August 19,2013

Hello Family,

Yesterday we got to witness our investigator receive the Holy ghost in sacrament meeting. It was sweet to see the gospel in progress. Later that day we were able to baptize another one of our investigators named Josh. He is an 18 year old guy that has been wanting to be baptized for over a year. He finally got his moms approval this week to get baptized. His mom was a member, but had her named removed a long time ago so it was hard for her to let her son do this, because she knows the commitment involved. I know that he was ready though and that he will always stay faithful. Hopefully he will inspire his mom one day. The dad hopefully as well.

Other than that we don't have many investigators left so we are doing our best to find some more investigators and people to teach. Working with the ward and tracting are what we are doing now.

We had a lesson with one investigator this week that was crazy. It happened on their front porch and we basically ended up just answering all of their questions. We tracted into them so they had a bunch. Turns out though they actually had a member friend in California and they called her up and she helped us answer some of the questions over the speaker phone. It was sweet.

This week we served dinner at a Lutheran Church. It was pretty fun. It was a ward activity so a bunch of the ward went. We weren't allowed to proselyte, but they all saw us when they got food.

We also did service at the adult center that they have here in town. We prepared and served food there as well. We do that once a month.

Also we did service for one of our less actives. She has a really big yard and isn't able to do all the yard work at her age. We did a lot of thatching for her. I am glad that there isn't any moss in Utah, because it isn't fun to get out of grass. I am glad that I was able to help her out though.

Something funny and also pretty dumb of me happened this week. We were visiting this older less active lady that is in the assisted living facility. We came in and she didn't say anything so we tried to start up a conversation with her, but she was only giving us one word answers. I had a brilliant idea  come to me to ask her about her family. I should have thought about it more, because what came out of my mouth was, "So, do your parents live nearby?". Not the best question ever to ask an older lady, but my companion and I laughed about it later.

We also went to a BBQ at a non-members house who invited all her family that are non-members. It was fun to associate ourselves with them.

Anyway, we did a ton of service stuff this week.

Love, Elder Udy

August 12, 2013

Hello Family,

That's super cool that Chad is going to Arkansas! The mission will be the best thing you ever do Chad. I Promise.

My new companion and I get along great. He is such a cool dude once you break him out of his shell. We are going to start doing an Ugly Tie Tuesday. That will be super fun.

This week we had the baptism of Chad. He is a great guy and has been meeting with missionaries for over a year. He finally entered the waters of Mormon though. He will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. I hate how he has to wait an entire week before that happens, because Satan is going to try his best to stop it this week. We will be having daily contact with him. I hope all goes well. I might be giving him the Holy Ghost so that will be fun to do in Sacrament meeting. This will be my second time doing it.

This week I went on an exchange with a brand new missionary. It was his first exchange ever! I took him tracting and talked with him about his mission thus far. I gave him some tips that helped me when I started, but I think I learned even more from him. He reminded me of when I first came out here. I saw where he was and where I am now and saw how far I have come. It was weird. We got ice cream while we were tracting though from a guy we gave a book of  Mormon to. He was really nice. I also gained an appreciation for my trainer and how amazing he was. I had an amazing trainer and I didn't realize it until he left. I think that I will write him soon.

Anyway, this was a good week. I can't wait and am super excited for Chad!

Love, Elder Udy

August 5, 2013

Hello family,

Too bad chad didn't get his call. He needs to get it soon so he can get himself out here. Heavenly Father needs his help! It's alright, because he will arrive when he is supposed to. My mission president is always saying that the people that arrive are foreordained to come exactly when they are supposed to.

This week was my first week with Elder Clark. He is a pretty funny kid, but I found out that he turned 18 in January so he is probably the youngest missionary out here right now. It was also my first week only covering one ward. It's super weird and we really depend on the ward members to do their part in fellow shipping and and finding. Luckily, they have been helping us out as best they can. We had a lesson with one of our investigators at the bishops house this week that I was stressing out a lot for. I knew that it would be more than just a lesson for our investigator. It would also make or break our trust that we have with the bishop. I knew he would be evaluating our teaching and our testimonies. Luckily the lesson went super well. The spirit was really strong and our investigator agreed to baptism this Sunday. It's funny because we had planned to talk about the first part of the plan of salvation, but the lesson didn't even get to that point. We ended up just talking about baptism the whole time along with the temple. We talked about how it should be a goal to get you and your family to the temple. Last Sunday, in priesthood opening exercises, the bishop told everyone there about the lesson that we had at his house, and how the spirit was strong and about what a great experience it was for the investigator and also his family. PHEW!!!

Also, our other investigator set a date for the 17 of August. He has been wanting to get baptized for a few months now, but his mom didn't agree. Hopefully this date will go through and he will enter into the fold.

Elder Clarks' first area was somewhere in Portland area. He has been out only 3 months so I am trying to be as obedient as I can to set a good example for him the rest of his mission. Luckily, his trainer was also obedient and taught him well.

Love, Elder Udy