October 26, 2015

Hi family,

Our district leader is Elder Phillips. He serves in Cabot as well. There are 2 sets of elders here. Lonoke is about 35 minutes away. It's pronounced "LOW-UH-NO-K". 

The last time I check my e-mail in the mission will be on Saturday. I have my last P-day (Saturday) to pack and stuff, so I will be able to e-mail then, rather than on Monday. On Monday I will be in the mission home.

We had a ward Halloween party on Saturday here. It was fun. I went as Elder Phillips and he went as Elder Udy. We just switched tags. On holidays missionaries normally go visit members and teach/inspire them that night instead of proselyting. I will be packing then though. That's pretty much all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

October 19, 2015

Hi Family,

There are 4 elders in the Cabot Ward. 2 sets. Our district is all of Cabot and all of Lonoke. There is 1 set of sisters in Lonoke, and 1 set of elders. 

There are a lot of Walmarts, in Arkansas since it is the headquarters. I got a lot of fruit at Walmart this week. Bananas were super cheap and so I bought like 30. 

Things were pretty normal this week. I got some papers telling me what to do to prepare to come home, and gave my departing testimony in zone meeting. The whole experience is still a little surreal. We were on bikes this week. That's pretty much all. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

October 12, 2015

Hi Family,

It was weird when I got that letter. It feels almost surreal to be coming home soon. I feel like this is all I know now. I don't remember what's it's like to be home anymore. Haha. I will get back to normal though I'm sure. 

The Murphey's (member family in Cabot) are great. We didn't have dinner the night of Cabotfest, so they invited us over when they saw us there and fed us all. We didn't have much success there unfortunately. Not a lot of people interested at the time. Busy with other activities. We just tried to talk to people on the streets. We didn't have a booth unfortunately. We didn't know it was going on until the day before. 

The day (Nov. 3rd) I get home is election day, and the next day is my registration date for classes at BYU, so I won't really have time to relax before jumping back into life. That's probably a good thing though. Don't waste any time that way. 

Our week was good. We had the Cabotfest, and we had Specialized Training. We had Specialized Training at our building, so our whole zone went and worked in our area for an hour, so we got like 15 referrals from that. It's nice to have things like that to fall back on when plans fall through. Our week has been pretty normal other than that though. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. Saw these guys at CabotFest today passing out Book of Mormons. The Murphey's

October 5, 2015

Hi Family,

We did watch conference. All 5 sessions. It was a good time. I liked Larry R. Lawrence's talk, and Robert D. Hales. Elder Holland did a good job as usual and Russell M. Nelson. A lot of the other ones did a great job as well. 

Elder Rasband came to our mission one of my first few months with Elder Perry for a regional conference. He is a great speaker. I had my bets on Tad R. Callister for a new apostle, but I guess not. 

Elder Hanson has been out for about 6 months. He went to Camp Bartlett once. Yeah, they go to Montpelier for church up there. I don't remember him though. We are getting along fine. He is a nice enough guy. 

We had a weird experience. One of our investigators committed suicide, so that was different. We hadn't been meeting with him long, but it was still a bit shocking. 

Not much else happened this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

Chad Home

Chad will be home on November 3rd at 1:15 pm.
He will be talking in church on November 15th. at 1 pm.
Address: 2930 South 20th East

September 28, 2015

Hi Family,

I got transferred to Cabot. The ward that David and Amanda Lynn lived in...unfortunately it was just a little to late because they are in Japan now. Haha. Showed up just after they left. The ward is really nice though. I'm in Arkansas again for the second transfer in my mission. I am serving with Elder Hanson. He is from Montpelier Idaho. It is actually a small town up right next to Camp Bartlett where I worked. So that is kind of funny.

We heard about the blood moon a lot, but it was overcast so we couldn't see it. Some people don't understand that ALL the prophecies have to be fulfilled before the second coming. Not just one of them. That's pretty much it. A pretty slow week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. We received the following text tonight. Enjoyed having your son and his companion, Elder Hansen, over for dinner tonight! He is doing well. The Murphey's

September 21, 2015

Hi Family,

I haven't received my package yet. Hopefully it will come tomorrow before I leave. I got the call this morning that I'm getting transferred on Wednesday. I guess they wanted me to visit one last place before I leave. 

My companion and I got to go to the temple today for my birthday, so that was a nice birthday president! Our week was pretty normal besides that. 

Kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

September 14, 2015

Hi Family,

My companion and I are getting along well. It's kind of hard for us to talk to each other sometimes because we have nothing in common except the gospel. He is a huge sports guy and doesn't do a whole lot with technology or games or performing, so that has been a slight struggle, but it has been good overall. 

We don't usually watch the Firesides until P-day or if we have it on CD in the car. We usually download them and burn them onto CD's though. 

I had to give a talk in church on Sunday too. They wanted me to speak on preparing for a mission and what it's like and stuff. They gave me a day and a half notice. I guess I inherited dad's over preparation, because I was only supposed to speak for 20 minutes, but it ended up at a little over 25 and I still had stuff prepared. It's better than not having enough to say though. That's all for this week! kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

September 7, 2015

Hi Family,

Some of the blessings we did last week were for sick people and a couple were for comfort and counsel. 

We don't get the whole day off for labor day. Just the normal p-day hours. We went out to eat at Steak 'n Shake though. So that was fun. 

I don't remember Fred Ball unfortunately. (Ken played for his funeral.) We had a funeral in the branch this week though. 

Our weather is starting to cool off a little. We had bike week this week, so it was good that it cooled off a bit. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

PS. A picture of last weeks baptism was added on August 31st blog.

August 31, 2015

Hi Family,

We had a baptism last weekend for the woman who has been coming to church for a couple of years. That was exciting. She wanted me to baptize her so it was real special. I will send pictures next week. 

Other than that our week was pretty boring. Gave a lot of blessings for some reason this week. I think we gave 8 total. A lot more than usual. Our week was pretty normal other than that though. kloveyoubye.

Love Elder Udy

August 24, 2015

Hi Family,

The lady that has been investigating for 3 years just needed a lot of time and care and the right support. She has been coming to church fairly regularly for that whole time. Just as much as any normal member basically. The branch is usually pretty supportive to the converts. We actually have a lot of converts in the branch. I would say at least half, but probably more. 

We do have chiggers down here. Luckily I haven't experienced them yet, and from what I have seen from others, I don't want to. 

We didn't have any particularly exceptional spiritual experiences. Just normal missionary ones this week. We went on exchanges with Elder Carman. That was fun. He came and did the baptismal interview for us. He is a great guy. We are going on exchanges again this week, but I will go with Elder Scott instead of Elder Carman so he can work with my companion, so that should be good. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

August 17, 2015

Hi Familly,

People in Tennessee don't have welfare assignments like that. We don't have a cannery. We have people that distribute food for welfare and stuff, but no cannery or anything. There isn't Zuppa's over here that I have found at least. Too bad. Zuppa's is good.

I did get a new companion. His name is Elder Kuchin. He is from Alaska mostly, but moved to Utah just before he left for his mission. He is 6'5" tall and a basketball player, so that's pretty neat. This is actually his second transfer, so he already had the first 6 weeks of the training program. I am just finishing his training up. I don't know if I will be with him for another transfer after this or what, but we will see when that comes.

Our district leader is Elder Carmen. He is a nice guy. Our baptism for Steve is still on for now. And we have another baptism on the 29th for a woman who has been investigating the church for 3 years. We finally were able to get her to commit to baptism and understand why she should/needs to do it. So that is exciting. Baptizing eternal investigators is always fun. Well that's pretty much all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

August 10, 2015

Hi Family,

My week went well. We did some cool things. We were on bikes this week and it was super hot and humid all week except on Wednesday when we had a huge thunderstorm. We got caught outside when it happened and got absolutely drenched in rain! :-D So that was fun. We have a car this week, so that will be nice. This is the hottest month of the year now. We have a car the rest of the month though. 

I also read the entire Doctrine and Covenants cover to cover in 7 days, so that was really fun. It's like 20 sections a day. I am reading the entire Pearl of Great Price today and then I will start the Bible probably. I want to finish the entire standard works again before I get home. 

I got a call last week telling me that I will be training this next transfer. Elder Williams got the transfer call this morning to leave to make room for my trainee, so that will be exciting to train again.

Our teaching was good. We set another baptismal date with an awesome guy named Steve, so that's cool. 

I don't eat okra, but I eat a lot of other southern foods. I have had frogs legs a couple of times.I think that's what they were at least. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

August 3, 2015

Hi Family,

Elder Kunz (who I did splits with last week) isn't the district leader. Haha. He is actually brand new this transfer. My companion, Elder Williams, is the district leader, so I get to go on lots of exchanges. 

We had a devotional in connection with the 40th reunion of the mission. It was pretty cool. I got to see President Petersen again! So that was awesome. We sang some songs in it as a missionary choir. 

I have used the priesthood a lot. I have given over 30 healing blessings and a dozen or so of other blessings. 

Our week was pretty normal. We are very close to having another baptism or 2. One of them is a woman who has been meeting with the missionaries for 3-4 years and is almost ready for baptism finally. So that is exciting. Not a lot else is new. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

July 27, 2015

Hi Family,

We have to clean our building this week as you did. It's pretty small here. It doesn't need to be to big though. We had a pretty standard week. taught some people and stuff. Went on exchanges with Elder Kunz. That's all for this week! kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. A picture was added on July 6th and July 13th post.

July 20, 2015

Hi Family,

The humidity is really bad right now. August is the hottest month over here, and its also really wet, so it is just horribly humid and it's only going to get worse probably.

There are two sets of elders for now. The other set is in a trio though. Elder Williams has been out for about 22 months. He came out the transfer before me. It's weird that we are both so old in the mission. Especially since 2 of the other missionaries in the other set are both going home this transfer. They came out the transfer before Elder Williams. He had already been here for four and a half months before I got here.

I am studying the temple and saving ordinances right now. I am also reading through the Doctrine and Covenants since I finished the Book of Mormon again.

Our week was alright. Nothing super exciting. Just work as usual. We should be having a couple more baptisms before the end of August, so that will be good. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

July 13, 2015

Hi Family,

I have spent most of my mission in Tennessee. I like it better than Arkansas though, so it's okay. The branch here in Trenton is an alright size. About 60-70 active a week. Almost the same size as Dyersburg. We don't really have any more responsibilities than before. Jackson is a ward. It is fairly large. 

They do have luaus in Fiji. It was really fun on the 4th of July. 

Our baptism went well and he was confirmed yesterday. He is very solid and committed to the gospel. 

Yeah. They read the letter about same-sex marriage over here. It's crazy that that has happened. Tennessee is mostly conservative. The humidity has been pretty bad this week, which was our bike week, but it's over now. We should be able to have some good weather now. That's pretty much all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. Following is a picture of Elder Williams  and Elder Udy with Dalton at his baptism.

July 6, 2015

Hi family,

That's cool you met a guy from Jackson on your trip to San Diego. I am e-mailing from there right now actually. I am serving just next door to it in Trenton/Humboldt Tennessee. I didn't move too far. I am with Elder Williams. He is from Logan Utah. I like him a lot, we have known each other a little bit before. We are serving in a branch. It is a pretty good little branch. Not to small. We e-mail in Jackson usually because they have a family history center.

We have a car until Wednesday. We go on back to bikes for a week then. We will have our car after that though.

We had an Elders Luau for the fourth of July! It was pretty awesome. President Wakolo was there and set it up for us so we could have an authentic luau. We even had a pig roast in a fire pit. It was pretty good, except for the rain. Food was good and we had some fun games and stuff. I have some cool pictures from it.

We should be having a baptism this week as well. Hopefully it goes through. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. The following is a picture of the pit for the pig.

June 29, 2015

 

Hi Family,

I didn't know you were going to one of dads boring conferences this week. Oh well. I remember we used to get to go and stay with Grandma and Grandpa on those weeks! It was always fun!

When we have big meetings the relief society sisters feed us. It's always really nice. I'm sure the missionaries over there really appreciated it. 

This week was pretty bland. One of the missionaries I served with (Elder Mulvey) goes home on Tuesday so he has been getting ready for that. It's weird to think I will be doing that before too long. 

We had transfer calls this morning and I am being transferred out of Dyersburg (again). I don't know where to yet, but it will be where I am needed I am sure. I have loved being in Dyersburg, and I am sad to go, but I agree that it is probably time. That's all for this week pretty much. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

June 22, 2015

Hi Family,

Happy Father's Day. I like that the days are getting shorter now. It means that it will get cooler sooner here. We have had a lot of heat and humidity recently. We are starting to get to the point where we have to go home and change our shirts half way through the day because they are drenched in sweat and stuff. Not fun.

Our mission conference was good. Elder Kopischke did a good job instructing. It didn't have a straight direction, because he didn't prepare anything and didn't have an agenda, so we just had a really long open discussion. It was good though.

I guess keeping the ipads had to be cut off somewhere. By the time I figure out how to best use it for missionary work, I will have to give it back though. haha. Oh well.

We had our interviews with President Wakolo on Saturday. He told me I could plan on being transferred this transfer(next week) because I have been here for awhile. So that will be exciting if I do get moved. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

June 15, 2015

Hi Family,

I just finished the Book of Mormon again on Thursday, and right now I am studying the principles of an eye single to the glory of god as described in 2nd Nephi chapter 8 and how understanding and obtaining that erase all care for the things of the world, and all fear of what other people can do and say.

This week went well. We found a new family to teach. We had another mission conference also. Elder Kopischke from the Seventy came and did a mission tour. It was good. We talked about a lot of things.

The iPads are good. They help us to keep in contact with our investigators and less actives. And we can e-mail them there reading commitments and links to talks and stuff. So some missionaries do get to keep their iPads when they go home. I don't because I have so little time left on my mission. My group is the last group that doesn't get to keep them. :-P Everyone after us does. We give ours back. I'm surprised Em didn't get to keep his. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love,
Elder Udy

June 8, 2015

Hi Family,

I do have an iPad now. They gave them to us this week. We got them on Thursday. We are stilling trying to figure out how best to use them though. It will come with practice I am sure. The only difference that I have noticed is that half of communicating is listening to what they are saying and thinking of how to respond well. 

We had zone meeting this week, so that was good. President was there to pass out iPads and to help us set them up a little.

I got moms letter about self-discipline. I feel like you missed something important when you were talking about self-discipline and self-mastery though. Those are both good and important attributes, but one that almost always goes along with it is something that is expressed perfectly in Mosiah 5:2. "the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." 

A lot of times self-discipline carries the connotation of having to suffer through something that we don't want to do, but have to do because it is right. That connotation is taken away when we realize that self-discipline is one of the stepping stones to the enabling power. "A mighty change in our heart" doesn't just have to be from evil to good. It can be from good to better to best. Through the enabling power of Atonement of Jesus Christ we can change ourselves so that the things in life that we don't always want to do become the things we are the most excited about. Self-discipline is what it takes for us to practice until the enabling power changes us.

For example, at the beginning of my mission I didn't particularly enjoy having to study for 2 hours every morning. Over time I realized I wasn't getting as much out of the scriptures as I could during that time. I decided I needed to change that. At first I tried to just push through it despite my lack of motivation for it. I did keep on studying for the 2 hours, but I still wasn't receiving the knowledge that I felt I could have been.

I asked my mission president what to do to solve that problem and get more out of my studies. He told me to change my attitude so that I didn't have to force myself through studies, but that I would look forward to my time to study. I took his advice and began to pray for the help I needed. It took a couple of weeks, and some stressful moments, and a lot of time on my knees, but eventually I began to enjoy my studies more and more and looked forward to them every morning. Through my efforts and pleading to my Heavenly Father for help, I have changed so that studying the scriptures is now one of my favorite things to do in the day and I get a lot more out of it. Studying didn't change though, I did.

We are meant to have joy in this life like it says in 2nd Nephi 2:25. "men are, that they might have joy." Wading and suffering through those things that I don't want to be doing doesn't sound joyful to me. I know that life won't always be fun, happy, or easy, but we certainly can try to help it to be that way by doing our part. And we can at least change ourselves so that when we do the things that we need to do, we will find the joy in it. Self-discipline alone will never allow us to become happy doing the things we are commanded to do. It takes the power of Christ's Atonement.

When we combine the enabling power with self-mastery and a little bit of self-discipline we obtain the power to overcome any disappointment, pain, or suffering that we face. It also gives us the ability to grow closer to the Savior and it changes us so that the things that we don't want to do, but need to do, can become our favorite things to do. Just like in Ether 12:27. "if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." That is when we have experienced "a mighty change in our heart".

It seems to me that self-discipline leads to self-mastery, and that self-mastery leads to the enabling power of Christ, and through the enabling power of Christ our hearts can be changed to find joy in any and all of the things He asks us to do.

Just some thoughts I had about it. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

June 1, 2015

Hi Family,

It's weird that it is June already. Mission conference was good. Elder W. Craig Zwick from the Seventy was here and so was Elder Hemmingway from the missionary department. I got to talk to Elder Zwick after the meeting briefly though. For some reason I felt that I should ask him if he knew "LeRoy Drechsel". He immediately responded, "Is that your grandpa?" He then told me all about how he looked up to him so much and that he was his Bishop growing up, and what he did and how he was his mentor. (You didn't tell me all of that) So Grandpa was the Bishop of the Seventy assigned to my mission. I thought that was interesting. He knew Mom's name too after I mentioned it. He even let me get a picture with him for "cute little Joanne" He said that you would have known his little brother Jeff better than him though I guess. So that was cool this week.

We had a 5th Sunday lesson. It was about Family History and how to do it and stuff. That's pretty much all for this week though. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

​

May 25, 2015

Hi Family,

Elder Rasmussen is getting better from his Neck and Back pains, but now his stomach is killing him. He needs to see a doctor, but he doesn't want to.

We haven't had mission conference yet. It is Wednesday this week. It should be good though we probably won't get the iPads. Just training to prepare for them.

I like Dyersburg, so I am okay staying here. It will be a total of 7 and a half months here now. I don't think the cemeteries are that decorated. A lot of them are very old so no one brings flowers anymore. We do have a weird Sonic drive thru headstone though. It's just the Sonic logo. No idea why it is there. Weird advertising plans I guess.

The weather has been much warmer recently, but it is supposed to rain a lot this week. Good thing we had walk week last week. Now we are in a car again.

I sang a solo for the musical number in church on Sunday. I sang Abide With Me; Tis Eventide. It went well I think. I didn't know I was doing it until Wednesday though. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

May 18, 2014

Hi Family,

Our week was good, a little slow though. Elder Rasmussen is having some back and neck problems, so we had to deal with that for part of the time. Hopefully they will go away soon.

This Wednesday we have transfers. We got calls yesterday, and our entire district is staying the same. No one is moving, which is really unusual. That means I will spend a minimum of 7 and a half months in Dyersburg. Which I am fine with. I like it.

I didn't e-mail last week because I talked to you on skype the day before. We don't have any meetings this week because we aren't being transferred at all, but we have mission conference next week, so that will be exciting. We are getting our iPads hopefully. Nothing else is going on really. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

May 4, 2015

Hi Family,

It's weird that it is May already. Time goes quickly on a mission I suppose. We didn't have any really cool experiences this week. Just normal teaching and stuff. Had some meetings. Just normal.

We have a special meeting this week with President Wakolo though. He is instructing us about all the things he was told at the mission presidents seminar last week, so that should be good.

That's funny that Emerson didn't tell you he was singing (He sang with the Utah State Institute choir for the Worldwide YSA Fireside in the Tabernacle). I will have to see how the devotional talk was. Elder Robbins usually does a really good job.

That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

PS I finally got the pictures attached to last weeks email.

April 27, 2015

Hi Family,

I did have one kind of cool experience this week I guess. So I have told you before that we don't tract on our mission. We mostly just street contact and work through members and the area book. I can count on one hand the number of doors that I have knocked on without having some idea of who was on the other side. So earlier this week we were visiting an investigator and I got a strong impression to knock on his neighbors door. After we finished our meeting we went and did that. No one answered, so we left. A couple of days later we were in that area again and I got another impression to try and knock again. We did and no one answered again. So we went about our way. This happened throughout the whole week. Finally yesterday we tried again, and he was home. His name is Brandon and he is very interested in our message. He wants to know more about the restoration and how it happened, and what it was, and why it was important. So that was cool.

We go to the temple once a year now on the month of our birthday. The day of that temple trip actually falls on my birthday this year, so that will be an awesome birthday present. Funny story about the temple though. We had stake conference this week, and we were waiting for the Saturday night session to start, so we (the 4 Dyersburg elders) decided to go walk around the temple grounds. There are some benches back behind the temple that we went and sat down on to think and stuff. About 10 minutes later we got up and went to the front of the grounds to leave, and they had locked the gates. So we got locked into the temple grounds. It was pretty funny. We got some pictures of it I will attach (see below). It was pretty funny. We ended up calling the temple president and he told us how to unlock the gate and get out.

It hasn't gotten super warm and muggy yet. It's been pretty nice lately. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

April 20, 2015

Hi Family,

Yes, we do have people flake out a lot. That's why we try not to give them our number until the first return appointment, so they can't call and cancel. :-P

There is an electrical organ that they use. A pianist in the ward plays it.

This week was pretty average. We had Specialized Training on Thursday. It was good. They talked about working with members and the importance of a firm testimony because of all the anti in the mission. That's about all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 5, 2015

We received a copy of the following letter to Chad.

March 4, 2015

Elder Udy
900 E. Tickle Street #3D
Dyersburg, TN  38024 

Dear Elder Udy:

Congratulations on being called to serve as a co- trainer to Elder Nathan Andrew Miner in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission.  As you know, the calling of trainer is in many ways the most important and essential a missionary can receive.  You are helping to establish the foundation upon which Elder Miner’s service in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission will rest as well as his continued service in Taiwan. I encourage you to make your experiences with your new companion both fulfilling and joyful.  Because of his special circumstances, you will need to use great patience and love.

As a trainer, you are expected to pay particular attention to the following areas:

      •  Obey mission rules with exactness. Show Elder Miner what is expected.  Follow the daily schedule
         diligently and help him understand and apply the material in The First 12 Weeks for New Missionaries
         and Trainers.  Review the Missionary Handbook and Arkansas Little Rock Mission Arrival Binder
         frequently.

      •  Help Elder Miner  acquire basic missionary skills through your example.  Focus your studies on the
         Book of Mormon, other scriptures, and the lessons found in Preach My Gospel, especially the lessons in
         Chapter 3.  Have companionship study every day for 2 hours, except preparation day and weekly

         planning day.

      •  Prayerfully work together in planning outlines of the discussions you will teach your investigators.
         Work together to teach by the Spirit. “Role play” with Elder Miner and practice being in teaching
         situations with your investigators.  Evaluate what was done well and what can be improved.  Avoid
         criticism and seek to lift and motivate.

      •  Use the weekly companion planning meeting to help Elder Miner set goals and evaluate progress.

      •  Make certain Elder Miner participates fully as a contributing member of the companionship.

Most importantly, in all of your dealings with Elder Miner, remember the counsel found in the Doctrine and Covenants 121:39-46.  Always lead, live and love like Jesus Christ.  May the Lord’s choicest blessings be yours as you faithfully fulfill this important calling.

Yours truly,

Taniela Wakolo,  

Mission President

April 13, 2015

Hi Family,

My new companion is elder Rasmussen. He is from Kennewick Washington. He actually came out at the same time as me. And we found out that we have the same birthday. So that was interesting.

I really liked a lot of the conference talks. One of my favorites was about the music of the gospel by Elder Andersen. He did a good job. Elder Renlund was good too.

We didn't have any tornadoes unfortunately. Just a lot of thunderstorms. They aren't as exciting. that's about all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

April 6, 2015

Hi Family,

I watched conference. Of course I did. ha ha. I'm a missionary. A lot of conference was really good. I enjoyed the seventies talk about the dance and music of the gospel and stuff. It was really well done. Elder Holland did a great job as usual. So did most of them. There seemed to be a large focus on Marriage and Families this time.

We had Zone Meeting on April 1st and there were no practical jokes!  Not a lot of people were out doing service on Good Friday, but school does get out up here for that. It's a big holiday. It has been raining practically the entire week. It is still raining outside the library right now. Hopefully it will lighten up soon.

We got transfer calls. I will be staying in Dyersburg, Tennessee, but getting a new companion again on Wednesday. Elder Miner got his visa and is on his way to Taiwan now. No idea who I will be getting though. That's about it for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 30. 2015

Hi family,

We do service whenever we can. We don't find tons of opportunities until right about now. Now we get a lot of opportunities with raking leaves, and cleaning up destruction from thunderstorms and tornadoes. I'm sure that's just what mom wanted to hear. :-D We aren't required to do any certain amount, just whatever we feel would be good and effective.

Not a ton has happened recently. Just finding and teaching and stuff. I had my interview with President Wakolo last Saturday. It went well. He is an incredible man. That's pretty much all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 23, 2015

Hi all,

I don't have a lot of inspirational/spiritual stories that I can think of right now. I would have to think about it. I have had them though. The funeral was almost funny.

The binding on my scriptures just fell off practically and a bunch of the pages are loose. I just got my new(used) ones the other day. They will last me fine for the rest of my mission and then I will get a new(new) set once I am home before I go off to college.

Our weather has been pretty warm the last week or 2. We went and did some service this morning and raked leaves for a recent convert and pulled a huge broken limb out of her tree.

My companion was sick for a couple of days this week so that slowed us down a bit, but he is feeling better now. We will hopefully be able to set some baptismal dates soon enough here. That's all though. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 16, 2015

Hi Family,

I haven't had my interview with President yet. He had to reschedule them due to an emergency of some kind. He hasn't told us when yet. We probably won't find out for a bit. 

Specialized training was about living the higher law and some of our key indicators and goals and stuff.

We don't know how long we will have Elder Miner with us, but we are enjoying having him here while we can. 

By the way, I bought new scriptures off of Amazon. That's what the charge was. My quad fell apart last week finally after 12 years of service. So I bought some used ones and a new case to last me the rest of my mission. 

We went to a funeral on Saturday. A recent converts cousin had died, and he wanted us there for support. It was at a black baptist church. Imagine a church service where you have a band playing for half of what the preacher says and people are shouting "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord" every 6 seconds. Everyone is standing up almost dancing to the music, and the music is so loud you are almost going deaf. That's what it was like. All of those movies where it seems over exaggerated are exactly right. It's exactly like that. 

Everything else has been pretty normal. Just teaching and stuff. We have been able to see some of the less active members make some progress and attend church again. So that's good. 

The above picture is of all of the elders in Dyersburg. I'm in the middle, Miner is behind me in blue, Ernst is on the right in the white shirt and tie, Mulvey is on my left in the green, and Mohetau is on the far left in white without a tie. Mulvey and Miner are my companions, and Ernst used to be my companion.

This picture is Elder Miner and me next to a giant snowman. So that was fun.

That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 9. 2015

Hi Family,

Yup. I am  training. Our apartment is pretty nice. The trio is going well. We are all able to speak up and help each other. It also lets us see people that we couldn't see otherwise. So it is pretty good. 

I forgot to tell you something that happened at transfers last week though. After President had done the transfer meeting, the Temple President came into the room.(The Memphis Temple and the stake building share a parking lot.) He said that he had a couple of surprise visitors. Then David Archuletta and a guy from the Nashville Tribute Band walked in. So that happened. He talked to us about his mission briefly and then sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives. He had just done a session in the temple, and the Temple President told him that we were having a meeting in the other building. So that was kind of fun. All of the sisters practically fainted. 

We did have to change our clocks here. We were snowed in again for part of this last week, so the work was kind of slow. We continue moving onward though. We have Specialized Training and interviews with President Wakolo this week, so that should be fun. That's all for this week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

March 2, 2015

Hi Family,

It has warmed up thankfully. We were getting stir crazy for a while. Exciting news though. I am actually in a trio now, and I am training a visa waiter who is going to Taiwan! So I will tell you about them individually. Elder Mulvey is the first one. He is a little bit older in the mission than I am, and is going home soon. He is from Las Vegas (Henderson). I don't know a whole lot more than that about him. He is an awesome guy and a hard worker, so that's good. 

The other new elder to the area is Elder Miner. He is from Saratoga Springs, Utah. He was assigned to serve in Taiwan, but they didn't get his visa in time, so he was reassigned to our mission for the next while. He is learning Mandarin, so I am learning a little Mandarin in the mornings too now. He is pretty cool. He is excited about the work and ready to learn. So that's the biggest news I guess. 

I don't have my camera with me, or I would send some pictures. Testimony meetings are good here. A lot of faith building things and such. Like any other branch or ward people anxiously wait for a turn to share their testimony. 

Not a lot else happened this week. Just finding and teaching. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

February 23, 2015

Hi Family,
I am just about frozen to death. It warmed up a little bit though. Then we had freezing rain again last night. We are all fine though and it wasn't icy this morning so we got to go e-mail like normal. It's about 20 degrees outside with a windchill of -8.
Our investigators are doing well. The lawyer guy is really awesome. He is keeping his commitments and should hopefully receive his answer soon.
Zone conference was good. They talked about our purpose, studying, and then we did some zone goals stuff. They did some activities and all. It was a good time.
Sunday was good. Church like normal. We had to get there early and smash all the ice in the parking lot so people could get in safer. We had 2 extra meetings yesterday beyond normal Sunday services. PEC and Branch Council. They didn't have a celebration for Mardi Gras. In fact, no one even brought it up. We did hear a lot for Ash Wednesday though. It's a lot bigger over here.
Missionary life is always exciting. Things come up all the time.
This week was pretty boring actually. We were able to get out on Saturday finally after the roads melted off. We got a bit of work done then. This morning we had transfer calls though. I am FINALLY staying in an area for more than one transfer again. Elder Gollaher is leaving me though. So I will find out on Wednesday who I get. Not a lot else to report. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

P.S. I got to hold a goat and puppy.

February 18, 2015

Hi Family,

Sorry it took me an extra 2 days to e-mail. We were iced into our apartment. No missionaries allowed outside while the roads were covered in ice and all. We got the okay to go out today though. President said to send you a text to tell you we were okay, so that's why you got the text. 

I will probably get the package you sent tomorrow at zone conference. It is on Thursday. We have a few investigators. One of them is a lawyer. He is a really nice guy. Seems genuine and all. Not a ton of interesting experiences while trying to find people to teach. Just keep on looking everyday for more and more people. Mostly talking to people on the streets or in public and stuff.

Our neighbors across from us are a younger couple that are dating. The apartment beneath us is vacant, and across from that one are the other elders. I don't know any of our other neighbors. There are only 4 apartments in our building. I keep my journal when I remember to. I forget to write in it a lot though.

We didn't do anything special for Valentines day. Just a normal day for missionaries. Our week was pretty boring. Same as most weeks. Just finding, teaching, etc. etc. Zone conference should be exciting this week though! That's all for now. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

February 9, 2015

Hi Family,

This week was pretty standard. We had Zone meeting on Wednesday and went on exchanges with our district leader. Then we changed back and just were finding and teaching all week. The other elders baptized on Saturday. So that was fun. Not a ton else happened though. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

February 2, 2015

Hi Family,

I'm glad to be better too. I only had it a couple of days. So not to bad. The branch is really good. They seem to be excited to have me back. Or at least it isn't morbid for them I hope. 

 

Pretty standard week over here. Finding and stuff. Not anything super exciting really. That's all. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

January 26, 2015

Hi Family,

There are 2 sets of elders in the ward again. I actually re-opened the area. We are in the same apartment as before. Nothing too spectacular. We had specialized training this week. So that was good. We all have been battling illness in Dyersburg this last week. I got the flu on Saturday and Sunday. Other elders were sick other days. So we have been switching around with each other just taking 2 healthy elders to go out teaching that day and leaving 1 with the sick guy. So that caused this entire week to be a little rough. We are all feeling better now though. Nothing has really changed still. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

January 19, 2015

Hi family,

So a funny story about getting transferred. Remember how when I left Dyersburg 2 we closed that area? So I am re-opening it this transfer. I am back in Dyersburg again, so that is exciting. I am serving with Elder Gollaher. He came out with me actually. He was in my MTC zone. The branch is the same as I left it.

We had to find somewhere to e-mail. It's not a huge holiday, but the library and everything is closed still.

 

So since we opened the area, we have been finding for the most part this week. Nothing to report really. Pretty boring week. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

January 12, 2015

Hi Family,

We have had power the entire week thankfully.
It has gotten colder like I thought. We had freezing rain Saturday night and Sunday morning, so church was canceled for this week unfortunately. I am feeling better now. We are doing just swimmingly.

I got a call this morning telling me that I will be transferred this Wednesday. Again. So that is exciting. We will see what happens then. I will let you know next week where I end up. That's all for now. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy

January 5, 2014

Hi Family,

We did do something on New Year's Eve, and on New Year's! Missionary work.
Our branch doesn't have a choir, musical numbers, or an organist. It is an
automatic electric organ. We do have a building. It is super small though.
The smallest church owned building I have ever seen. And there is a trailer
out back that we can use also.

Not a ton went on this week. I had the flu for most of the week, so we weren't able
to go out. I am feeling much better now though, so it is back to normal.

It's getting really cold out here though. I was happy to get the other package with scarves in it. Thanks. kloveyoubye.

Love, Elder Udy