Lynnwood WA - week 5 (April 8 - 14)

April 15, 2013

As per usual, the italicized notes are my explanations or links to the things Chris references.  Enjoy reading.  And, if you choose to do so, please use the address to the right and send him a note!  :-)

-karen

Hello ALL!!

April 8, 2013

Tonight we had a meeting with Sam and Heather. We watched the movie of the Prophet Joseph Smith from his mom's perspective. SO GOOD! I invite you all to watch it! Its about an hour long but SO good! You can find it on youtube I think. Joseph Smith is so crazy AWESOME! He was a prophet called by God to restore the church of Jesus Christ back on the earth; and translated, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon. I know it and I am excited for the day I see that man again!  Satan Sucks. I mean there isn't much to it other than that. Had a rough evening but it is all good! My "Dad" (Elder Frandsen) is an awesome guy and helped me get through it. I guess this whole mission thing isn't easy...hahaha!

(I think this is the movie Chris talked about: http://www.mormonchannel.org/films?v=870618547001  It's a great story, and only an hour long!  :)

Or if you want to read a little more about Joseph Smith, without committing an hour to a movie: http://mormon.org/joseph-smith.  Personally, I like the visual of the flick.  :-)  On the note that it was a rough evening...yes, I'm a mom, so I asked directly about that in his letter.  The up side is that he continues to turn any negatives into positives!)

April 9, 2013

Good lesson with Troy today! He is starting to see the light and work towards it more. We talked a lot about Alma 32. It is Elder Frandsens favorite chapter! It is pretty awesome! We had a mini-exchange with the Zone leaders and that was FUN! p.s. for those who dont know, an exchange is just a 24 hour period where two male companionships switch companions. I say "mini" because it was only 3 or 4 hours long!  Had an AWESOME dinner with Sister Flood at Old Country Buffet. If you ever want to please a missionary take them to an all you can eat place! hahaha! Well, that, and let them share a message with you. Haha Just kidding! Tonight we actually did an exchange with the Mays Pond Elders.

(Link to the Book of Mormon, Alma 32:  http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32?lang=eng.  Mays Pond is an area in Bothell, WA...the next town over from Lynnwood. His good friend, Cameron, is serving in the Bothell area so I'm curious if that was the split.  That would have been so great! Guess we'll find out that information next week!)

April 10, 2013

Good exchange today with Elder Petersen! No, not my awesome best friend Elder Petersen in North Dakota but with the one in my District who is pretty cool too! Learned a lot about going and talking with everyone! So that was fun! Not much other than that! And yes, mom, I was at the Reirsens. haha!

(You may remember that the Reiersen's are a family that live in Chris's area, but their daughter is a good friend of mine in Gilbert.  It's a nice connection for me to know that another mom is looking out for him!)

April 11, 2013

Interviews were so AWESOME! Lots of good stuff taught by President Wilson, Sister Wilson, and the Zone Leaders! We had two AWESOME lessons tonight! One with our wonderful Marshallese Family on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So fun! We did it by doing the Egg Lesson, very fun! Julianna (mom) and Kristina (daughter) are still thinking about getting baptized! Prayers for them to help them choose the best path!  :)  The other lesson was with the Ching Family who's last name is really the Moli (Mol-ee) Family!  hahaha good to know I guess! We had a sweet lesson about Prayer and a little review of the Plan of Salvation.

(The missionaries typically meet and have interviews with the Mission President at zone conferences, which Tom said take place around once a quarter.  The egg lesson Chris referred to is one about the resurrection.  It's a lesson I've used for several years when teaching classes at Easter.  I use plastic eggs, number them, and use the objects and scriptures in the pic below. It works great for all ages!  Knowing Chris was teaching families and kids, I sent him his own set before Easter.  I'm SO glad he used it!  And, here is a link that explains a bit about "the plan of salvation" that he mentioned he reviewed with the Moli family:  http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness)

April 12, 2013

So today was good! Had another lesson with Gail! She keeps saying she isn't wanting to become a Mormon but one day she will. Elder Frandsen and I can see it :) It was a 2 hour long lesson but very good! Saw the power of God work today! We were tracting around an apt. and there was a man sitting at his window while we were walking to our car. Well, he saw us and told us to come up and talk with him so we did. We found out one his name was Ceasar and is a Convert (of the LDS church) of about 6 years and has been Less Active recently and second the spanish missionaries were trying to get ahold of him and never could reach him until today. Tonight we had a SWEET breakfast for dinner with the Assenbergs (members). Waffles for dinner...SO good!

April 13, 2013

So today is the long day... Awesome day! Truthfully we have been having a rough time finding people to talk with and teach. Well God works wonders, my friends!  So this morning after our studies, our (companion) prayer was not for someone to teach but for someone to help. Well, we left and had faith we would. After left the apt., we went to go see investigators named Nikkiel and Nina. They are from the Fiji islands and super nice. We didnt have the meeting because they were busy getting ready for a family reunion so we rescheduled for later in the week. We went and knocked on some houses around his house but nothing really solid. After that, we came back to our apt. for lunch and ate. As we were leaving we saw a mom and son trying to put a matress in a Uhaul and both felt the need to help them. We went over and helped them move their stuff and found out their names were Melody (30s) and Desmond (14).  We helped them for the next 2 and a half hours. After we got finished she told us her life story. Pretty crazy! I will leave the life story out. After helping her out, everything else cancelled BUT dinner. The people slammed the door or weren't interested, but Papa (Elder Frandsen) and I knew our prayer was answered. No coincidence and no luck. Now I take a step back and ask a few questions: 1) Were Nikkiel and Nina intrested just for this short time (4 days) so that we could set up the visit with them that didn't happen and take lunch an hour later than usual to meet, help and love these two people?  2) If we wouldnt have stayed obdient to our schedule and tracted houses around the area, would we have met and helped and loved these 2 people?  3) What if Nikkiel would've replied to our text and cancelled the meeting which would have made us take lunch earlier?  Would we have met, helped and loved these two people?  I know that God is aware of his children!  Acts 17:29. We ARE the litteral offspring of God and he is our Heavenly Father.  God has a divine plan for EVERY single one of us!  One other CRAZY thing that happened today is that Kepler accepted the invitation to be baptized!  We have 2 on date for May 25 and possibly two more for that day! 4 baptisms in one day would be pretty dang SHHWEET!!

(I really love that Chris can see that God's hand is in everything we do. Here is the link to the scripture in Acts: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/acts/17.29?lang=eng)

April 14, 2013

Not much today! Awesome sunday at church. I bore my testimony and shared that this is a blessing to be on a mission declaring His (Jesus Christ) word among the people of WA!  Few crazy miracles with wonderful people who have never attended before but were baptized!  So cool to see and meet them!  We will be having meetings with them throughout this week!  Dinner was sooo good at the Larsons house! They have a special green meal for greeenies :) So good! Salad, Cuccumbers, and 2 different kinds of mint ice cream!

(Greenies = brand new missionaries!)

This gospel is so awesome and our Father in Heaven is aware of the things that are happening in each one of our lives. I have personally felt the love of my Redeemer and Brother, Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is here on the earth and the Book of Mormon is something we can touch, read, and pray about to see if it is true! Read it with an open mind and sincerely pray about it in the name of Christ, you will see that it is true too! Don't just believe me....but read it for yourself to see of its truthfulness!  Scripture of the week: Moroni 10:32. Come UNTO Christ and be perfect through him. I love this scripture.   :)

(Link to the scripture: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng

Scroll down to read verse 32.)

Have a GREAT WEEK!

Love,

Elder Udall

Lynnwood WA - week 4

Codes are in The Week In The Life post from last week.  As per usual, I'll put some comments and explanations in italicized parentheses.

APRIL 8, 2013

HI ALL!  So, GOOD things this week and I just mention the main things of the day! :)

 

April 1, 2013

Awesome meeting with a Less Active named Muhamed. He's from Africa and moved over here about 7 years ago. Anyways we had a good lesson about faith with him and he is coming to priesthood session (which sadly didnt happen). After the lesson he fed us African food! It was this spicy chicken stuff that was really good! Sadly there was a lot of bone on the chicken but still very good! And we had rice with it which made it better! After that we went to another house, Sam(LA) and Heather(RC). We had a sweet lesson on the Priesthood! Very good people. Heather grew up baptist and had two children before she met Sam. One is older and doesnt live with them but the younger of the two, Alex is 9 I think and also got baptized. Sam and Heather have recently gotten married and will go to the temple in a little less than a year hopefully! It would be cool to see them go through!

 

April 2, 2013

So we went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings with the Assts. (to the Mission Pres.) and I "foretold" that we were going to be teaching some waiter or waitress there and when we got there the Assts. were already sitting there teaching a waiter. So yeah, no big deal but I was just seeing the future a little bit!  Just kiddin!  After that we had a great lesson with an RC, Troy. Troy is a little over 40 yrs old and single and has been having a pretty hard life. Like really hard lately especially since he has been baptized which was less than a year ago. We went to Sister Lee's house that night for dinner. We had these awesome chicken tacos! A little later we were suppose to have a meeting with John but he cancelled. John is a 15 year old boy that is not keeping the commitment to meet with us and its sorta hard but hopefully he will start wanting to again.

(An Assistant to the President, or AP is the highest level of organizational leadership within a mission next to the Mission President, as the name suggests. This is an assignment from the mission president. This assignment is typically given to young male missionaries who have shown themselves capable of the requirements of a responsible leadership role, have demonstrated reasonable obedience, and whose talents and abilities are not needed more in a different role within the mission.)

 

April 3, 2013

We had an AWESOME Lesson today with Jason about Tithing and Fast Offerings. He is a 9 year old boy that has been fellowshipped by the Goodwin Family who is awesome! Bro. Goodwin is who we workout with in the morning. Jasons Baptismal Date was April 25th but because of some conflicts with family we have to change it to the first saturday in May. Later we went and had a lesson with Kepler on the Restoration (1st lesson). Hopefully Kepler will see that he is not being forced to be baptized but it is his choice and he will want to.

(Here is a link to what the "Restoration" is:  http://mormon.org/restoration) 

April 4, 2013

A LOT today. So first we had a suprise meeting with Troy. It was awesome, we watched the Prodigal Son. Ann Marie was our next meeting but she cancelled. Ann Marie is a Jamaican woman that walked into church many months ago and has an intrest. She says she used to go back in Jamaica. Instead of having a meeting with her though we talked with Aaron, Good Stuff! After that we had a meeting with Taitus and Julianna and their family. There are 9 of them living in one Apt. I just love them. They are from the Marshall Islands which is very cool! Good lesson with the Faith in Jesus Christ Video! After that we had an AMAZING lesson with the Ching Family. I just love this family! We shared the 2nd half of the Plan of Salvation with them! Also found out the Mino, the dad, was from the Vailoa Village in Samoa which is where I did my Eagle Project! SO COOL! We are teaching the two daughters, Auka and Hena who are 15 and their son Odis who is 24. Both the mom and dad are members. Hopefully all three of them will be baptized at the beginning of June! :)

(I can't find a youtube version of The Prodigal Son, but I assume this is the one Chris watched. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167349/)

 

April 5, 2013

Awesome Day.We met Darla (P) who is ALSO Hawaiian and sadly moving to Vegas in May but maybe she will be baptized before than! hahaha! We had a lesson with Ashley and Kianu who are two seniors in High School. So far we have taught them about Faith and about Chp 8 in first Nephi. After that we had dinner with the Valles which was good but we also had MORE Carrot Cake haha! I have had so MUCH of that in the past month hahaha!

Link to 1st Nephi, Chapter 8 in the Book of Mormon (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8?lang=eng)

 

April 6 & 7, 2013

I am combining these two because it was just a lot of General Confrence which was AMAZING!! The one meeting we had was with Gail who is searching for the truth in life cause she really doesnt have much so yeah!

(General Conference is a semiannual meeting(s) of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is held every April and October in SLC, UT.  During the conference, members of the church gather in two-hour sessions to listen to talks (sermons) from church leaders.  Our family calls it "Pajama Church" because we can watch on satellite tv at home, in our pj's!)

 

I know I probably said this in my last email but I want everyone to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know for yourself if it is true! I invite all of you to take Moroni's Promise to heart (Moroni 10:3-5). Ask if it it TRUE! Cause I know it is!! I promise it is the GREATEST and most true book on the earth today but we must, MUST read it with an open heart and mind! I love you all so much! Have an AWESOME WEEK!

(Link to Moroni 10:3-5 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng)

Love,

  Elder Udall

A Week In The Life (March 25 - March 31)

Chris shared a week in the life, so to speak, so you can have an idea of his daily adventures.  The following post is directly from his email, with italicized parenthetical comments or explanations from me (karen).

April 1, 2013
So this is the first day of my 4th week IN the field but I am already a month and a half into the mission. TIME FLIES!  There is a quote my Mission President said so I will start with that.  "The gospel is Jesus Christ is better than...candy"  It was really funny at the time.  Some things you will need to know while you read.

• Inv = investigator (someone who is "investigating" or learning about the LDS Church)
• LA = Less Active (someone who is a baptized member of the LDS Church but only participates or worships every so often...not consistently)
• IA = InActive (someone who is a baptized member of the LDS Church but does not participate or worship at the church)
• PMF = Part Member Family (i.e.  Dad is LDS, Mom is not, kids may or may not be)
• UBC = Unbaptized Child  (in the LDS Church, children are baptized at age 8, not at birth; so an "unbaptized child" would be a young person who did not get baptized at age 8, but is on the records of the church as a member because of a parent who is LDS. Sometimes the child is part of a family that was active in the church when they were young but stopped coming for a time)
• P-day = preparation day  (this is typically on Mondays, and it is the day to do laundry, grocery shop, sightsee in the assigned area, play sports with other missionaries, etc)
• RC = Recent Convert (someone who has recently become a member of the LDS Church.  Usually they have continued meetings with the missionaries to learn more)
• P = Potentials (someone the missionaries have talked to but are not officially "investigating" the LDS faith)

Ok, highlights of the week:

March 25
Today was District P-day which just means my district of 6 missionaries did activities.  Luckily the Assistant of the Mission President came to hang out and also the Zone leaders.  Other than that, not much on this day.  We did have a cool RC lesson with the Shaw's.
(I do not know (1) why it was luck that the Assistant or the Zone Leaders came, and (2) How many missionaries are in a district or a zone, but that question will be asked)

March 26
Today was a little crazy.  We had a lot of lessons set up but most of them cancelled...actually, ALL of them cancelled.  It worked out ok because we got to meet and see some wonderful LA's, IA's and some P's.
(Leave it to Chris to turn a downer day into a positive one! LOVE HIM!)

March 27
Today was a little bit better, sort of.  I had a dentist appointment in the morning and sitting in a dentist chair for an hour in a suit is not fun at all.  Apparently I had an old cavity that the filling hadn't stayed in.  Whatever the problem was, it was hurting and now it's better.  After the dentist, we had a district meeting and because it was the week that led up to Easter, we talked a lot about Christ and what He has done for us.  I encourage all to get an Ensign and read some of the talks.  The March issue, page 50, and the April issue about Christ's atonement for us.  (I posted a link to each below)  Very very good articles.  We had some cancellations today but not as many.  I will try to start remembering what we have for dinner each night because some of the meals are really really good!
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/03/the-power-of-the-word-of-god?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/04/easter-week?lang=eng
(Note: I'm not sure if the 2nd link is the article he is talking about above. There are several articles in the April issue of this particular LDS Church magazine that discuss Christ and his life and atonement.)

March 28
We had a lesson with one of our new investigators today named Ann Marie.  She is from Jamaica and has a sister who we are also trying to meet with.  They went to church in Jamaica.  After that we had a double meeting (double booked) and I do not ever want to do that again.  (Hmmm...question to find out why!)  Elder Frandsen (Chris's companion) went with a member to one lesson and I had a member with me at mine.  Wow, it was hard, but it was a good learning experience!  Then we had an AWESOME dinner with a PMF...it was pasta and some other stuff but I just forgot what.  Dang, I guess I really do need to start writing stuff down.  After that we had an RC lesson with Aaron.  (Aaron was baptized in the LDS Church 4 days after Chris arrived in WA).  Aaron has an interesting story.  His ex-wife was a member of our church over 11 years ago when they met and married. He never liked the Mormons.  Skip ahead 11 years and they have a son, Kepler, and they are divorced.  Kepler was with his dad, Aaron, on the weekends. Recently the ex-wife asked Aaron if the missionaries could come meet with Kepler on weekends when he was with his dad.  He said ok, and after a few weeks, Aaron started sitting in on those meetings.  Then he started asking questions, and began learning about the LDS Church, and was baptized.  (Kepler is not yet baptized, and still learning.) After our meeting with Aaron, we had a meeting with an LA which was really good.

March 29
Today was pretty nice.  Not much happened.  A few cancellations but still pretty good.  Actually, cut that first sentence cuz this morning stunk! I woke up a little after midnight and was throwing up for an hour straight.  That was fun.  My companion said that I was so white he thought I was going to pass out.  It was sort of funny toward the end of the day but whatever.  (Mom note:  I will definitely be asking about this on Monday, the 8th!)  We met with a girl named Ashley who is a senior in high school and wants to know more, so she is now an investigator.  Afterwards we went and had dinner with an lA, Brother Bradley.  We went to a Mexican place which was ok.  (insane choice to eat Mexican food after barfing all night, but...)   My companion said it was the best Mexican place he'd found so far.  Then we went to a sweet place called The Root Beer Store.  Yes it is a store that has over 100 kinds of Root Beer!
(Found it online!  http://www.therootbeerstore.com  Tom and Katy must visit this place in 2015 when we go up to WA to see where Chris served.  All three are root beer lovers!  Me?  YUCK!)

March 30 
So Saturday was a little crazy but AWESOME! First was an Easter Egg Hunt for the Primary.  (The Primary is the young kids organization within our church...ages 3 - 11.)  Then we helped with a move-in.  (Note: this is at least the 3rd time in as many weeks that they have helped people move in.  I love hearing about the service.)  The most important/big thing was a meeting with Gail.  Gail is an investigator who has many questions, so we are teaching and answering questions at the same time.  She keeps saying that she WILL NOT become Mormon, but Elder Frandsen and I are optimistic.  We met a few potentials and then had dinner which was very good.  Then we had another meeting with Aaron and Kepler.

March 31 (Easter Sunday)
Not too much today.  Usual studying and then we went to the church which was awesome because lots of RCs, LAs and Investigator, and one couple who just saw the building and walked in.  Hopefully the couple will start learning more.  Easter dinner was cancelled because the people that signed up to feed us forgot and they were out of town.  After church we helped a less active family move.  We must be watched over though because that family fed us dinner after we helped them move.  That was very cool of them.  (Chris mentioned last Monday that the dinner was Taco Bell which is a favorite!  haha)

Other than all that, it has been a great week!  This Gospel is the full and true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ set up His church during His earthly time.  It has been restored on this earth and I invite all who read this to read the Book of Mormon for the first time or for the 50th time and pray to know of its truth. One of my favorite scriptures this week is Alma 33: 22-23:  Turn your eyes toward God and His Son that you might live.

Love to all!  Have a great week!