October 14, 2013

Hello Family

This was a good week for us. We were able to teach twice as many lessons as the previous week. We also started teaching our recent converts son. He is really confused with religion because his biological mom is wicken. She doesn't approve of him joining our faith, but ultimately it is up to him. He is only 9 so he has a big decision to make that will impact his life.

This week I studied a lot about the priesthood, the oath and covenant in particular. Holding the priesthood is such a huge responsibility to uphold and to honor. I have seen a lot of people that depend on worthy priesthood holders. In Doctrine and Covenants it mentions the oath and covenant that we enter into. We promise to also be worthy to hold it. Something that I heard someone say once was that there is nothing that we can use the priesthood for that is for selfish purposes. The only uses of it are to bless the lives of those around us. I especially liked how they talked about it in conference and how much the priesthood blesses families. I am grateful that dad has always been worthy of his priesthood.

This week we also had an amazing ward council meeting. The ward has started doing splits with the missionaries twice a week. Also, in ward council, they discussed their home teaching. I was super happy when they did that because they will start introducing themselves to the less-active and inactive members. Hopefully the members will start getting on board with doing the things that they need to do.

I also had an interview with the mission president and it is outstanding how personable he is and how much he cares for all his missionaries. I love President Morby so much.

That's about it for this week. Bye!

Elder Udy

October 7, 2013

Hello Family,

This week was crazy busy. We went to the temple this week. It was so amazing. I learned a lot of new things. The new video is soooo good. I love it so much.

Also, at the temple, I met the other Elder Udy for the first time. He said his grandparents were John & Nadine. He said his parents were Kevin & Pam. I have heard the name Nadine before so I bet we are related somehow. Tell grandma about it. She will probably know.

Also, General Conference was amazing this weekend. I learned a ton of stuff. I loved the talk Sunday morning about spiritual stamina and the one right after about repentance.

Something else that was super cool that happened. We went and just stopped by our investigators house this week and talked with them a little. They started to tell us about the rough day that they had been having and about how much they dislike the lady down the street. I guess that earlier that day she came to their door and started just yelling at them for something about the HOA. Our investigator explained that what they did was decided on at the HOA meeting that week, at which the lady wasn't there. Our investigator asked us to go to her house and try to convert her as a joke. We went there and started talking to her and found out that she was catholic. We were a little bit persistent and she agreed to feed us and to hear our message this Wednesday. That was exciting to report back to our investigator. They were astonished. The lord is preparing people and is guiding us to where we need to go.

Also, this week there was a huge storm all week. The power went out in a lot of places. We went tracting in it and I was glad that we got those rain-proof shoes. The rainy season is about to hit here super hard.

That's about it for this week. Love you all.

Elder Udy

September 30, 2013

Hello family,

Great to hear that Chad was endowed. That's the best thing ever. I still remember when I went through the temple for the first time. I remember what the temple president said before the endowment...somewhat. I have thought about that a couple times during my mission.

I will try to find out the other Elder Udy's grandparents. That would be sweet if we were related.

This week we found someone new to teach while tracting. He is pretty old, but he said that he believes the Book of Mormon to be true. Hopefully we will see some good things come from him soon. We actually tracted that entire street and gave away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon. It was pretty sweet.

We have been trying to do a lot more work with the members here to get things going. We started teaching them since we don't have many other people to teach. Teaching members is much different than teaching people who don't have the gospel, because they teach us and expand on things that we just talked about. I probably learn more from them than they do from us. We are trying to get them all more involved with the work. Hopefully they will all catch the spirit of the work and share their testimonies with those around them.

I am super excited for conference this weekend. As a missionary it is the best thing ever to watch. To listen and observe how they teach others is incredible.

I love you all. Elder Udy

September 23, 2013

Hello Family,

This week was pretty good. We found a couple more people that we will be following up with this week. Hopefully they will be interested. We are trying to work with the ward members more as well.

That's sweet that Chad is going through the temple already. That was the best thing ever. I have gone through the temple here a couple times and I learn new things every time. It's amazing how things you find in the scriptures relate to the temple endowment.

This week somebody fed us liver and onions. It was actually pretty good. The lady who made it for us is such an amazing cook. She has a goal to feed us something that we have never eaten every time we come over. I especially like going over there because we get to talk with and share a message with her non-member husband.

I found out that one of my recent converts gave a talk in sacrament meeting already. I was so happy when I found that out. It's amazing to see how people change when they are part of the gospel.

We had a really cool experience happen this week. Last P-day we were at the senior center playing ping pong and this guy walks in. After talking with him, we found out that he was an inactive member. Too bad he went to another ward. We strengthened his faith though and alerted the other elders.

I almost forgot. This last transfer another Elder Udy came into the mission. Guess who his trainer is...my last companion (Elder Awtry). Grandma can you find out if we are related to him. His name is Andrew Udy from Utah. I don't remember the city, but I will find out.

That's about it for this week.

Love, Elder Udy

September 16, 2013

Hello Family,

My birthday was very different without family around. We did some fun things though. We went to goodwill and I found a business type folder that I could take to meetings with me and take notes and also it has a place to put papers that I get. It is going to work out great because I don't have to carry around loose papers at church anymore and worry about them getting destroyed. Also, it worked great for this weeks district meeting since I was in charge of doing the training and practice portion. I was able to just open my folder and read my notes and outline from it. Much more official than a random sheet of paper or a notebook of some kind.

Also for my birthday, one of the members in the ward found out it was my birthday so she brought me over a red velvet cake. We invited over the missionaries that lived nearby and ate cake together. We also gave some to our non-member neighbors.

This week has been pretty good. We are still trying to find some people to teach, but we were able to find some great potential investigators this week. I am hoping this week to teach them all the restoration. That would be awesome. During ward council this week something I did notice is that, although the work is slow, we have built up this ward a ton and increased their involvement in missionary work. There are a lot more members that have missionary work on their mind now than when I first got to the area. Hopefully things will start being brought forth soon.

That's about it this week.

Love, Elder Udy

September 9, 2013

Hello Family,

Well I am 21 now. It feels like an ordinary day. It's cool having your birthday on a P-Day and a transfer day as well. We met this morning for a zone breakfast. I haven't told anyone that today is my birthday. Although, my companion found out a couple weeks ago and near the end of the breakfast he remembered and blurted it out to everyone. Today we are planning on going to Goodwill. It's a store basically like Deseret Industries. We'll see if I find anything interesting.

Mom both you and grandma sent me the same thing. The 11 tips for missionaries thing. :) Those were awesome tips though. All of them are true and obedience is definitely something that we should strive for. Not only as a missionary, but when your not as well. D&C 82:10 is applicable to everyone wherever they are at in life.

This week was a pretty good week. Stats are not important (Chad), but they do tract your progress really well. This week we were able to increase ours. We didn't find any new investigators, but we did go on a blitz this week with some other missionaries and found some awesome potential investigators. Hopefully they will investigate after we emphasize the importance of our message. 

 

I read Alma 26 this week and if you haven't read it it's about Ammon when he is teaching his brothers. Ammon talks about how if it weren't for God being involved in the work, nothing would happen. That alone should be a reason to rejoice in God and to believe that he is real.

We did teach a bunch of less-active members this week and they came to church as well. We were able to find a bunch while tracting as well. It has been interesting bringing up these names in ward council of people that they have no clue about. Many of them have said to us that they would like to start coming back to church, they just have some things to work through. One lady stated, " This is the closest that I have ever been to coming back to church." That proves that the work is moving forward and that god has people prepared for us to find.

I am staying in Canby for another 6 weeks with the same companion (Elder Clark). Interesting fact: everyone in our zone is staying where they are.

I think that is about it.

Love, Elder Udy

September 3, 2013

Hello Family,

Sorry I didn't write last week. We got busy doing a bunch of stuff so we didn't get around to it. Also, my companion doesn't really like emailing, because often he doesn't get any mail. Yesterday was Labor Day as you guessed so things were closed all day. Just like you predicted.

Things have been interesting here. Since I last wrote the only two investigators we had left after our baptism's are now gone. One moved to Idaho to be with her dad. The second we soft dropped, due to lack of commitment. We will eventually go back to visit him though.

Other than that we have been trying our best to find some new investigators. I have never been this low on people to teach, so it has been a humbling teaching experience for me to realize how hard it is to find people to teach. We have been tracting quite a bit, along with visiting members. We are going to start teaching members the message of the restoration to gain their trust along with keeping our teaching skills sharp. Hopefully people will see that we bring the spirit with us and that they can refer us to their friends. It kinda feels like a waste for me a little bit, because out of any other companion so far, Elder Clark and I teach the best together. Too bad we have nobody to teach. We'll find some people though. This morning we got a media referral that will hopefully turn out to be fruitful.

Did I ever send you pictures of my last two baptism's?

Chad is super lucky his mission president called him. I love President Morby so much. He has taught me a ton and has been an awesome example of what I want my relationship to be like with my wife one day. The way he acts around people and helps others is extraordinary.

Sounds like you have a lot of work to do Chad in Arkansas. I keep hearing that the church is growing down there. That means a lot of teaching opportunities. That will be good. I am stoked for you to get down there and start sharing the gospel with others. It's the best thing ever. I bet you will get to see stakes get divided while you are down there. That would be awesome.

Transfers are on September 9. I'm not really sure if I will get transferred or not. I have been in this area for about 4.5 months so I could leave.

I think that is about all for today.

Love, Elder Udy