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