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