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