day!

Testimony is not just something that is powerful inside yourself, but I think of it has having piercing powers. When you bear testimony to others the spirit is able to take that testimony and pierce through hearts as hard as they may be. This week we were visiting some random people in our area book and we came across this guy named Jose. He opened the door and we explained what we were doing there and who we were and he almost immediately said he wasn't interested. Usually when people do that it is followed by a door shut or at least an action leading to a conclusion, but he just stood there as if he was waiting for something. I asked him if he had ever had a chance to read the Book of Mormon and he said no. Then I just started talking about it and bore testimony of it and I could just see him taking it all in. You could see the spirit pierce his heart with truth. I ended up giving him a copy and put our number in the front to call if he had questions. It's amazing how someone can have a change of heart like that right on the spot. Hopefully he will call us.

The mission president came to our district meeting last week. It was fun to see him.

Yesterday I went to a baptism in West Linn. I don't know if you remember me talking about Gigi ever, but she got baptized and is doing well. Although, I forgot to bring my suit coat to the baptism so I looked completely out of place while standing in the confirmation circle. Oh well.

Last Friday we had a spaghetti thing at the ward building along with a silent auction. It was to raise funds for the scout troops. One of the members gave us 10 dollars to bid on the homemade cookies that would be made and delivered to our house. I can't wait until those come! :)

There is a ton of excitement about the new missions being formed. I will stay in the Portland mission, unless I end up getting transferred in 2 weeks. There is only one transfer left until the change so that will determine where we end up.

Anyway, Love you all

Elder Udy

May 28, 2013

Hey there Family,

Yesterday was memorial day so obviously I am emailing today.

Yesterday I went bowling for pday. I did pretty well actually. I got a 123 and a 134.

This week was pretty good. We were able to set a date with one of our investigators named Loren. He is a super shy person and I am not sure how converted he is, but we set the date far enough away that I think he will be ready by then. He had to give up medical marijuana. That was one of our main concerns with him, but when we talked about it with him it turns out that he hasn't had any for about a year. That was sweet to hear.

We also were able to have an epic lesson with an investigator named Nancy. She is part of another church and she said that she had already been baptized by her pastor. Obviously I told her about the priesthood and how she needed it for the baptism to be valid. I committed her to ask her pastor where he got his authority, because if it wasn't given to him by god, then it wasn't valid. She said that I gave her a lot to think about. I have a good feeling that she will follow through with it and I'm excited to hear her experience with her pastor.

Also, I got our car stuck in a ditch. Luckily we weren't there more than 5 minutes before someone drove by that towed us out. That was sweet. God is for sure watching out after us!

We also picked up a new investigator this week named Evette. Turns out that it is another like Kasey in my last area. She is living with her member BF and they aren't married because he is still not completely divorced yet. That should soon be resolved. We taught her the first lesson and she said that she already knew all of it. No concerns or anything. That was awesome.

Anyway, I love you

Elder Udy

May 20, 2013

Hello Family,

This week has been pretty good. I was able to meet a lot of the investigators in our teaching pool and a bunch of the less actives. Also, I went to ward council for the first time in this area. We are working with some really sweet people. This one girl Amy that we are working with has been taught twice, but none of the lessons. We saw her last night and she agreed to be baptized. That was sweet. I can't wait to see what happens when we actually start teaching the lessons next time. Also, we had the lesson at a members house and the wife of the family became like best friends almost instantly with our investigator and they live across the street from each other. Nothing better than that! We had to leave that night for curfew, but our investigator stayed at the members home even after we left. I don't know how long, but either way. That's some awesome fellowship.

Last Monday we went golfing on P day. Elder Awtry is a super good golfer. He worked at a golf course for 3 years before his mission. He said that I didn't do too bad and that I was his best student so far. We went to the driving range for a couple of hours. I gained a new respect for pro golfers.

This week we had dinner with some members and instead of giving them a message at the end we role-played with them on how to invite their friends to church. It was super funny to watch the kids do it along with the other adults. Then of course Elder Awtry and I did it to show them. It was a good time.

I also went on an exchange this week with my district leader, Elder Crockett. We did some good teaching and learned a lot from each other. He is a super good missionary. I feel like some of the seeds we plant other missionaries will reap the rewards from later.

Oh also, this week we lost our phone. When we were ending the exchange that night my companion left the phone on the car and we drove away. We went back there the next day to look for it, but it wasn't there. That same day someone from the mission office drove out to our apartment to give us a new phone with the same number. How blessed are we!

That's about it. Love, Elder Udy

People From my last area. The Chandlers (bishop)

 Bro Edson (Assistant Ward mission Leader)

 The Stuskawicks (Awesome)

April 13, 2013

Hello,

It was fun to talk with you yesterday.

Elder Awtry has been in Canby for only 6 weeks more than me so we are both pretty new to the area. We get lost a lot because neither of us have a GPS. I only have a map. This area is on the grid system mostly so it isn't too bad, but there are a lot of streets that don't go all the way through. Also, there are two of every street. The Main street is called 99E that goes through the area. On either side of it are the Avenues. There are avenues 1-16 on both sides of the main road so you have to know whether it says NW or SE Avenue. On top of that there are Courts for most streets that are dead ends. Those throw everything off.

Last week we taught two lesson, which is unusually low for this area (so I have been told). Normally there are about 7 investigator lessons a week. I can't wait to meet everyone. We were supposed to have two lesson on Mothers day, but one cancelled and the other was a no show. I hate when that happens, but nevertheless it does more often than not. Both the investigators that I have taught so far came to church on Sunday so that was sweet.

This week we are hoping to teach a ton of people. We have like 8 investigators that I haven't met yet so this should be a good week.

This area seems to have a lot more people that are relaxed and laid back then in West Linn.

Anyways, I love you.

Elder Udy

May 7, 2013

Hello Family,

I got transfered to a new area along with a new companion. I am in a place called Canby, Oregon. My new companion is Elder Awtry. He is a super cool guy and there is a ton of work going on here. Apparently this is a high teaching area. Kinda the opposite of my last area.

Elder Awtry is really into cars and photography. It's funny cause he points out all the sweet cars as we are driving. Yes, I am still the designated driver. Elder Awtry has been out for 14 months so I'm sure that I will learn a few things from him. It's going to be an exciting transfer.

Canby reminds me of one of those old town cities. We cover a huge area. There are still a lot of trees, but not nearly as many as in West Linn.

Tell Jenna thanks for the email. I loved hearing from her. 

Oh, and yes all those falls were separate falls. It was a hike that we went on that follows the riverside almost exactly. Along the way we saw all those falls. Every picture I sent was a different waterfall.

I love you all.

Elder Udy

April 29, 2013

Hey there family,

This week has been pretty great actually. We were able to teach 9 lessons this week. A bunch were to less active people, but some were to investigators. We set an official baptism date for June 2 with one of our investigators. That was sweet.

Lisa Hogan is someone that works at a care center here in West Linn. She said that she recognized me and I thought that her name sounded familiar. I had no idea where from though. Elder Lloyd and I were going to try and volunteer there once a week, but that was a bust. They needed a criminal background check and I had to pay for that to take place.

Last Pday we played tennis which was awesome. Then, we were supposed to go laser tagging with some members, but it turns out they are closed on Mondays. Instead we played kickball. Rugby is alright to play as long as you play Two-hand touch. Tackling is a no go on the mission.

On Tuesday, I had an interview with the mission president. It went super well. He told me that I had improved a ton since I came in. He said that I had a ton more confidence and that I have great potential in the mission. It was awesome. President Morby it such an amazing guy. The interview I had with him this week really lifted me up. Instead of interview it felt more like bonding time...sorta.

I also went to the temple on Friday. It was a great experience as well. We had a member drive us that had returned home from his mission two weeks ago. I didn't know him before he left obviously, but I could tell that he cherished every minute of his mission. He served in Pocatello, Idaho.

Today we had a member drive us to silver falls. It was a 7 mile hike and was super pretty. You would have loved it mom! I will send pictures.

This next picture is for you dad.

Oh, one more thing. Transfer calls are this Saturday so I might be emailing from a new area next week or maybe a new mission.

Love you all, Elder Udy

April 22, 2013

Dear Family,

Another week gone in the city of West Linn. Things are going alright here. There were some awesome things that happened during tracting this week. Saturday morning we tracted into this guy and he opened the door and we started talking to him. He told us that he had been reading the BoM and had been researching Joseph Smith and the restoration. He asked if there was a class that he could go to for more information. We told him that we teach people about it and then he asked if the class was free. Funniest thing ever. We told him to come to church the next day. He didn't come unfortunately, but hopefully something in the future will happen. It's amazing to see how the Lord is preparing people.

To answer your question, D&C 89 is the word of wisdom so that would be my guess. When we teach the word of wisdom I like to use the scripture about how your body is a temple in 1 Corinthians. Along with that we also read D&C 89.

I did hear about the Boston Marathon a lady told us all about it while we were tracting. That is way scary.

Other than that this week was pretty normal. This upcoming week is going to be super busy. We have a ton of stuff planned.

Oh I guess I should mention that we have been playing rugby on Pdays with all the other missionaries in the zone. Rugby is an interesting sport. It's fun to get out and do stuff.

Today we are going laser tagging. Also, I am going to play tennis with Elder Lloyd right after I am done writing you. Abby showed me some skills, so I hope I can remember them.

It is always raining here, but lately it has been super sunny. It's spring time here. Everyday has been like in the 70's or high 60's. Perfect weather for you mom.

I think that is it. Hope you all are well. I pray for you as well.

Love, Elder Udy

April 15, 2013

Hey Family,

Umm, well another week in West Linn has gone by. This week we picked up 4 new investigators. That was sweet! One of them was a member referral that we set a baptismal date with in the first lesson. That was cool. To our surprise though, she brought her room mate to the lesson also because she was so excited for it. How awesome is that! She is doing missionary work before she even becomes a member. One of the other investigators we found was through tracting. The last one was a former investigator that we set up an appointment with. I hope things continue to move in this direction.

This week I started wearing my pedometer. I write down how many steps I walk each day in my planner along with the miles that I walk and also the calories I burn. I am thinking about making a graph. :)

Oh. Did you guys know that there is a ton of awesome stuff in 3 Nephi? I pretty much highlighted the entire book.

We found this sweet guy named Eric. He does frisbee golfing just like I did during the summer I was home before I left. He had a huge collection of discs and gave me one of the ones he doesn't use at all. I can add it to my collection at home. :) Yes! Maybe one day I will play on a PDay.

Not really much else happened that was extremely exciting. Elder Lloyd and I are doing great. He and I are pretty opposite which is good because we can learn from each other and coordinate our strengths into the work.

Umm I think that's pretty much it for this week. Let me know if you have any questions. I think Mother's day is coming up. Right? I'm pretty sure it's in May sometime.

Love, Elder Udy

April 8, 2013

Hello Family,

Well this week was kinda bad until general conference came around. Yes, I was able to watch it. It was funny because on Saturday we watched it at our assistant ward mission leaders house while he was out of town. It was just Elder Lloyd and I for both Saturday sessions. On Sunday, we went to our recent converts house to watch, and then we went to a less actives house for the other session. Both were awesome. There were a lot of good talks. The main ideas that I heard were: missionary work, keep the commandments/obedience, and marriage. I guess people need to start keeping the commandments more. Hope you are doing it! :) I really loved Elder Hollands talk on Sunday afternoon.  Elder Holland is my favorite apostle I decided. He always talks in a way I can understand and follow. You can just tell that he loves the Lord and he shows it in every talk. I think that every talk I have heard him give is somehow related to love, which is great!

We do have some investigators right now, but they aren't really progressing at all. Most of them are people that we tracted into. We should be getting a new investigator here pretty soon. That would be great.

Something cool happened though this week. We were contacting some part member families and we went to this one house and found out that the people we were looking for had moved. We then started talking to the people that lived there and gave them a Book of Mormon. We didn't get any information as to who they were, which was our bad. After like three days, I think, we had a member come up to us and tell us that they got a text from there friend who said that some people from there church showed up at there house. Hahahaha it was the same lady that we talked to and gave a Book of Mormon to. That was sweet. Funny how the lord works.

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week here in West Linn. We don't have to wear our suit coats anymore since it is after conference. I worked out a system. My nice suit that we just barely bought when I came out is the one I wear to meetings and church and such. The one I already owned is the jacket that I wear when I am out doing stuff. Remember that we bought 4 pairs of tracting pants? 1 gray, 1 blue, and 2 black. I have been wearing the black ones up to this morning every other day switching off because they match the black suit. Now that I don't have to wear the jacket I don't want to wear the pants alone or they will fade during the summer months and then they won't match the suit in October. So for the next 6 months I will wear the gray and blue pants since they don't match either jacket.

I think that's all that I have to say this week. I love you all and I am grateful for a wonderful family that was able to help me come out on a mission. It's great. You all are great.

Love, Elder Udy

April 1, 2013

Hello Family,

On Easter we went to church all day and then we went to a members house to eat. We also played a game called egg bop, which was pretty fun. Basically all you do is smack eggs into each other. They played with hard-boiled eggs, but I think that raw eggs would make it much more exciting. At church we sang Christ the Lord is Risen Today in both wards. That was cool. I also sang in both ward choirs and went to both ward choir practices. That was fun. Lots of singing.

Also, one of our investigators moved this week. We moved her in like 20 minutes because she didn't have that much stuff and way more people showed up to help than was required.

After I wake up I go every morning and exercise. I go to the gym in our apartment complex every morning to lift weights. I am hoping that by the end of my mission I will be ripped and have huge abs. That would be sweeet. Also, I do it because we are supposed to exercise so I might as well get something out of it.

Of course I get to watch conference. :) I don't really know where yet, but I will find somewhere to go. If my first plan works out then I will end up watching it with our recent convert Bob. That would be awesome! I read from Elder Uchtdorf about preparing for general Conference. He mentioned three different points that I have been sharing with members at dinner appointments. 1. Come with a question 2. Don't discount a familiar message 3. Conference is meant to prepare you for the upcoming 6 months. You guys should go with a question. I promise you will get more out of conference.

I am excited for conference. This should be a pretty good one. I can't wait to hear them talk about the missionary work that is going on. It truly is astonishing.

Thats all for this week I guess. LOVE YOU!!! Hope you enjoy conference.

Elder Udy

March 25, 2013

Hello Family,

Here is a picture of Bob last Saturday at his baptism.  Yesterday he received the Aaronic Priesthood in sacrament meeting and then right after he went up and sat at the sacrament table and blessed it in the same meeting. It made me so happy to see him up there doing that.

 

This week something happened that was awesome!!!! One of our less actives that we meet with and are teaching is preparing to go back to school. He was working on his math skills so on Saturday we went and I tutored him in algebra. That was sweet and I am surprised that I remembered everything.

Also, I sang in church on Sunday again. This time Elder Lloyd and I sang The Spirit of God. It was the hymn book version, but we did some harmonies and some acapella parts and some solo parts instead of just singing the straight melody for 4 verses. It was sweet.

Oh yeah, I guess I should tell you that I am staying here in West Linn for at least another 6 weeks. Tomorrow is my 6 month mark if you were curious. Crazy right? I am going to be here for 7.5 months at least before I leave here. Normally, people stay in their first area for just 6 months. That's alright though, because the people here are sweet and the area. Elder Lloyd is also going to be staying in the area so obviously we are going to be companions.

Surviving without candy for a week was rough, but that just made it even better when I got your package in the mail. Thanks!!! I was able to do it and no I didn't feel any healthier than I did before.

That's about all this week. Oh, I also am going to try and take more pictures this transfer, because I only have like 2 pictures with Elder Lloyd so far and it's been 5 weeks. I think our family has camera problems.

Love you, Elder Udy

March 18, 2013

Hello Family,

This week we had Bobs baptism. It was super great. He is one of those guys that I am going to remember forever. He has become one of my best friends on the mission. I got to confirm him in sacrament meeting yesterday. That was an exciting (yet freaking scary) experience. The Bishop said I did it right though so that's good I guess. I look forward to him going through the temple in a year. It will be great.

Also, not this last week, but the Wednesday before my district challenged me to not eat candy for a whole week. Sooo this week I haven't eaten a single piece of candy. It stinks because members have been giving us sugar things all week. It's alright though because in a few days I can eat it all. I have really gained an appreciation for when members give dessert after dinner. That's the only time I have eaten sweets this week. Did I just blow your mind?

I did get more information about the new missions that are being formed here. They are taking like half of our mission.  They are moving 3 stakes to the Vancouver mission and 2 to the Salem mission. Those are estimates. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I may end up being in a new mission. That would be interesting. I still have 3.5 transfers before then though.

Anyway, Love you.

Elder Udy

March 11, 2013

Hello there,

This week was sweet actually...surprise!

First of all we had zone conference this week. That was pretty fun to see a lot of the missionaries that I came out with. Also, President Morby gave us a bunch of awesome instruction about the Book of Mormon along with the Abrahamic Covenant. There was also a demo of how to avoid cancelled appointments. Also, he said that we are allowed to email friends! Yeah! President also said that he doesn't know much about the Salem and Vancouver missions coming. All he knows is that the change is going to happen on July 1, 2013 so he said until then just work hard and what happens will happen. They don't tell the mission president anything until the right time.

I think I might get transferred soon. The next meeting is the 25th of March. I'm not sure though, because this area has a ton of stuff going on right now. Along with that the roads are super twisty and confusing. I have no idea how I know them so well, I guess just over time I learned them. Now I am learning quicker ways to get places rather than just one way to get places. So I might end up staying for one more transfer here, but if the normal continues then I will probably leave. We will see.

Driving has become a lot less stressful. The roads here are super narrow and the parking is super small, which I am getting used to. So far, I don't have any points against me. I am kinda OCD about getting points. I have gotten a bunch of warnings, but no penalties yet. Elder Manwill got like 2-3 penalties a day. My goal is to never ever have one.

This week, while contacting this guy, the guy said something that made me think. He talked about how he believed that Joseph Smith had a vision, but in that vision he saw a demon, not God/Christ. Also, he said that the vision was against the Bible, because Paul said that there shall be no other gospels. He believed that we had another gospel and then he invited us to repent. The way he said it was super convincing and he made it sound so intellectual. The part that really made me wonder was when he talked about how I have been in a closed environment my whole life and that this is all I have ever known. That really made me wonder. If I wasn't born into this church, would I change my life around to be a part of it? I don't really know.

Anyway, other than that, A member gave me 12 pairs of socks. They are really comfy.

Oh, also I went on an exchange with a missionary named Elder Burge in my area and we met a guy that tried preaching to us about his church. We talked and ended up teaching a brief version of the restoration to him. Also, we gave him a BoM and he said he would read and share it with his pastor.

I love you all, have a good week.

Elder Udy

March 4, 2013

Hello family,

Hmmm...well this week was interesting.

I will start I guess by telling you about our new investigator that we found to teach. Last Monday we were shopping and a guy named Cruz came up to us thinking that we were salesman for the store. We told him we were missionaries for the church. He then went on telling us about his belief in god and all his stories about being possessed by demons and stuff. He is very good at feeling the spirit. After he told us he agreed to take the lessons. We have taught him twice and he came to church. We will teach him again on Thursday. It was such an interesting experience with him. Also, it has been really cool to see him learn more about the church. He doesn't accept all the ideas every time, but he says that he feels the spirit when we teach him which is sweet.

Bob is still planning on being baptized on the 16th. He is such an awesome guy. Now that he has the tools and a foundation of the gospel I think as he continues learning I could see him being a future bishop one day. He has a thirst for knowledge and he realizes how simple and logical the gospel really is. He is married to a member and that's how he found the church. He is also very excited for his baptism. We took him to a baptism in another ward to show him what it was like. He didn't have many questions, which is good, because that means he understands. I am excited.

An experience that happened to me yesterday that was good and bad. We were talking with these members and after making a few connections with them I asked if they had any relatives that lived on Emerson Ave. They said no. I then tried to tell them which of our relatives lived there and I couldn't remember at all. That is a good thing, because that means that my mind is in doing missionary work. It is pretty obvious why it's a bad thing. I later remembered who it was. It is pretty weird, because just like that experience I can slowly feel my life at home fade away. Have you guys realized that I have been in this ward in West Linn longer than our ward at home?

Elder Lloyd and I are getting along great! It's funny because when Elder Manwill and I tracted we wouldn't usually go back and follow-up. We just wrote down the people that sounded interested in what we had to say. Now Elder Lloyd and I are basically going around to all of them and following-up to see if they read the BoM or whatever. There have been some people that possibly will end up taking the lesson, but none quite yet. A lot of stuff in the works.

What else happened...

I guess that is it. Umm thanks for the prayers.

OK bye

Love, Elder Udy