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