Letter received 12/4

Letter received 12/4 in the mail but from the week before Thanksgiving
The past week was AWESOME!  It was week one of the transfer with Elder Haupu.  Not much done until Wednesday so I will skip to that.  We had a wonderful lunch with the Reeds. We helped out at the food bank, like we usually do once a week . We did a little service and just saw people and then had dinner.  Nothing on Thursday but a doctor visit.  Friday was spent on an exchange in Burlington.  Lots of lessons!  We got word that Elder Cisneros got his visa and was leaving for Brazil on Sunday.  (NOTE: some of the missionaries in the Everett mission are "visa waiters". They have been called to serve missions in a foreign country, usually somewhere in South America, and then they finish their training but can't leave the US yet as they are waiting for visas.)  The great and happy part of that day was not only the TON of teaching but that one of their investigators who I have taught in previous exchanges asked me to confirm her!  So that will happen on December 1.  We exchanged back on Saturday morning.

Elder Bednar, who is an apostle, came to speak to us.  (Chris asked me to attach a youtube video of Elder Bednar's talk about "patterns of light", so click that to watch...it's about 7 min long)  Two things that I want to share from his visit is that first, when he walked into the room, the Spirit told me and confirmed to me that he was just a man.  A son of God, just like you and I, imperfect but trying to follow our Savior's example.  The difference is that his is VERY in tune with the Spirit and he has been given a call and a responsibility to be an Apostle of the Lord.  The other thing I want to share is that he talked about the fact that we are agents and not objects.  We can make ourselves become objects but we are agents have the choice to be better and like our Savior Jesus Christ, or to be an object and let Satan take control.

On Sunday, S & J came to church! That was WAY sweet!

Hope all is well with you!  We are still working up here!  Something Elder Bednar said was "Work hard. Work smart."  I usually quote Wiz Khalifa "work hard, play hard" but what Elder Bednar said tops Wiz Khalifa, so I'll leave you with this thought of combined advice:  Word hard, work smart; and play hard, play smart!  Have an awesome week!

Love,
Elder Udall



Email from 12/9/2013
I don't really have a LONG email to write. S and J are not on date for the 4th anymore because S will be working on the 4th so they still want to be baptized but nothing set in stone date-wise yet. Went to the Native American Reservation and taught a lot of people. Even the people that didn't want to listen were nice and polite and said, "Im good, no thanks." That is the BEST place ever!  You will be getting a package this week. Just sent it this morning. We have another lesson with the M____'s. Wife is non-member, older couple. She is doing great. Will probably put them on date for baptism this week. I think I told you about a young woman (a girl age 12 - 17) in our ward that invited her friend over a TEXT to church! I don't think people understand how EASY it is to invite someone to do something. If they say no then you're still friends with them. It was awesome! Her friend has been to church twice. Hopefully we will teach her soon. We definitely could use more people to teach but we are doing pretty good! 



I shared on the blog earlier that we had a family offer to help Elder Udall celebrate Chanukah!  He and his companion were able to spend 5 nights lighting candles with the family.  Sometimes they were able to stay for longer than just lighting candles, but this experience was not only great for Chris and the Brignone family, but it confirmed to us that Elder Udall is exactly where he needed to be for the holiday season.  Words alone cannot express our gratitude for the Brignone family, and their desire to serve the missionaries in the Sedro-Woolley area, and the blessings they provided to me for taking in Chris at Chanukah! 

I received a box of stuff that Chris sent home, which included his Coyotes jersey (which was hanging in his room) and some t-shirts and other things he didn't need...and which he said simply took up too much room in his suitcase.  A bonus SD card was included!!  I love getting photos!  Several of the photos are without caption below...the caption Chris included was this:  The GPS took us this route home, so we took photos of the scenic route.

Elder Udall outside the doctor office 12/2013

Caption from Chris:  I don't know what this is, but they are flying the NHL flag!

A mural just before getting on the freeway

Deer in front of the house next door to where we were teaching!

Concrete, WA is about 20 miles east of Sedro-Woolley

Elder Udall works at the food bank every Wednesday
This car belongs to another volunteer.

A family in their ward lives on a farm, and has several animals.
The following pics are of just some of the animals.

For anyone who knew our dog Bear...this dog is his long lost brother!
Chris said that he loves going to this family's home just to see the dog.

Yes, that's 15 degrees fahrenheit!  "It's getting a bit cold here"

Mid-week Post: A Message PLUS photos & videos! (November 22, 2013)

On November 14, Chris mailed an SD card home via priority USPS mail.  It was scheduled to arrive on Sat the 16th or Mon the 18th.  When it didn't arrive on Monday, I asked Chris to share the tracking number with a mom from his ward (local congregation) because she can communicate with me mid-week and I could try and track it.  Monday night, I noticed that the package appeared to be stuck in Kent, WA.  On Tuesday, when it still didn't arrive, I went down to our local post office and asked for their help.  The clerk got the manager, who then got a higher manager(?) and they took my name, address and phone and promised to help.  On November 21, I received a call from the head guy who shared that they located it and it arrived in Gilbert that morning!  Anyone who knows me knows that I live for the photos, videos and other communication with Chris.  This was a huge gift from the employees at the post office, and I'm SO grateful for their service.  (Brought them donuts and a note of thanks!)

Here is the letter I received in the package with the SD Card, followed by the photos and videos from the card!  Enjoy!!

Mom,
Thanks for the update!  I hope things continue to go smooth.  Or smoother!  

Ya know, lately I have notice how easy life is. Now most people would either disagree with this statement OR would say it's only easy now because I am on a mission.  The thing is, everyone's life could (and can) be VERY simple.  The reason people say life is hard is because the imperfection in us falls to the sly and small temptations of Satan. People may have hard trials and situations to pass through but that is because we live in an imperfect world. The way we overcome and go through that hard trial is the part we will be judged on and what really matters. How we go through it is the simple part. Three words quoting our Savior: "Keep my commandments".  Heavenly Father has given us commandments. The first to Adam and Eve.  Then he gave commandments to the prophets Abraham, Moses, Noah and other Old Testament prophets and with his word (scriptures).  The simplicity in life and with Heavenly Father's commandments can give us peace, happiness, love, faith, blessings, blessings and more blessings! And, all we have to do is ONE thing...keep the commandments! God speaks to us (his children/the world) today. He doesn't just talk to us. He leads and guides us through a prophet today just as he did way back when.  You can find this out for yourself.  You just have to take a little time and list to what a prophet says.  They pray to God in the the name of Jesus Christ and he WILL give you an answer.

Please add the link to President Monson's past two talks.  :-)  Love you!  Keep the positive!!

So here are the links: 
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/i-will-not-fail-thee-nor-forsake-thee?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-brings-blessings?lang=eng

I bought Chris and his companion masks for a service project!

Just before teaching a lesson to a family. Why the batman mask?  I have no idea!

Cooking bacon and eggs with a family just before General Conference

Chris's new area as of October 8, 2013
He will be through the end of December

A tiny town within Chris's area

Map of the whole area
There are two sets of missionaries in the ward (local congregation)
One set covers the little town of Sedro Woolley
Chris and his companion cover everything north, south and east

Chris's feet.  Yes, I'm sure.
A family that they have become close to have a 12 year old daughter
who thought it would be fun to paint the missionaries' toes.
Good thing they are good sports!

Missionaries from Sedro-Woolley Ward and Burlington Ward
at Roberto's wedding. (Roberto and his new wife are learning about the LDS Church

Videos included in this month's SD Card - CLICK THE YOUTUBE LINKS

Chris's district in Marysville/Lakewood (early Oct 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJgXxC9wMXI

Tour of Chris's Sedro-Woolley apartment

He lives with his companion and two other missionaries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m-nVUZpghA

Chris shows a map and explains his area

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rALQypHUUq8

Sedro-Woolley, WA - through week 37 (through November 18, 2013)

This week is transfer week, and Chris will be remaining in Sedro-Woolley for another 6 weeks.  His companion is being transferred, so he will get a new companion on November 19.  We'll learn more about who that is next Monday.

With the holidays coming up, several of the moms of missionaries were talking about what they are sending their kids for Thanksgiving.  Well, in our home, Chanukah is a much bigger deal than Thanksgiving.  I sent the email below to my immediate family and a few close friends, but felt impressed to share it on Chris's blog: 

November 11, 2013

Hi!  As you know, I have been a bit down and out having had two surgeries in 10 days. Physically, I am improving a little bit each day, and I'm grateful for that.  Mentally, I still have good days and rough ones. I'm not one to lay around so it's challenging, but most days are good ones. I have honestly felt uplifted and truly felt prayers by my friends of many different faiths. 

On Saturday, I was feeling pretty down. I spent a good part of the day crying at different times. Had my own personal pity party, if you will.  Tom was super busy, Katy was off with a friend, the pain was less than optimal, and I missed Chris.  One of the moms in our Everett Mission Mom group posted a question and asked what we were sending our missionaries for thanksgiving. I replied that while we love spending time with family, we don't have a specific thanksgiving food or tradition that I would send him. We bounce year over year to different places (or people come here) but that Chanukah is a big deal in our family. We love celebrating Chanukah. We have friends over, eat lots of Jew food, we tell the story and spin the dreidel and it's a GREAT time!  

So in my pity party, and in writing through tears to the moms group, I simply stated that I wish Chris had a family he was close to up in this area so they could make some Chanukah stuff. 

Today, Monday (11/11/13), I received the email below from a lady in Chris's area in WA. This is such a simply testimony that God knows us and he hears our prayers. 

Karen

Hello, Sister Udall

My name is Dee Brignone, as a family we have had the joy of having your son in our home many of times. In one of his times here we told them that we do Passover and Hanukkah as a family, he was shocked and asked if he could come to our house since that is something his family does. So we are having them over on the 27th for dinner and to start Hanukkah he is going to do it for us. I was hoping that I could make some food that will make him feel like home. Our Hanukkah has always just been lighting the menorah so I would love to hear what your family does.  Thank you for your time.

My son who just turned 13 loves your son and looks up to him, Thank you for the spirit that you raised into a rightness young man he is.

I have pictures I will be sending you as soon as I can get them on here.

Dee Brignone

Since exchanging this email, we have since exchanged others.  The Brignone family has been amazing for the missionaries, and for Chris.  They feed them and welcome them into their home often.  And, on the 27th, they will celebrate Chanukah!

Chris's letters from November 12 and November 18

November 12, 2013

My week has been alright. Lots of less active work. We had a lesson/ dinner with two new investigators Jocie and Seth. They are a younger couple with two kids. Lots of fun at their house that night. Seth's stepdad is actually an inactive member of the church. So, a crazy miracle that happened: On Saturday (at our dinner with them) they asked us about a previous Bishop in the ward and asked if he was still there. He is, and they told us that they had been married by him.  We thought that was cool and of course knew that they would be awesome fellowshippers. Well we talked to Sis. Haddock (the former bishop's wife) and she told us that she and her husband had been talking about them a few days ago...Coincidence?  I THINK NOT!!  I don't understand how some think its possible that God's hand isn't in EVERYONE'S life. He is preparing ways and things in our life even when we don't know it. And all he asks in return is that we are obedient to Him and his Son and keep the commandments. Other than that, we had a lot of good dinners. We had our last dinner with the Actons on Sunday night before the dinner calendar split.  (there are two sets of missionaries in the ward, and they split the calendar so the missionaries are in two geographic areas)

I also taught the 12-14 yr old class again. VERY fun! I got a picture of all of them. This week I will try to set one up with all of us in a photo. Elder Walker came with me this week. People were more focused and we got more done. :) I think, and hope, they got a lot out of it. :)

Service this week:  Cleaned out the Chamber's gutters. That was also fun! Digging bird poop and mud and leaves out of a metal gutter....yummy.

November 18, 2013

So this week has been amazing! We had 2 lessons with the McCaleb family (PMF). They both really have an AWESOME response to the gospel and have decided to read this week. Had a CRAZY sweet lesson with the Askvig family. I told you about the miracle that happened with the prev. bishop. Well his (prev. bishops) wife came to the dinner and lesson. They are sooo prepared to hear the gospel. She (askvig wife) had questions on the fact that God would just leave us empty handed after Christ came. No new prophet or no more new word from God. They have two kids as well. A 5yr old and a 3yr old. The 3 yr old before we left grabbed on to my ankle and her mom kneeled down and told her that we have to go so we can come back later. She then looked up and said "But I love them.".....It was definitely hard to say goodbye to that haha. They both have a HUGE desire to learn and also to come to church. They weren't able to come today but they are planning to come next week. Not much else other than that. Taught class again. It was a REALLY good class. Probably because the kid who talks the most wasn't there. Now I know how the teachers felt sometimes when I wasn't there!  hahaha! ;) We did get a lot done and had a really fun class. I did a demonstration. Took some tooth paste and brush and one of the kids came up and brushed his teeth. Then I said, "So if we just don't brush our teeth for a week and then brush them are they as clean or as good as we could have got them if we brushed everyday like we are suppose to. Well I took the tooth paste (travel size) and put it ALL on the brush. I applied and had the kids apply it to things in the gospel. We cant read our scriptures once a week or once a month and still get a good spiritual life. It will not be one what the Lord has asked OR two will help our spiritual life. You can say that with church and prayer and lots of other things. One kid brought up scouts or mutual or callings and lots of other stuff. It was a TON of fun! Then we talked about who should be in that classroom every sunday. So I had each kid find or choose a friend to invite to church the next week. Hope to have more kids in that class next week.

Sedro-Woolley, WA - through week 34 (through October 28, 2013)

On October 8, Chris was transferred to Sedro-Woolley, WA.  It is the furthest east location in the mission, and he describes his part of the mission area as "the boonies".  Sometimes there is anywhere from 1/2 mile to one mile between homes.  The area is quite large, and it can take over 30 minutes by car to get to the church building from any one location.

October 14, 2013

Right now we dont have much going on in this "wonderful" town of Sedro Woolley. My new companion does want to work out and we talked to an AWESOME family (Acton Family) who will let us workout in their basement. He has a TON of dumbells and is very VERY nice. Their oldest is 14, which is cool. Not like the other families we have been close with but still pretty chill. We have both a car and a bike, which is very exciting. I have not gained weight still at an even 163. Not much other than that. It's been an alright week except I got sick from the dumb flu shot. I didnt sleep well a few nights after it and because of that I ended up just staying in bed most of the day one day. I forgot. I think it was wednesday. Not too bad of a week tho. Had a member present and other lesson (no member present). Found two new inv. Had 6 RCLA (Recent Convert Less Active) lessons.

Lots of fun people and good people in this ward. There are two sets of missionaries in the ward.  Me and Elder Z, and Elder Gonzalez and another missionary.  Elder Gonzalez and I came to the mission together, and were in the same district in the MTC, and we became very good friends.  It's a blessing that we are in the same ward for this transfer. We have the General Authority coming tomorrow. Paul V. Johnson. Hopefully he comes with Facebook or Ipads or Iphones or something. If not we will definitely be dissapointed haha.

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Udall

October 28, 2013

This week has been way sweet!! We have done a lot of Less Active work and have been working on the "contacting on the street" side of things. This week has been a ton of fun though. I went to Burlington for an exchange from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning. This week I will be going there (Burlington which is the city west of us because you cant go any farther east) from tonight till Wednesday night. It is awesome to see how other elders work. We get to workout at a members house in their basement every weekday morning. Lots of fun! 

Its been interesting to see how the Lord works this past week. Almost every person we contact knows or has a relative that is Mormon. It helps us because then we can ask different questions about them and their family and get to talk about the Gospel more. We had the Primary Program in church yesterday which was fun! Afterward we (Elder Gonzalez and I) went to the 12-14 yr old Sunday school class.  

The teacher talked about Christ and how if we don't have a testimony and we are relying on others we will fall. That is one thing I have found out on my mission. I guess two things. First is that EVERYONE is imperfect so you cant hold some one accountable for something they said or did especially if they offended you. Forgive them and move on. You don't have the right or authority to hold accountable. Your salvation does not depend on their apology or even if they apologized, It IS dependent on you going to church, reading your scriptures and praying to your Father in Heaven. I see so many wonderful people that wont come to church because someone said something. Why does it matter?!  Your Father in Heaven knows you best and will tell you if you're off track. If you're off track, come back. Not only because we need you but that the man who created you in his own likeness and image wants you to. He PLEADS with you to; and WILL bless you when you do. I know that He (Heavenly Father) loves us and knows us. He also can not wait for our return or new knowledge of the Gospel. This church is true. Missionaries are around the world to tell everyone about our church. It will be a blessing to you, if all who read this, will at least let the missionaries in to tell you about what we believe. We have been set apart and ordained ministers of Jesus Christ and have been set apart with his Authority. We just like talking to people and that is what we have been called to do. This Gospel is here for everyone. And you can enjoy the blessings from it as well whether you are a member of our church or not. I say this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Udall

Marysville, WA - through week 30 (through Sept 30, 2013)

Chris's emails have been a little sporadic and have not had a ton of info the past few weeks.  I'm including two weeks in one this week...

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013:

Please share this quote by Joseph Smith, and my thoughts after it.

"We don't ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more. What if all the world should embrace this gospel? They would then see eye to eye, and the blessings of God would be poured out upon the people, which is the desire of my whole soul." (Joseph Smith). 

I cant say it better than that. We are only here to show you more light and MORE knowledge. I can promise you that if you have a question that you should ask a missionary like me. If you have questions, you should continue to search until you find the answers you seek.  Don't give up. The missionaries, like me, love talking with people and would love to answer your questions.

He also shared this email that he sent to his mission president:

It's been a wonderful week up here in Smokey Point WA. We reached and exceeded most of our goals this week which means its time to shoot higher. This week I have truly seen the life cycle i think is what they call it. We see it all the time when we read the Book of Mormon. God gives them blessings, then they sin and are unrighteous, then they are warned to repent, then God humbles them and over and over. (This cycle is in one of the study guides for the Book of Mormon we have back home). Anyway, this week we got dropped by someone Elder Young and I thought was going to get baptized so quick because she was SO prepared. She said she will keep looking and searching and most importantly reading, but the lessons are good for now (those were her words). Day before that we got told by one of our less active guys that was coming to church every week and was wanting to recieve the melchezidek priesthood and was on his journey towards that when he told us that he was moving....sorta stinks but it's life. And some other things with people happened nothing major on those though. BUT for some reason we had a lot of teaching oppurtunities and lessons with people. That was pretty much our week. Luckily I did not get bit by a dog while riding my bike so we are all good there.

(I'm thinking there is a new dog story we haven't heard)

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Today, I tried to ask some very specific questions, and asked him to share something that happened this week.

1.  Since you don't have a ton of investigators, describe a typical day?

Typical day. Get up usually go visit less actives or do service or have meetings in the morning till lunch. Then after lunch we have lessons but its with less actives and then visit people. Dinner. Then try to have lessons with inv. or members or LA. We are really trying to focus on goals with members and getting them involved.

2.  How often do you get district p-days?  District meetings?  Zone meetings?

District meetings are every week on wednesday. District P-Days are twice a transfer (3rd week and 6th week, so yes today is D- PDay). Zone Meetings once a transfer. Sometimes two.

3.  List three things you love about your mission.

Three things I love about my mission. 1. I can have courage that no matter what happens God will watch out for me if I am doing his will. 2. Working and meeting people from ALL walks of life. 3. Being able to fully understand heavenly joy when you see someone who has nothing go to having EVERYTHING!

4.  List two things you could do better

Ask for Refferals from EVERYONE. Make sure E. Young and I BOTH talk in appts and "dinner doctrine".

5.  What are some goals you have to work on this week

See number 4. And also add have the Family Mission Plan lesson like we have done with the Shepards with 3 more families. Now we are down to two because of last night.

6.  How are things with Elder Young?  When does he go home?  I thought he was almost done, but I can't remember.

Things with Elder Young are pretty good. Easiest comp to get along with so far in the mission. Weird fact: I am almost a 3rd done with my mission....not ok. Too fast. Too many people I havent talked to or met. Elder Young goes home right before Christmas or right after. He has 2 transfers left.

So I want to share an experience I had this week. I will not be using a name of this husband and wife. Just so they can keep their life stories to themselves. So we have a older lady in the ward. Very active and very very kind. She even has GREAT grandchildren and possibly 2 greats on the way....Yeah crazy. Anyways she has a grandson (non member) and recent wife (also non member) living with her in her house. We were over there to visit and the wife was sick and not feeling well at all. So we offered to give her a blessing. She agreed and was glad to recieve one. After giving her the blessing we were talking about the priesthood and how blessings work when the husband said,"I had an experience with the priesthood when I was really young." I asked him to share if he wouldnt mind and he started his story.  "I was 18 months old and had spinal menengitis (sp). I was floating above my body, looking at myself in the crib and all the people around. The doctors said I only had a few hours to live so everyone was saying goodbye. I wasnt freaked out by the fact that I was above my body. In all actuallity I was content. As I was there I remember two men in suits. The did the exact same thing that you two just did. They annointed me with oil and said those two prayers and gave me a blessing in the second prayer. At the end of the second prayer I was INSTANTLY back in my body. And had no sign of spinal menengitis and no signs of ANYTHING wrong. I was back to a healthy young child." I expressed my gratitude in him sharing that story and being able to do so comfortably. I told him that he had a work to do here on this earth. God had a plan for him and it was NOT just to gain a body and go back to live with Heavenly Father.

Sadly we havent met with that family since but we will be going by this week to check up and see how they are doing. The authority to act in Gods name is back on the earth and will remain till Jesus Christ comes again. The authority is not the Holy Spirit. Now those are two seprate things.Luke 1:9 states that He (Jesus) gave them authority to preach the gospel, cast out devils, etc. It also talks about the authority being used after Christ had died in Acts 8:12 - 21. Phillip has an authority to baptize and baptize he did both men and women (v. 12). Simon who was a one of those who was baptized and also followed Phillip while he preached the word of God. Now vs. 14. Why did they have to send Peter and John? vs 15-17. vs. 18-21 explain what Simon did next. This shows that 1) There is two types of authority. One to baptize and one to give the person the Holy Ghost. 2) That the authority to act in Gods name must be used in those sacred ordinances. My testimony of this Authority is that it is true and on the conditions of faith and righteousness can you use this authority. This is Christs church on the earth and EVERYONE can find out for themselves that this is true. All you have to do is read the Book of Mormon and pray about it with a sincere heart, real intent and faith in Christ and God will tell you what you need to know. I know that Christ walked this earth and gave the authority to preach the gospel to his apostles. I know that I have that same authority that they had. I know it to be the Authority that God gives to men to act in His name. I hope all who want to know come to know what I know. That this church is the church of our Savior Jesus Christ. I leave that with you in his name, Jesus Christ Amen. 

Marysville, WA - weeks 24 & 25 (August 20 - Sept 2)

A late video...

We sent Chris a CD called Popcorn Bopping which is LDS Children's songs set to a dance beat.  He listens to it often as exhibited by the memorized missionary rap here.  It makes me giggle each time I watch it, so I thought it needed to be shared. 

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August 26, 2013 - Short exchange of emails.  

There were transfers that week, so we weren't sure if Chris was staying in his location or not.  Approximately 25 new missionaries arrived in the Washington Everett Mission.  Of the 25 new missionaries, 22 were girls!  

My questions:

1.  Transfer?

2. Sports or other activities with youth?

3.  ASL investigators?  What happened?

4.  Moving out of home?

5.  Update on investigators??

6. How have you seen the Lord's hand in your life this week?

1. I am not transferred and neither was Elder Young. We ARE getting another set of missionaries in our home though. They are the elders in the ward below us. But no transfers.

2. Still nothing with the youth. I am tired of doing basketball. The guys there are not...its just different. Hopefully this week I can get it started with Bryce but school is starting next week so we will see how this goes.

3.  So a possible ASL investigator tonight. Bryce's younger sister Bethany has a friend whos parents are deaf and the mom needs an interpreter tonight for a parent meeting for the sport her daughter is playing. Sis Frenzel might be doing it or maybe myself. Not sure yet. BUT if you could send an ASL dictionary ASAP (not a overnighter, just a package this week) THANKS! :)

4. Still in our wonderful HOUSE :) We will have 2 other elders with us BUT it has to be temporary because the First Presidency doesn't want missionaries together in the same house.

5. Frank W. is our ONLY strong inv. We had 2 AWESOME lessons. Really stong spirit. Both were with less active members but they were good lessons.

6. I would say the Lords hand in my life is in those two lessons. One I will tell you about...We went over to Sis. C's house. She is 57, living alone, and was a member a LONG time ago (like 30 years). She was baptized in her early 20's. Our lesson at the beginning wasnt that great...Or at least i didnt think so. Although I knew we HAD the spirit and needed to testify about something. We had testified mult. times but nothing clicked. At the end, I felt like Heavenly Father talked through me....it was probably the craziest thing. All I really remember saying is, "As a disciple of Jesus Christ......"   I dont remember exactly what else I said but what I do know is it was what she needed to hear and it brought both her and me to tears. She didn't come to church this week but she will be back soon!   :) 

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September 3 

Questions - 

1.  did new missionaries move in?

2.  who are they?  and where are they from?

3.  heck - where is elder young from??

4.  what are you guys doing to stay obedient and focused with 4 in a house?

1.  Yes new missionaries moved in. I will have the member take a photo of us at the house.  (The members that live next door are in the photo here.  This pic is the kids showing the grasshoppers they are about to fry for a snack.  The link to the video at the end!  Don't miss watching it!)

2.  Our district leader is Elder Marshall from Alanta Georgia (a town a little north of Alanta). And Elder Rice who was in Firetrail last transfer from a little town in Az up near Sedona (I forgot the name).

3.  Elder Young is from Tremonton UT. Up near the border of Idaho and Utah.

4.  This is truly going to be the best transfer! We are all obedient! VERY!  AND we are having a blast while we are at it. We talk at night and in the morning but we stay pretty away from each other during the day and focus on our work!

Last week was good. We got the other elders in our house on Tuesday (Aug 27).  

Monday was just another pday of basketball and lunch and shopping and dinner and a lesson with that family and then thats it! 

Tuesday was probably the day of most excitement. We started by going to meet Sister Frenzel (a member of their ward) at the high school track to talk about interpreting that night for a mom whose daughter is friends with the Shepard's daughter.  After lunch we went to the jr. high school to pick up the ASL dictionary she is letting me borrow then to make some copies at the church. Afterwards we visited some names, met up with Bryce for 20 min or so and helped us see people. Then dinner with the Winters Family. We had terryaki again. There is terryaki EVERYWHERE UP HERE!!!  After that Brother and Sister Shepard came and picked us up so I could interpret for this mom. The beginning of this meeting was for the parents of all sports so it was good because 100+ people saw me interpreting...yay...haha! It was a good way for us to be seen not just as the guys who wear white shirts and ties and knock on doors and ride bikes.  haha! I will say that God helped me a lot during that meeting but he also gave me trials which humbled me and showed me that I was not prepared. But since I believe I have prepared more, we are going to visit the mom today. We then had a meeting with our bishop and the sister missionaries. 

Wednesday (Aug 28) District Meeting. In our district it is Firetrail Ward Elders and Sisters and Lakewood Elders and Sisters. Cool district too!  Sis. Gale (from my MTC district, and came out to WA with me, and was in my first zone) is now in my district! I think she is following me....just kidding.  Anyway, we visited some less actives. OH! We took more area of the ward, so we now have a little more of the ward area during the day. (this pic is typical of his new area)  I will take a picture of the shoulder and ditches we ride on.....or should I say non-shoulder we ride on, and the BIG ditches that we ride next too. If we lose our balance, or a car comes out of no where, or side sweeps us -  it's a 4 to sometimes 7 foot ditch usually holding MULTIPLE blackberry bushes.  (I'm guessing no one has had a major accident yet?!)   Anyway, after that we had dinner with the Hawkins Family and a lesson lesson with Marlene! She is our investigator that we found on the road 3 weeks ago or so.   We asked to help her with some service, she agreed and we have done service for her every week since. We watched the Restoration Video and talked about Moroni 10:3-5 and how this book, The Book of Mormon, is either from God or the Devil. And that the experience Joseph Smith had was either true or it was not. Now, if you already have your mind set that the book and Joseph Smith's vision is not true, we can not help those. BUT if you are willing to seek our Father out in prayer in the name of Christ, He will tell you the answer. 

Thursday, Had a lesson with a less active brother, Brother C. And afterwards, did service for a family with less active teens and young adults. We just shoveled grass or, actually, tore grass up. We had dinner at the Coopers. Love the Coopers but as we were on our bikes heading there, literally a minute and a half after we started biking, the rain came DOWN on us!  We were very very wet!  The bike ride to their house was about 8 miles or so. Maybe a little less from our house. They also have this HUGE hill right before their house. And right before we got to the hill, Brother Cooper was on the side of the road there to pick us up. We could have done the hill (we've done it before) but it was pretty nice to just ride up in a car!!  

Here's a video of the hill Chris mentions above:

Friday, We started doing our planning for the week when Marlene called asking for us to come help with stuff again. It was great! We picked up horse poop and helped move things in the garage around so she could get her car in there and I put some insulation (the big fluffy pink stuff) in her attic. (I hope he knew to wear gloves to do that!  Eeek.)   We visited people, then dinner with the Holmstead family! 

Saturday we finished planning for this week and then visited some less active families and potential investigators again. Then we had a WONDERFUL dinner at the Gates house. Brother and Sister Gates have just recently been sealed in the temple and we had an AMAZING dinner. Jalepeno Popper Sandwiches (I think is what they were called)   Whatever it was, it was GOOD!  Then we had a meeting with Bro. McClellan (the Ward Mission Leader). 

Sunday was meetings and a wonderful church session. I did bear my testimony on testimonies. I talked about what they are and how we need to bear them often. We had more meetings and visited people. Then we had a random dinner with Bishop's family because no one signed up to feed us and then more visits. 

Monday!!!! This P-day was a little different! We did shop and went with the Elders to drop off something to their investigator then went to the Thomas' house. Beautiful house and yard and EVERYTHING. It was a back to school party (because school starts tomorrow) and it was just a TON of fun!  Then we had dinner at the Greens. WOW that guy knows how to cook!  Roast and sautéed squash and macaroni zuccini something.  It was just good!  Afterwards we helped Brother and Sister Jones unload sixty 70 lb. bales of hay up to his rafters in the barn.  Now that is was I call a work out!!   SO good!  We then had Ice Cream with them after and then home. I am sorry I forgot the camera mom but I was COVERED in hay. I had my UDALL sweat going and all the hay just stuck to me!  Haha! Good night!   (Oh how I would have LOVED that photo!!!)

The "Udall sweat gene" is well known among Tom's side of the family.  All three brothers have it, but their grateful sister does not.  Several of the kids have it including two of mine, and some of the other cousins.  My niece is serving a mission in Bulgaria and commented in a recent letter that her sister would be a mess there due to the humidity causing heaps of sweat.  Chris must have read that recently enough to share this rather gross video with me, and I, in turn, had to share it here because of his comments above.

One thing I learned this week:  D&C 122 7 - 9 - Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. 

Joseph asks two questions, WHERE are you God?  WHY is this happening to your people? 

Answer to WHERE is verse 9, I think, and answer to WHY is in verse 8 "The Son of Man....". 

It is extremely important to remember that we are going through trials and afflictions for the benefit of growth. Even if the very jaws of hell gape open wide after thee, remember my son, thine adversity and thine affliction are but a small moment, and if thou endureth well, God shall exalt thee on high. 
(Paraphrased...I dont have my scriptures near me)
http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/122?lang=eng


Lastly - don't miss out on the video of the month!  Chris joined the Hepworth family (they live next door) for a snack of fried grasshoppers!!  The video is too long to embed in the blog, so click the youtube link!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGJTfbRxu0