October 28,2013

Hello family,

This week has been super crazy! We had about 15 hours of meetings that we had to go to. I had to quickly coordinate rides to get everywhere that we needed to go, due to our lack of transportation. It really humbled me this week and helped me realize how much of a blessing a car really was for me. When you can just get into it and get anywhere within 5 minutes, it saves a lot of time.

We did get a couple of bikes and a member bought us each a new helmet, water bottle, bike lock, and water bottle holder. What a blessing. Seriously, without the members nothing would have happened this week. They are crucial to this work and my testimony of them increased so much this week. We need to buy lights for our bike still so we can ride in the dark.

It was crazy, Elder Stone got two flat tires this week that we had to spend time repairing. We were able still to teach two lessons and set up a bunch for this upcoming week also. Hopefully things will start rolling along soon. We got a referral on Sunday as well. It's the first one that I have received in a few months. Yeah!

On Sunday they had their primary program. It was super well done. The rest of our meetings went well also. Something that has to happen in this ward is that the ward has to fill up two separate dinner calendars due to the two sets of missionaries. Things are crazy with two sets of missionaries in one ward. Tons of coordination has happened between the two sets. The ward all seems supportive though. Everyone was super stoked to finally have sisters in the ward. Their calendar filled up way faster than ours did. It's alright though I would probably be the same way. Change is exciting.

Please just send letters to the mission office they forward all of them to where I am at currently and I always get them. Nevertheless, you have your agency. 

I took Elder Stone tracting for the first time this week. It was awesome. He was pretty scared just like I was at first. It's sweet to be able to help him in his first stages of mission life. Training is going to be fun.

Miracles are happening all over the place in this area. It's a miracle that we were able to get everywhere that we did this week considering the situation.

Also, this week the ward had their ward party, which we went to so that we could meet the ward. They had one of those guess how many candies are in the jar game and I won it. Everyone in the ward gave me kinda an evil look since they didn't really know me very well. I got to stand in front of them all so they could see me though. Later, I felt kinda bad so I gave the candy to the bishops son. He'll appreciate it more than I would have.

That's all that I can think of for this week.

Love, Elder Udy

October 22, 2013

Hello family,

This was a crazy week. I got transferred to a new area yesterday. I am also training a new missionary so I had to "white wash" into a new area. (A white wash means that both companions get assigned to a new area that neither of them know about until they get there. We have to start from scratch without any help from other missionaries. The Ward mission leader can help sometimes though with a very general idea of what is going on.) It's crazy, because I have no idea as to what is going on here. I will figure it out though. The first day here we met the ward mission leader and talked about the ward and how the work was going in it. OH!! also, there is another set of sister missionaries serving in this ward as well. Two sets of missionaries for one ward. That is proof to me that the work is moving forward. The sisters are taking the west half and we are taking the east. Also, I am going to be on a bike here so that will be fun. I think that the mission will give me a loaner bike, but I am not sure. I might end up having to buy one, but I am not sure. In the meantime, will you transfer over some money to my debit account.

The ward I am serving in now is Cooper Mountain. I have met just a couple members here, but I have loved them all so far. I can't wait to meet the rest of them.

Something really cool happened to us on our walk to the library just barely actually. We were walking and these two ladies walk around the corner and we started talking to them and  explained where we were going and who we were. They told us that they had been looking for a church and they haven't had good experiences anywhere yet. We invited them to our church and asked if we could come by and talk with them again and then we set up an appointment. It didn't take long before I realized that I haven't even been to church yet and I am inviting people there already. Haha. Kind of funny right. Does that count as being a hypocrite?

I am training a new missionary also so he loved that experience way more than I did. It was his first real encounter with an investigator on his mission. Pretty good right? Heavenly father has big plans for him I think. His name is Elder Stone from Houston, Texas. He loves singing and cooking. Also, he was really into Calculus before his mission. He just barely graduated and came out here at 18 years old. Super cool.

That's about all that is going on here. Thanks for the prayers and yes I got the box. :)]

Love Elder Udy

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