We have to decide to DO instead of just TRY

April 13, 2015

Hey... sounds like Cole is going to have a busy week with the English project. I remember when I did that project, I wrote lyrics to the song Good Riddance (Time of your life) by Green Day, and I brought my guitar to school and played the song.. over all it took about an hour and a half and the teacher loved it! I think I got 100% or if not, then it was 98%. So Cole could always just write a song and sing in front of everyone haha. Sounds like Slippery Rock is really turning into quite the school. A new football field and now new seats in the auditorium. Now the only thing that’s missing is a fast 4x4 and 4x8 team ;) they’re gonna have to run 32 seconds faster to beat the record on the 4x8! We´ll see what happens. 

This week President Bonini had a meeting with all the District and Zone leaders because the mission goals weren’t being met.  He has a goal to have 98 people baptized per week. That would be 1 person per companionship. Our expectations are really what change our results in the mission... and in life. He talked a lot about how we need to be committed to the Lord and his work.... And we have to decide to DO instead of just TRY.  So the meeting was good.

We’re teaching 3 brothers these days. They’re D (16 years old), J (19), and C (20). 2 of them are more or less atheists. They’ve never believed much in God. It’s not because they are against the idea, but they have never really been taught about God or Jesus so they don’t know. As we have been teaching them we´ve seen a change. They are starting to pray and believe more. They’ve been to church a few times and are progressing. They have a baptismal date on the 26th so we’re hoping to help them feel the Spirit a lot this week with the Book of Mormon so they can continue progressing. Also we are teaching a kid who is 12 years old and some of his best friends are deacons in the ward. He’s been getting to know the church for a while now. He’s been about 5 times, but he always has to visit this other city with his mom because they have family there.  And it’s hard to find a time when the Mom will be able to attend her son’s baptism.  However, this week is the week that we marked with her. So we’re excited this week for his baptism.

This week we had an invasion of wasps.  So we had to kill them.  Here's a couple of pictures.

So I think a lot of things happened this week.... but I can’t seem to remember anything at the moment. Oh ya, we had interviews with President Bonini this week and he said you guys can come out after my mission. So I called the mission secretary and he said he would send you guys an email with some information. So let me know if you get the email. This morning we got up at 6 to be able to play basketball with one of the other areas in the zone. We ran to the church in the rain, because here it’s raining every morning, and then we played basketball with them in the pouring rain haha. Im excited to play basketball when I get back... although on the mission we lose our talent for sports haha. I think its about the 5th time I’ve played basketball on the mission. So when does Dallas leave for his mission to the Chez Republic?? What language will he speak there??? That’s exciting that he got his call. Hope all is well "nos estates" in the states. Have a good week! Love you guys!

-Élder Udy

We have to understand our Duty to God

April 6, 2015

So this week was really good. I liked the talk from General Conference this weekend by Elder Michael T. Ringwood where he talked about Shiblon. I thought it was interesting how he said that his Dad, Alma, dedicated 50-70 verses to his oldest and youngest son individually... but Shiblon, the middle child, received less than 20 verses. Even Alma forgot about his middle child. And thus we see that the middle children have always been forgotten and neglected from the beginning of time until our days, haha.

(To watch any of the talks referred to from the April 2015 General Conference of the church from Salt Lake City follow this link www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/04?cid=HP_SU_4-5-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng

So this week lots of things happened. Well I didn’t end up going on exchanges to the beach area, so I couldn’t take any pictures for you guys there, but I do have some pictures.

This week we had a council with President Bonini and all the Zone Leaders and he taught us about how we have a duty to God to make this work go forward. How we have to understand this Duty. Well actually he used the word "compromisso" with the Lord... however I don’t remember at the moment how to say that in English. I thought a lot about what he said. When we don’t feel obligated to do something... most of the time, or almost all of the time, if that something is difficult, then we won’t end up doing it. However, if we feel a burning necessity, then we will live our lives around that necessity in order for it to happen. If a missionary is good but relaxed about the need to teach others about the gospel of Jesus Christ, then he will only baptize when people fall from the sky to be baptized or when some member gives a reference of someone that is asking to be baptized... which happens sometimes but not all that often.  However, if we realize our duty to God to bring other people to Jesus Christ and His gospel every week, if we really have that mentality, then everything we do in our lives as missionaries will be more effective. Our use of time, our studies, our effectiveness in lessons and our baptismal invitations. 

I also liked the 2 talks from General Conference about the Savior by Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf.  (click here to watch:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/04?lang=eng&vid=4154894180001&cid=10   and https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2015/04?lang=eng&vid=4154894179001&cid=12)  I think those 2 were my favorites. Here they even had the conference in English for the Americans. Usually the Stake President brings peanut butter and jelly for the Americans to watch, but he was sick and watched at home. He’s American too, so I guess he has a stock pile of peanut butter and jelly haha. 

I’m sure Cole will like working on the other side of the road (pro shop and carts) if he gets the job at the golf course. O and I got your letter this week as well. But anyways that’s about all I got. O and yo estoy aprendiendo español tambiem. My companion is teaching me some Spanish when we have time. I can’t remember if I said that last week or not. Elder Vallo is ending his mission this transfer. He has 4 more weeks now until he will be going back to Argentina. He’s a great companion. He’s already gotten his degree in Electrical Engineering! But anyways that’s about all I got. I hope you guys have a good week and enjoy the NCAA championship! Amo vocês!! 

-Élder Udy

A new area, a prank, and learning Spanish

March 30, 2015

Opppaaa bom dia... Sounds like things are good in Slippery Rock. I was thinking about Elder Anderson the other day... wondering if he was still on the mission or if he had already gone home.. It seems like yesterday that he was just starting!! The time goes by so fast. I had wondered as well if you guys ever got my letter... sometimes I’m afraid to write letters... because who knows if they will arrive or not haha. (We just received a letter Tyler sent 3 months ago!) O and Elder Bishop trained one of my companions, Elder Imperador. He has about the same time as me on the mission. The world’s pretty small. This week I met a member in my new ward that served with Trevor Pearcy in Londrina, Brazil. 

So this week was eventful. Here we don’t exactly walk on the beach haha. We’re like half an hour from the beach (walking distance), but there’s one ward in the zone (stake) that has all the water front. So in reality only one area in the zone touches the beach, but the area is huge haha.

This week when I got here, my new companion, Elder Vallo, said we received a reference from a member in some street that I didn’t know, so we went there to see who it was. When we knocked on the door someone answered who didn’t have the same name as the reference, so we talked a little and asked if we could teach him about the gospel and he let us in. So we sat down with this guy and his cousin. They started telling us about themselves a little bit as we talked. One seemed like a perfect investigator and the other was atheist and apparently they were always fighting with each other because of their differences in beliefs. So as we taught over the course of about 15 minutes they started fighting with each other a little and then all of a sudden the one that said he believed in God pulled out a foot long knife from his shorts, hit it on the ground screaming, “I can’t take you anymore” and went over to his cousin and held it at his neck... and then they just started laughing... and I was kind of confused by this point, and the one guy looks at me and says, “Dude, I’m not atheist, I’m Mormon!” haha quite the joke to play on the new missionary in the area haha. Apparently they are recent converts of 2 weeks. So that was interesting. I think they’re going to try to do the prank again when another missionary comes to the area on exchanges, quite the experience. 

So as Zone Leaders, Elder Vallo and I go on exchanges 2 times a week. Once on Tuesday and once on Friday, at least this is the pattern. It’s a lot of exchanges haha. Quite different from where I was at in Parquelandia where our district was our companionship, 4 sisters, and the assistants that never had time for exchanges. This week I went on exchanges with Elder McReynolds who is one of my friends from the MTC. I met him in the Atlanta airport on the first day of the mission. He’s one of the other 3 Americans from my district in the MTC that are here in Fortaleza. So it was nice to see him again and be able to help him with the problems of missionary life. Also I’m starting to learn Spanish again. I’m going to start reading El Libro de Mormóm more. Actually, our whole house has begun to speak Spanish haha. The other 2 Americans that live with us also want to learn spanish, Elder Benitiz and Elder Alexander. O by the way, Elder Benitiz said his parents are from Puerto Rico and I think Dad passed in the area where his dad lived... Its like Ponce of something like that. I’m pretty sure it starts with a P and its close to the beach. 

So this week I’ll try to take some pictures cuz I’m going to go on an exchange in the area that’s by the beach. I hope Cole and Dad can manage to get the Mustang running and looking good. It must need a lot of work, but now that Dad has been released hopefully he has more time. Anyways, that’s about all I got. I hope you guys have a good week... Love you guys. 

-Élder Udy

Zone leader near the Beach

March 23, 2015

Hey... so I laughed a lot when I read that Jackson told May to just pick the NCAA teams that have better mascots, haha.. 

I can’t believe Peyton is going to South Dakota. I always here about missions in the US and before the mission I didn’t really want to serve in the US, but now it seems like it would be great. It's definitely different from Brazil, however with diligence and obedience and the Spirit, I believe any missionary can have success in converting people to the gospel. 

So this week is transfers.. I’m being transferred to be Zone Leader in the zone that is on the Beach. Zona Litoral. My New companion will be Elder Vallo. He’s from Argentina... I think this is his last transfer so hopefully he’s not trunky #BotaFogo He’s a good missionary though. I’ve known him for a while. There’s 22 missionaries in the zone, and they're all Elders! When there’s Sisters it’s more complicated because you can’t go on splits to help in the area or to help them with difficulties. 

So this week our baptism didn’t work out. We were focusing on the importance of the Book of Mormon a lot with our investigator. Anyone that reads that book with an open heart in the spirit of prayer will be converted. However, if someone doesn’t read it, conversion can turn into a slower process. So our investigator doesn’t really like to read much, so turns out he wasn’t ready this week for baptism, but hopefully soon he’ll be baptized with his mom as well.... That’s exciting what you said about the investigator.. you guys should watch the Restoration movie with her. We always watch one that’s like 20 minutes that the missionaries have here. Maybe she’s already watched it, but if not it’s always good to help people feel that this really is the church of Jesus Christ. 

So I don’t really have much to say today, but I should have more to say next week because everything will be new. Anyways, I hope you guys have a good week.  Até próxima semana. Amo vocês! Tchau!

Élder Udy

Preparing for a baptism

March 16, 2015

Ward activity

Dad’s really getting more photogenic over the years. I’ve never seen such a natural smile on him like in that picture haha. Sounds like you guys are having fun with lots of activities and things going on in the house. That’s exciting that the missionaries have an investigator that is progressing. What did she say when they invited her to be baptized??? Hopefully she’s gaining a testimony. 

So next week is transfers. I can’t believe I only have 5 more transfers on the mission!

...It seems like here in the ward they like to ask the missionaries last minute to give talks haha. They asked Élder Tamanho last week when he got to church to give a talk just like they asked me a month or so ago. And they asked Élder Millett to prepare a talk Saturday night for Sunday (yesterday) haha. So now it must be Élder McDaniels turn. I just think about how you used to not like how the Branch Presidency asked people to talk the Wednesday before Sunday... but at least that’s better than the Saturday before Sunday... or the hour before sacrament meeting haha.

So this week we are planning on having a baptism. He is a 16 year old kid who is a friend of the couple that was baptized last week. The other day we were teaching him and some of the people that live in his little alleyway came to listen as well. We watched the 20 minute film of the restoration, and we were talking about how the true church and gospel was restored.  One lady that was there listening started to bare her testimony about how she knows the church is true. She said "If you look around you’ll notice that this is the only church that has 12 apostles just like Jesus established. So this is the true church" (keeping in mind that we hadn’t taught about the restoration or the 12 apostles yet.) Of course just because a church claims to have 12 apostles doesn’t make is stand out so clearly to everyone as the true church, but we thought it was interesting how everyone we were teaching seemed to have a testimony, even though small, about the truths we were teaching. 

So this week we´ll be preparing “D” for his baptism. But, that’s about all I got for now. Hope everything’s going well in the home land. Have a good week! Love you guys.

-Élder Udy

This week I learned an important lesson

March 9, 2015

I’m glad to hear that everyone still thinks of me in good ol Slippery Rock. Sounds like Cole is still the same as he was when I left haha. I laughed as I read about the snow camp out that they have these days haha. I’ll always remember when Dustin Goetman and I dragged the other leader’s “house” to our camp a mile away on little toy sleds... in the middle of a blizzard haha... and when I woke up I had to heat my boots on the fire because they were frozen solid haha. Those were the days, but I’m sure it’s nice to have a cabin with 7 bedrooms with heaters and with Bed and Breakfast as well haha. 

So this week there were 3 people baptized. We had planned K and T’s marriage and then their baptism after, however when our investigator, who had been reading the Book of Mormon everyday since we last saw her, found out there would be a baptism this week, she asked to be baptized sooner.. so that’s not something you hear everyday on the mission... but we worked it out, and she was so excited. I’ll send some pictures afterwards of the marriage and baptism. It was lots of work to get all the documents right and everything, but it all worked out :) 

Some of the members gave them church clothes, and they were so happy on Sunday to be confirmed as members and to have church clothes as well. One of their neighbors went to watch their baptism and loved it, and now we’re working with him so he can be baptized soon as well. The happiness we feel as missionaries is really incomparable when we help a family enter into the covenant of baptism and set goals to enter into the temple to be sealed. 

This week as well I learned an important lesson while we were preparing the sacrament on Sunday. Usually we don’t prepare the sacrament on Sunday, but we got there early and one of the 18 year olds form our ward was preparing it alone, so we went to help him. He’s a recent convert of 11 months. 11 months ago him, his 2 brothers, and his parents were baptized. So we were setting up all the trays and putting the little plastic cups in the water tray, and when we finished the young man we were helping went over to the kitchen door, closed it and locked it. Elder McDaniel and I kind of wondered why he closed the door like that, but we didn’t think much of it. Then he kneeled down and just kind of waited for us to kneel down as well. Humbly we kneeled down to join him, and he offered a prayer of gratitude for the privilege we have to prepare the holy sacrament and asked that the Lord would bless our hands and the bread and water. I immediately remembered so many times that Dad had told us that we should arrive at 9:30 at the church to have the sacrament all ready by 9:50. I think we often forget, or maybe it’s not even possible to fully comprehend, the sacredness of the Lord’s doings in His church. I learned a lesson that what happens in the Lord’s church Sunday morning, especially the preparing, blessing, and partaking of the sacrament, is holy and we should always remember to treat these things with the highest respect. 

So I’ll send some pictures right now so I don’t forget.. because that seems to happen a lot. Have a good week. Amo vocês!

Élder Udy

We had a mission conference

March 2, 2015

Sounds like Cole is getting bigger.  I want to see the videos of them skiing, but  I’ll just have to wait a few more months. I can’t believe its already March. The second year of the mission is going by so fast. I’ve already been out for 1 year and 4 months! So much left to do and so many things to learn. 

So I’m glad BYU won against Gonzaga. I think the loudest place I’ve ever been in my life was in the Marriott Center watching the BYU Gonzaga game (2 years ago) #Hypeee So anyways.. This week was really good. We had a mission conference again with half of the mission and I think we felt more hype while we were there than I felt watching the BYU Gonzaga game 2 years ago. This week after the conference we were determined that we were going to find more people to baptize. We were planning one night, and we decided that we would pass by one of our past investigator’s home in the area, if time permitted. So the next day it worked out, and we went to teach this lady again. When we got there to teach her, we found out that she had been reading the Book of Mormon, 1 chapter per day, ever since we stopped teaching her about 2 months ago. She is now in Mosiah, and as we started the lesson we found out that she has begun to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, that it is true, and then we helped her to understand that this means as well that Joseph Smith was a Prophet sent from God to restore the church of Jesus Christ, and that she has to be baptized to enter into the kingdom of God. She understood everything with the help of the Holy Ghost and accepted to be baptized on the 14th.

While we were at the conference, one of the sister missionaries had prepared a brief talk about Joseph Smith. She seemed to know every detail of his life and at what date they all occurred. Her testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith was so strong, and at the end of the talk she said, "Every member of this church should have a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. Every. Single. Member." The truthfulness of our religion depends on the fact that he was a true prophet and his successors really are true prophets of God. So this week we’ve been testifying to our investigators with boldness that he was a prophet, that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and that we need to be baptized by someone holding authority to enter into God’s kingdom. 

It seems like God always has miracles waiting for us if we just have enough faith to continue even when it seems like things aren’t going to work out....  So that’s about all I got today. Have a good week :) Love You guys!

Elder Udy