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