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