I'll be teaching every week...

October 13, 2014

       Heyyyy mom... sounds like Slippery Rock High School football has come a long way in just a few years from being the worst team in school history to 42 in the state. Sounds like everyone's enjoying themselves back home. I heard about that movie “Meet the Mormons” but I didn’t know it was playing in all the theaters across the US... I’ll add it to my list of things to do after the mission haha. Ask Dad if we have the book at home Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith... I thought maybe he’d have it since he’s always buying new books.  Or maybe Grandpa has it... Udy or Bitter... there’s 3 volumes.. and we have one here... but it’s pretty much impossible to find because it’s old and they aren’t printed anymore. So ask Dad if we have it :) its a good book. If you can find it on the internet or in the house you should send them to me :)

       So this week was good. I don’t know if I told you guys or not but President Bonini changed our district meetings. We used to meet with everyone in the zone (24 missionaries) every Wednesday morning, but now all the districts in the mission will meet separate in their own church buildings. Which means now I’ll be teaching every week haha. It’ll be good to have the meeting more focused on the difficulties of our district and our investigators... Also we could watch Disney movies before but that was done away with as well haha... maybe now I’ll finally be able to convince the Brazilians to play basketball with me because there won’t be anything else to do haha. 

       So Christmas is arriving... we’ve been singing Christmas hymns every morning since August. Now its only 2 months away! Maybe you don’t have the best yard on the street (grubs)... but you can still have the most Christmas lights of the neighborhood! I always wanted to set up millions of Christmas lights.. or maybe I didn’t really want to do it that bad because I never ended up actually doing it.. but it would make for a good picture for Christmas this year :) I’m sure Cole would like to do it. 

       So right outside our house there’s a bird’s nest. And while we were studying this morning a baby bird fell out of the nest right in front of our door. I think the mom pushed it so it could learn how to fly, but anyways it waited there for a few seconds and then entered our house and started to fly around.... and Elder Wilhelm tried hitting it with a broom, and it got scared and hid behind our washing machine... I remembered those birds that always entered in the garage and flew around and would never leave (hummingbirds). But eventually elder Hodge grabbed it in his hand and left it outside. 

       So here in the ward things are pretty much the same. We have some baptisms that fell through these days, but that’s how it goes sometimes here on the mission. I’ll send you guys some pictures of the happenings these days. Hope everything’s going good. Sounds like Jackson’s getting lots of job opportunities... good thing he didn’t study economics ;) have a good week! Love you guys.

Elder Udy

Everyone here liked the talk by Elder Klebingat

October 6, 2014

Hey...Hope everything’s going well in good ‘ol Slippery Rock... sounds like Cole is doing good in school.... I know he’s not that smart, but at least he can manage getting an A in some of the elective classes ;) hopefully he will be able to get into BYU... I heard that Taysom Hill broke his leg the other day... one of the other missionaries that serves in the other ward in our church was all sad one day because he likes BYU football so much haha. I was hoping he’d win the hysman (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong, but I cant remember how to spell very well anymore.) 

So in the package can you send a BYU shirt for my companion...and more mix to make maple syrup... and more deodorant sticks :) I gave some away so now I’m running out. So this week it turned out that J didn’t end up getting baptized... actually none of the people we were preparing ended up getting baptized. But in the weeks that come we’ll work things out. So tomorrow is transfers but we get the email on p-day... I’ll be staying here in Guadalajara with Elder Imperador which is good cuz you never know what you’re going to get when a new companion shows up haha. It always makes you nervous... so I’ll try to look for a good leather belt... my other one was spent, but Elder Imperador gave me one that should last at least 3 or 4 weeks... it’s the same as those ones from the US, but I’ll look for a good one. 

So this past week one day we were walking down the street and we saw in the distance a big truck filled with furniture and bags. Then we saw a white guy leave the van dressed in a white shirt and tie... I was kinda confused because you never see other missionaries in your area so I thought it must be a pastor... but turns out our zone leaders were helping someone move into our ward and they asked us for help when we got closer and we ended up helping them move all their furniture into the apartment on the 4th floor! haha so we helped from 4 until 9. 

So this week at conference everyone here liked the talk by elder Jorg alsjkdgjkal (Klebingat) .... I don’t remember his last name... but he talked about 6 points that will protect us. I really liked as well the talk from President Eyring about revelation. And as well the talk... I think it was the second talk from the first session on Saturday, that talked about how we can’t lower the standard of the Lord to please the members of the church.. he said it’s apostasty... he was lifting his hands up and down as an example... he’s one of the 70 I think. I also really like the image of Presidente Monson giving all he had to help those who were in need.. as always Elder Holland’s talk was good too... As we learn more about the prophets life, we learn more about how we can serve others better and be true disciples of Jesus Christ.  (To read or watch the talks referred to here, go to this web address   https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?cid=HPSU100514465&lang=eng

So I hope Dad and Cole are doing good. Tell them I said hi... This is about all I got for this week. Hope everything goes well at home, and Cole doesn’t get too full of himself haha. Have a good week. Love you guys. 

-Élder Udy

Elder Galvao made these noodles for us

Sept. 29, 2014

Hey... Sounds like the football team at Slippery Rock has come a long way in just a few years from the worst team in history to a team that beats Hickory... Dad sent me some photos of the field.. it looks pretty nice now days.. it was pretty sad how we were possibly the only school in the state that had a track made of rocks and dirt haha. Thats exciting that Chelsea got engaged... My companion says he’s going to propose to his girlfriend when he has 1 year and 6 months on his mission so he can marry her right when he gets home haha but right now he’s only been here 4 months and she's pretty good looking... we always joke with him that she’s going to send the dear john any day now... until now all my companions that had girlfriends..lost their girlfriends while they were my companion haha 3 of the 6..

we´ll see what happens.

It must be hard for the basketball team to park cars if there isn’t anyone that wants to play basketball anymore... let alone park cars haha. Hopefully Cole enjoyed. I don’t know if the fake blood will win Ms. Huth’s applause... we got a C just because we did the whole project at home (didn’t use time effectively in class) and we used a toy gun and toy billyclub (too violent)..... we´ll see how it goes haha.

So I thought of some things I need...a new belt..like a nice leather belt (Black) that will last until the end of my mission... One that doesn’t rip in two pieces after 2 months of use haha because that’s what’s happening these days. But other than the belt I can't remember right now.... I was going to write it down... but then I forgot and now I can’t remember. I’ll try to think of it for next week. 

So all our meals with members were falling through... mostly because our ward scheduled all in-actives haha... so one day Élder Galvão made these noodles for us... it’s basically like chef boy rd. But he put in a ton of salt... and it ended up making everyone sick that day, haha, so hopefully next week we have more luck. So we have this investigator that’s the dad of an active family.. its only him that’s not a member... and we’ve invited him to be baptized in every different form imaginable to try to get him to agree... so yesterday our ward mission leader and one of the bishopric counselors went to his house with one of the white baptism jumpsuits... to challenge him to be baptized by saying... "J" this Saturday there is going to be conference and afterwards I’m going to baptize you wearing the white jumpsuit.. the missionaries are going to help us prepare this week and on Saturday will be your baptism haha.... hopefully he accepted.... I don’t know yet because we haven’t had a chance to talk with them yet.

So this week there weren’t any baptisms, but this coming Saturday at least one person will be baptized. So we’re pretty excited here cuz we’re all having lots of success. So anyways... that's about all I got... have a good week. Feed the missionaries!

Love, Élder Udy 

Baptism Day

Goose

Duck Heart

Chimarrao (Yerba Mate)

Chimarrao (Yerba Mate)

The Brain of the Shrimp has a lot of flavor!

September 22, 2014

Hey family...Sounds like BYU is doing pretty good... seems like they’re always good except the year I was there haha. Sounds like Bandit is getting pretty old... but at least he won’t run away anymore... I’m sure you’ll miss that... of all the times he ran away, I think dad only had to chase him maybe 3 times... but now it’s all a thing of the past. 

I’m sure the missionaries were thankful for the pizza.. sometimes when we are hungry with nothing to eat, we pass by a member’s house and ask.. "oii do you guys happen to have a cup of water to quench our hunger... everyone is so eager here to feed us that usually it works out. :) Oh and this week we only had “black cow” once, but we also ate duck and shrimp.. with the head, legs, tail and everything... the brain of the shrimp has a lot of flavor, you should try it sometime.

Duck Heart

I still haven’t bought a hammock.. I think I will today. Our bishop has a shop that sells hammocks and furniture... they’re more expensive than some of the other shops in downtown Caucaia, but it’s always good to support the bishop. 

I’ll try to think of things for you to send for Christmas. Elder Imperador wants a hackysack if you can find one haha. O and I finally got the package from Grandma and Grandpa :) tell them I said thxx. 

This week we had 4 baptisms in the ward. We baptized 3 and the other companionship baptized one. Last Sunday we received a referral from someone in the ward, and we went to visit him on Tuesday.. when we got there him and his family were telling us about how he’s been going to church and he already planned his baptism. So then, I asked him when would be the baptism.. he said this Saturday! He hadn’t been baptized because his mom is inactive, but he lives in the same house with his cousins, aunt, and uncle who are all active members... So we taught him everyday this week and he was baptized on Saturday! Also we baptized Raquel that has been reading the Book of Mormon ALOT and her son. I have pictures, but this computer isn’t letting me send them. -_- .... I’ll try again next week.. It’s a good picture... I’ll try again to send the pictures...

but anyways.. hope you guys have a good week, Love you guys. 

-Élder Udy

Sometimes we use our drinking water to take a shower

Sept. 15, 2014

Hey mom... I can’t believe Jackson got robbed! When I lived in Provo the Provo police passed their time investigating freshman pranks like a rotten pumpkin that someone threw in the hall or someone that pulled the fire alarm at 3 in the morning. I didn’t even know these things existed there, haha. That’s pretty rough that he got his laptop stolen.... and all his school work. 

So this week we almost didn’t have the activity because our ward mission leader was kind of mad at the bishopric because they struggle sending someone to the baptisms at 6 o'clock at night and to the activities afterward. We’ll have to try to assign the members to bring this so it’ll be better. We ended up drinking "Black Cow" which is a root beer float with Coca Cola... because root beer doesn’t exist here. Everyone was wondering what Black Cow could possibly mean... no one here had drunk it before... in one of the other areas of one of the missionaries I live with... he discovered it, and now all the members here love it... there’s one member here that always goes with us to our lessons and every time he goes with us he wants to drink a "Black Cow" with our investigators haha. 

All the Americans here are talking about how BYU is doing so good and calling it a blessing of the mission haha. hopefully they can keep it up.... The other day my companion was going to bed.. he always sleeps in a hammock... and as he was climbing into his hammock... I’m not really sure what happened but somehow he managed to fall out of the hammock and onto my fan haha and it broke into pieces... so now I think I’ll be buying a hammock today because sleeping on a bed without a fan is like sleeping next to the fireplace in July. As well... the water in our house sometimes decided not to work at night... I remember reading in the mission manual in the MTC.. "Take a shower every day when possible" I always thought to myself that I wouldn’t have to worry about the "when possible" part... but in this area sometimes we have to buy water bottles or use our drinking water to take a shower haha... so enjoy you nice warm showers and be grateful that the water always turns on when you turn the shower knob because here that’s not always the case haha.

Sounds nice that the missionaries are getting more people interested in the lessons... I always wonder what it would be like to have been called to serve in the United States... some visa waiters tell me how it is because they served there a little... but it sounds pretty different. The work really is hastening a lot in Brazil. Especially in the other cities of Ceará where the people have never heard of the church or seen missionaries. When missionaries get sent there, it’s generally followed by a lot of success. 

So anyways hope you guys have a good week. Here things are great. Don’t forget to surprise the missionaries with pizza every once in a while :) haha tenha uma boa semana! Amo vocês... coitado de Jackson e May que foram roubados. Tchau! 

-Élder Udy

Lots of pictures!

Sept. 8, 2014

Oii... I remember when I started in AP history... I thought I was going to die haha... but really if Cole wants to learn and do good in the class he has to read, understand, and mark the textbook. I didn’t really ever know that until I got here on the mission.. but as I read and mark the Book of Mormon, I realize that studying any subject should be the same way... marking the textbook like we mark verses in the Book of Mormon. The best way to study for the class is read and understand the book... as you read, make definitions for the key terms. It may take more time, but he´ll learn a lot more... and when it comes time to study the free responses... he’ll already know all about the topics because he read and studied the book.

I can’t believe Cole is 5'10''! I remember I told Joe once that when I get back he’ll be 6'2'' and benching 250.... so now he’s just got to get in the weight room. 

Sounds like the YSA stake activity was fun. We struggle with our ward activities here... There were only like 4 members that came this week to our activity (that are adults) and some from the youth and primary... us and lots of investigators come, so it turns out pretty good... and our Ward mission leader knows all kinds of interesting things to do for activities so it’s always a good time. 

That’s exciting that BYU is doing good. Taysom Hill is an animal haha hopefully they rank up fast. 

So this week we were teaching a family and the dad told us that he was receiving revelation for us, and told me I was going to be a prophet! But I’m not sure how accurate his revelations were because he also said that Elder Imperador was going to finish his mission before me... but he’s only been out for 3 months. Things are going good here. With our 2 companionships here in the ward, we’re baptizing at least 1 person every week in the ward. The ward’s pretty excited.. we just need to get more people at the activities and it’ll be perfect. Hope everything’s going well at home. I’ll send some pictures right now because I keep forgetting. Have a good week :) 

-Élder Udy

Baptism

Eating chicken hearts

P-day at a member's home

Baptism

Relaxing in a member's home

Lizard in our apartment

Train station

Building a house

View of the area

The difference the gospel makes for families is incredible

Sept. 1, 2014

        Sounds like quite the eventful week... I still can’t believe the missionaries are allowed to go to Pirate games! haha we aren’t even allowed to play sports with members... let alone watch them in the stadium downtown. Sounds like it was fun though.  

        So it made me laugh that you said the corn hole set will probably be done by the time I get home haha. As the years go by the work seems to happen a little slower around the house. Hopefully you can manage to get the Jeep fixed before Christmas haha. 

        How tall is Cole these days?!?! He looks like a white Kevin Durant next to Sister Uber in that picture haha. Him and Emerson look so much older that when I left, and it hasn’t even been that long!      

        Sounds like the branch party was a success too... we have ward activity every Saturday night, but we’re lucky to get more than 35 people... this week we had more investigators that came to the baptism and activity Saturday night than members haha, but at least the leader in the ward comes. Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll be getting more people to participate. 

        So this week we baptized a guy names Marcelo. His wife was already a member, less active, and his kids were baptized a few months ago and he got married this Friday and baptized Saturday. The difference the gospel makes for families is incredible when you get to see the process take place over time. He went from being a man that drank and partied to only wanting to do what’s right. This Sunday one of the kids in the family drew me a picture of the temple and wrote a note on it with his testimony eternal families. They’re a family that have almost nothing of wealth or material things, but spiritually they have everything. 

        So my new comp is from Porta Alegre. He knew my second companion, Elder Granville, back when they lived at home. He has 3 months on the mission. He has a girlfriend too... but I told him about how every companion that I’ve had until now on the mission... that had a girlfriend when he became my companion... ended up breaking up with her by the end of the transfer haha. He’s a good missionary though. And the other American in my house is Elder Wilhelm from Virginia. We´re making tons of goals as a district and getting more people to come to church and more families.

        So these days we are starting to teach this lady and her son. We taught her a few times and she came to church and after we gave her a Book of Mormon. We explained to her the importance of the Book of Mormon and how it will help her come closer to God. In 1 week she read until 2 Nephi! haha we only asked her to read alma 32 and alma 5 and now I think she’s finishing second Nephi... one day when we were at her door, she was telling us about how she had been praying the night before about the church and the Book of Mormon and everything... and she said that night was the best night sleep she had in her life, and she just felt that everything was right and now she wants to get baptized. The Book of Mormon is really what converted her... if it wasn’t for that book, she would still be forgetting to pray and forgetting to read... but through that book she felt the spirit and wants to continue... because it brings a feeling that reminds us spiritually... just a little bit... of what it’s like to live and be with our Father in Heaven.  

        I hope everything’s going well. Have a good week! Love you guys.

Élder Udy