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