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

Now I have a guitar!

August 25, 2014

The missionaries can go to amusement parks now?!?! and baseball games?!?! haha that's wild... so I’ll be getting a new companion Élder Imperador... and the other companionship in our house will change as well. We're going to get one Brazilian and one American... so President Bonini changed the way transfers happen. Now we receive the news about the transfer in the email on Monday morning and we leave Tuesday morning for our new area.  So Élder Castanho is going to go to Canindé... which is another city.. here its called interior... which is any city that’s not next to the capital (Fortaleza)... where sometimes they don’t have water in the house for like 3 months haha and the church just opened up there about 5 months ago. So that’s the news about transfers.

The garden is looking good this year, I remember when the missionaries killed a groundhog in that garden with a 2 x 4. I think Jackson was there. Hopefully that booth the missionaries put up will go well. It's always good to try different things to get different/better results. 

So this week was pretty good. The other day when we went to lunch, the family started telling us about how there are these strange things happening in their house. For example, they said one time when they walked in the house they saw a figure leave through the back door and when they sleep they here sounds in the other room but theres nothing there... so they asked if we could dedicate their home for them, and they asked me to do it. So I had never dedicated a house before... but all went well.

So I’ll send some pictures I took this week. We baptized a lady named Vera. Almost all of her family are members of the church, so there were a lot of people that came to watch. I’ll send a picture of it and some others as well. I hope all is well at home. Yesterday Elder Lima (my first companion) called me to say goodbye because he finished his mission today. Its pretty crazy how fast the time passes. It seems like just the other day I was his companion and I was learning everything new about the mission. Also, he gave me his guitar.. so now I have a guitar!  I can’t remember if I told you guys that or not.. but anyways I gotta go. Have a good week! :) 

Élder Udy

We saw one of these giant spiders

August 18, 2014

Picture of the area

Tudo bem? I can’t believe school’s starting already... I don’t know if just one year of SAT prep will be enough for Cole... some people need a little bit of extra help.. but we´ll see what "The Driver" can manage to get on the ACT. So sounds like Cole is stepping his way up in the world... I had a dream the other night I was playing basketball again... here you can’t really play basketball like you can there... especially because missionaries are only allowed to play with other missionaries and with no more than 4 in total.. and you can’t keep score... so I guess the mission isn’t really meant for playing basketball haha... but hopefully Cole enjoys his high school sports days shooting at least under 50 ;) Ive been wearing the MIT shirt all week when I go to sleep actually haha.. This week I went on splits with one of our zone leaders who went to Harvard for a year before the mission, and he was telling me about the campus at MIT.  

Dad told me about his wedding he performed haha. There was a wedding here in our chapel this week.. or some kind of ceremony or something I’m not really sure cuz it was the other ward and we didn’t pass by. That’s pretty crazy that Shane’s ward only had 6 people haha. It must be a lot harder for the people in France to accept the Gospel. Here it seems like everyone I talk to has already met with the missionaries haha literally everyone. But we found one lady a week or two ago that had the missionaries teach her a lot already but they gave up because she never wanted to get baptized.. but when we found her and taught her the first time, she accepted baptism and went to church that same week.. and she’s getting baptized next week by her son that’s a counselor in another stakes presidency. It really is God that prepares the people to accept us.. we just have to find the people that he has prepared... with lots of prayers and fasting. 

So the other day when we were with one of the guys from our ward in front of someone’s house we saw one of these giant spiders they have here in Fortaleza. Its like a tarantula but a little skinnier with less hair and bigger teeth. So naturally this guy we were with decided he wanted to pick it up in his hand... he started telling us about how he just has to pet it behind the head so it feels comfortable and then it’ll walk onto his hand when he offers... So when he went to pet the spider, it didn’t like it too much and first tried to bite him, then tried to run away. But this guy ran over to where it was running and flipped it back with his hands. Then he grabbed a stick and pinned its legs down and started petting it and finally it calmed down, and he picked it up and put it on his hand and it just sat there haha. So he passed it over to me, and I held it in my hand and took a picture that I’ll send to you guys haha. It was pretty wild. It reminded me of the time Brother Millward killed a rattle snake at our scout camp and we ate it.

Giant Spider!

Anyways. Hope you guys have a good week. Things are great here. Next Monday is transfers, so we will see if I get a new companion or not. Tenha uma boa semana! Tchau!

Amo Vocês, Élder Udy