November 26, 2012

Hello family,

This week has been super crazy. I went on two exchanges this week. One was with the zone leaders and the other was with some other elders. Both of the times I stayed in West Linn with a new companion. It was a lot more responsibility because my companion didn't know the area at all and I was the one that had to decide where to go, what to do, and how to get there. It was a little difficult getting around because we don't have a GPS. All we have are maps. I miss my phone that could just tell me where to go. You probably predicted that would happen right? so did I. The exchanges were a lot of fun nonetheless.

Sounds like thanksgiving was a lot of fun. I spent Thanksgiving at a members house for 2.5 hours. Longest dinner appointment ever!  The food was all really good though. The stuffing had celery in it though, unfortunately. I still ate it though, don't worry. The mom in the family doesn't know how to stop talking. It was pretty much her talking the whole time. The dad finally had to interject and give us a way to end the evening. Otherwise she would have kept talking. After that, we went and hung out at the Ward Mission Leaders house. His house is HUGE and is full of way nice stuff. He doesn't show it and isn't cocky about so that's good. He is the nicest guy ever. One day though he was talking and he said, "Don't judge me by this, but I bought a watch that cost more than this car" and we were in a brand new Escalade. He is such a great guy though and is willing to do anything for us.

I have performed twice with the ward choir. This Sunday we sang, "Look at the World" by John Rutter. It isn't my favorite song, but it's not too bad. We are rehearsing for the Christmas program. We are doing like 8 songs. Luckily this choir is good at sight reading. Sound quality is about the same as any ward choir though. Average age is about 40. We are doing: If this Child Were Born Today, The first Noel, and that's all I remember. Maybe next week I will remember more.

One thing that I thought about this week that I don't think that I have told you about yet is Tiwi. Tiwi is an annoying box we have in our car that yells at us when we go over the speed limit. It is connected to the electrical system of the car. It also gives you violations for speeding, driving aggressively, not putting on your seat belt, and for too many RPM's. It has a GPS in it also so it knows where you are and the mission office can see it and track exactly where we went that day. Tiwi also sends violations to the mission office. Depending on your driving record you can be a green, yellow, or red driver. Obviously green is what you want to be. I don't have driving privileges yet so I can't drive. Elder Manwill gets violations all the time though.

Now one funny thing that happened this week. While we were tracting we found this guy that tried to convince us that drinking H2O2 was good for you and can cure cancer. He also told us about some website called dinarguru.com where he buys money from Iraq and he is waiting for them to revalue their money so that he will become a millionaire and cure cancer. He also showed us and gave us this little bottle that you put into your car gas tank that will increase your MPG by 10%. It's only a 2 ounce bottle and he said it treats like 60 gallons. Also, he talked about drag racing and how it's a family sport and how everyone should start doing it at age 8. Also, he mentioned this guy he knows in Texas. He stated, "He is christian, because he prays" dumbest thing ever. There were a bunch of other things he talked about, but I am tired of typing. we talked to him for 1.5 hours in his garage.

Another thing that happened this week is that I had a double scoop ice cream cone from Baskin Robins for dinner on Saturday.

Today is the start of my second transfer. It's crazy to think that I have already been here for 6 weeks. Where did the time go?

Love Elder Udy

PS. Oh, before I forget. Thank you for praying for me. Something I learned this week is that when we pray for specific things we get specific answers. We are having both wards pray for us by name and some good things are happening because of it. Read 3 Nephi 14: 7-10.