Happy Easter

Hey Kindred! Happy Easter!

This week was a great one. I remember hardly any of it but I am pretty tired today so it must have been a good one! Missions kind of go day by day. Some days everything is just working out and you love life and you just want to stand on a tower and preach the good word, King Benjamin style. Yet there is some days where it seems like its just rejection after rejection. What I have realized though is I learn the most from those hard days. Its because of days like that I have truly come to a better understanding of the Savior and his sacrifice. One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon is 1 Nephi 19:9. It describes what the Savior went through daily and why he went through it. I am so grateful for his loving-kindness and his longsuffering. 

On wednesday we went on exchanges with the Benton elders and I stayed here with Elder Matthews. He is a convert to the church so it was cool to talk to him about what things are like from a different perspective. We had a good time on the exchange and he got to have a classic Little Rock experience! Within an hour of our exchange we were walking down the street saw these cars swerve everywhere almost hitting a tree and then these 2 guys got out and started cussing and yelling and almost got in a fight. Elder Matthews was freaking out! It was funny. Then we were parked on the side of the road because I was talking to the assistants on the phone when these 2 dudes that were walking away from us kept looking back at us all suspiciously and I don't mean to judge but they didn't exactly look like law-abiding citizens. Anyways they both turned around at the same time and started walking really fast towards us and Elder Matthews freaked out and was like "Drive Elder Udall! Drive!" ha ha ha it was funny stuff. 

Elder Boyer and I were able to get 6 people to church last sunday which was awesome. It was a really spiritual sacrament meeting. Robert came! He is the guy that looks and talks like Morgan Freeman. He should be getting baptized this Saturday as long as he is quit smoking. His big problem was drinking. Its been over 3 years since he went a day without drinking but now he has been sober for a week! I know it was because the power of the Priesthood. We are also hoping to baptized Carsha this weekend. She is so cool! We have an awesome member who fellowships her! Members really make all the difference. 

Last night we went to a member of our wards house who THREW DOWN some dinner. It was sweet. We had lamb which was awesome and a bunch of other stuff. They would not let met stop eating. They kept putting it on my plate. So out of respect and sheer proper etiquette I  chowed down! It was a good easter.

Thank you for the package! It made my day! I love the tie! Thanks for the card Grandpa and Grandma!

Stay classy everyone.

Seriously!

What is up!!

The Little Rock life is kickin! Hows AZ and Utah and Oregon?

So this week was pretty jam-packed with trials and weird experiences but it ended in an awesome way! We drove down to Pine Bluff on Tuesday

and went to their district meeting. It was way good! Afterwards Elder jackson and I went back to Little Rock for an exchange! We set a couple of baptismal dates which was awesome! We made it a goal to not drive by anyone without talking to them. It was sweet! Anytime we saw someone porch-sitting (and there is a lot of that in the south) we just put it in park and walked up and talked to them! It was a good exchange.

 

That night we were eating at my favorite burrito stand, Tequiera Samantha 2, when this homeless man walked up to us and asked me if I was a christian, he then told me he had not eaten in 2 days and needed food. So I said alright lets get you some tacos and he said "no, I want subway." Then ELder Jackson offered him some of his drink and he said "no you guys can just buy me a new drink." Most spoiled homeless man I ever met! Anyways after some persuasion I talked the starving man into settling for tacos. The weirdest experience on the exchange happened the next morning though when we were street contacting. This gangster dude walked up to us and asked what we were selling and then he gave me a really tight hug and then kissed me on the neck! And then he did the same thing to my comp! Then he ran off. You meet some weird people on your mission. 

Have I told you about Karsha? She is one of our investigators. Last week we were across the street from her house when a huge branch fell off a tree and landed on a car and completely shattered the windshield. Karsha came out of the house to see what was going on and then Elder Boyer and I went and talked to her and that's how we found her! She came to church yesterday and is loving the missionary lessons!

Anyways even though there were a lot of trials and disappointments this week it ended off great last night! We had a lesson with on of our investigators, Robert, who struggles with Alcohol.  He committed to a baptisimal date but he is having a hard time quitting drinking.  It was raining hard last night when we went over to his house.  He asked us why we always come over.  He wanted to know why we never give up on him no matter what the weather or what mistakes he has made.  We took the opportunity to teach him the plan of salvation and explained to him that in pre earth life before we came to earth we were all brothers we were all brothers and desired to follow Christ.  We told him about his divine potential and why this earth life is so important.  During that lesson I felt an extreme amount of concern for that guy. That lesson was a turning point for Robert because the spirit was changing his desires. It was like a Mosiah 5:2 experience. We told him that we are going to stay in daily contact with him to help him quit drinking.

The best part about last night is we found an awesome family! We were walking in this neighborhood at about 8 45 pm and Elder Boyer felt prompted to knock on this door. So we did and 3 kids let us in right away. The mom was in the other room yelling about something. She then came to the front and said "Seriously? It is seriously to late for ya'll to be coming up in my house. I'm serious." So I apologized and asked her what her name was and with a mean/sarcastic tone said "Serious." So I said I was just going to say a quick prayer for their family and I did and in the prayer I asked for a blessing to be with the 3 kids Lexus, Kayla, and Kenyon, and then I asked for a special blessing on "Serious." ha ha The kids were cracking up that I called her that in my prayer but I continued on. I could feel that the spirit entered the room and after the prayer the moms attitude was a lot different. She said she didn't know we believe in Jesus. We begin teaching portions of the Plan of Salvation  and about families and it was awesome! She set up her own return appointment and we are going to see her on tuesday! Things are going so good here! Thanks for everything Udall clan and fam!

               Elder Soelberg sent me this picture today on my Email! 

Visions, Goals, Planning, Accountability

Hows it going fam? 

This week has been full of prayers, promptings, and prophets! Its been sweet!  So.....have you ever heard of VGPA? Well its an awesome tool the President Petersen taught me. It stands for Visions, Goals, Planning, and Accountability. 

So basically, you have a vision of something you want to accomplish, you set goals to accomplish the visions, you make plans for how you accomplish the goals, and you hold yourself accountable daily for everything. So I did this and the vision I had was to find, teach, and baptize a family. I wrote everything down on how I was going to accomplish this vision. I was praying really hard for that. We finally were able to find them though! It is a mom and her 2 kids and they are awesome.

Its hard to exlain it but on your mission sometimes you just feel an instant connection and love for people. Elder Boyer and I taught this family monday night about the restoration. It was a sweet lesson and the 2 kids, Dimetri (16), and Deanna (14) loved and understood it. It was one of my favorite lessons on my mission! I wish I could accurately describe how awesome it feels to teach families the gospel!! Nothing I have ever done matches up to the feelings you get when you just taught and prayed with a family. Experiences like that is what make these 2 years so awesome. Mosiah 28:3 is probably my favorite mission scripture of all time. You meet some people on your mission where you have such an extreme anxiety and desire for them to accept this gospel that it just takes over everything you do. It makes you want to be better and pray more sincerely, work harder, and study with real intent, doing everything you can to help them know these truths. 

Did I ever tell you about the guy from guatemala? So we were walking down the street one day and at this point we really had no idea why we were there or where we were going. But all the sudden this hispanic guy runs up to us and yelled "Elders!" in broken english. He told us that he was from guatemala and he had got baptized there 2 months ago and he just moved to the U.S. 2 days ago and didn't know where the church was. What are the odds of that? He gets baptized and moves to this country and just 2 days later he runs into some missionaries!! Heavenly Father was looking out for him. He goes to our ward now and he is awesome. 

So General Conference was the coolest thing ever. The spirit layed it on thick to me that President Monson is a Prophet of God. I know he is independent of anyone else's testimony. I know that God speaks to people in this day and age. I know and love the restored Gospel. It is the way to be saved, the way to be clean, and the way to be truly happy. I am so grateful for families. Especially mine. 

I can only imagine how happy it makes Heavenly Father to be able to send his spirit children to families like the Robinsons! I can't wait to meet Hunter! Congratulations to aunt Jamie and uncle Jared!

Well if Kylie is on a sugar fast you can send her Easter candy my way. Also, there is some talks/discourses that I would love to have on cd if you ever find them.   The Atonement- Truman G. Madsen or The Great Apostasy- Cleon Skousen  or something cool like that.

 

Macy sounds like she is doing awesome! Is kendall really going on her mission? I am so proud of her!  She will be an amazing missionary!!!

 

Thank you for getting me out here mom and dad. I love you. Thank you for your prayers! I know you pray for me by name and I am really grateful for it. I love being out here and serving this mission. I couldn't have asked for better parents than you and dad! Thanks for all you do fam!

Elder Boyer is my companion again!

 Elder Udall,  Elder Davis and Sister Wilkins!  Loyd and Lisa Wilkins Neice!

Elder Boyer, Jessica and Chris Cooksey and Elder Udall

Elder Udall and Elder Boyer

HEEEY THURR!!

Its been another crazy one down on the Rock! This week was pretty awesome! So first off we had transfers this week which was too bad because we got the call the Elder D was getting transferred. It took forever for us to find out who really was getting transferred though because on the morning of calls the AP's asked to talk to me and told me i was gettin transferred, then after they had me convinced they just jk and told Elder D he was getting transferred. Than 2 housr later they called again and said "Ok Elder Udall I cant keep this going any longer, you are getting transferred." Then they called me back and told me I wasn't again. After like 3 more times of that I finally figured out I was staying! 

So....we are at transfers and I hear my name get called! I find out that i'm going to serve with........ELDER BOYER! Again! Crazy eh? This is his last transfer so he asked if he could serve with me as his dying wish. So the dream team is reunited and we are starting transfer #3 together.We are still the zone leaders of the Little Rock zone. By the way we hit our zone goal last month for baptisms which was sweet!! Our zone did really well. 

O ya Chris and Jess came to the transfer meeting with the Mcgraths. When President spoke at the meeting he spoke about Chris and told him how some things are worth waiting for. After he announced that Boyer and I would be serving together he said "And yes you can go to Chris's baptism." So thats pretty exciting. Chris's sister lives in Little Rock! So we are setting up a time that we can go over there so she can feed us/we can teach her! Chris and Jess are going to hook us up with more refferrals of family they have in Little Rock I think! They are the bomb.

On friday, weekly planning day, Elder Boyer and I had some appointments in the morning so we didn't have time to weekly plan. So in the afternoon when we were less busy we pulled into some old lot and planned in the car. Well like halfway through the sesh I look up and there is 2 cops on the sides of our car. So I roll down the window and show them the tag. They looked pretty wierded out that we were just chilling there planning. They told us that we picked one of the worst spots in Little Rock to just stop and park because car-jacking was a daily thing in that intersection. So they asked us to move. ha ha it was pretty ghetto. 

We had some bomb lessons this week!! We are getting members out with us which makes all the difference!! It really does. A members sincere testimony can really enhance the spirit of a lesson. Last night we taught a man named Ethyl about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we focused on repentance. Repentance is my favorite principle to teach/study/apply. It is one of the principles that was changed and distorted the most in the apostasy so people normally don't know how to do it properly. I love teaching this process! It seems like the spirit is extra thick when we do. Ethyl is a really humble guy who sincerely wants to change. He loved repentance!

Yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament about the power of the scriptures. One of my favorite scirptures about scriptures is Jacob 2:8! Its pretty sweet. Jacob called the scpritures the"words which healeth the wounded soul." They really do though. I have seen a verse of scripture change peoples outlook on their life. One of my favorite parts about this whole mission is the hour a day we get to personal study. Man I never though I would say that but I love it. When you pray for the guidance of the spirit as you study you can always find those answers you need.

Thanks for the letters Merrill family and Christie!! You are the bomb!! 

Grandpa Sherwood!

       I knew the veil was no match for grandpa Sherwood. He could only be held here for so long before he busted his way through to his eternal companion. The world lost one of its last great cowboys today. I am going to miss him so much. He left a lot of good friends, branded calves, and sore elbows down here but I can only imagine how happy he is right now. I am going to miss him telling me and Chantz that we aren't worth our breakfast the morning after football games. I am going to miss him waiting until calves were barely even calves anymore to let us brand them. I am REALLY going to miss the legendary advice he gave me all the time, "That little round orange ball is supposed to go in the hoop"  "Save money and buy whiskey"  "Do it Damn it". What I am really going to miss the most though is the testimony he had and the example he set. I know that he knew what he knew. I was so thankful that he went to my setting apart. I am grateful for Sherwoods everywhere! I love them both in Arkansas and Arizona. I know this is so hard for Chantz because he loved his Grandpa and was around him all the time. But I know without a doubt that Chantz is "earning it" right now as a missionary. I don't think you could ever find a better friend than a Sherwood!

        Well this week was another one of those crazy ones full of surprises and miracles. We went on exchanges with Benton this week and it went really well. Elder Smith and I stayed in Benton and we had some good experiences and some great lessons. Definitely the real highlight of this week was that John was baptized!! It was sweet. This man was one of the elect. Elder Davis and I found him 3 weeks ago and he was working construction at a house. This guy is awesome. He calls us randomly and tells us chapters he read in the Book of Mormon and what he like about them. He bore his testimony at his baptism and said how he knew he wasn't going to be perfect but that he was going to take that sacrament every week until he got it right. He is doing so good and will get the Aaronic Priesthood pretty soon.

        So last Saturday night Elder Davis and I had a lesson with a guy named Aarmad. He is sweet! He is going to college and is really smart. We taught him the restoration and he loved it! He was blown away by the apostasy and all of that because the evidence is pretty thick around the south. He goes to a big Church of God in Christ church and after the lesson he was like"man I need y'all to tell my pastor about this." ha ha we agreed. So we may be having a lesson with a pastor this next week. The restoration is so much fun to teach. PMG says we should refer quickly to the restoration and I find that to ring true especially here in the belt! I love teaching and testifying of that message.

       Last Saturday before the baptism Elder D and I taught like 15 guys on a basketball court, I bet you know where this is going. We walked up and started talking to them and they weren't really paying us any attention so I threw out a little proposition for them. I said for them to pick 2 of their best players and we will play 2 on 2 and if we win we get to teach them a 5 minute message about Jesus. We were in our proselyting clothes so we didn't really look like much competition and I am sure my red headedness didn't add to our intimidation factor. So we played to 15 and although they were beating us at first we ended up winning at the end. It was sweet! All their friends were making so much fun of them for losing to "Jesus people." So after that we taught them the restoration and we have an appointment with them next Saturday

       Elder Davis is getting transferred this week which I am pretty sad about. He is a good missionary and we saw some miracles together! I will find out who I am getting on Tuesday!!

Thanks for everything y'all are doing for me. I love you and will keep you in my prayers.

Aunt Becky I know you hate me and don't want to give me Macy updates but I would appreciate if you would do it anyways.

Teaching the Gospel and Throwing out the Trash

How goes it Udall Clan?

 

This week was CRAZY! And I cant remember hardly any of it! But here is the highlight reel anyways. Tuesday was pretty nice weather so Elder Davis and I got our walking shoes on and hit the screets! On the side of one of the roads there was a bunch of bags of leaves and as we were walking by them the garbage truck stopped and 3 guys got out to throw all those bags in. So ELder D and I decided we would try our hand at it and just started picking up bags and throwing them in with them. Well these guys were really surprised I guess to see 2 guys in white shirts and ties doing this because they had all stopped and were just watching us do their job for them. Finally one of them said the majic words: "Hey man, what yall be doing out hurr anywayz?" So ELder Davis and I took that oppurtunity to immediately start teaching the restoration. It was not the most ideal lesson, with us having to yell over the garbage truck noises, it wasn't the best smelling atmosphere either. But it was awesome and we set up return appointments to teach them more! It was sweet!

 

On wednesday we had specialized training with President and sister Petersen. Elder D and I had to instruct everyone about how we can more effectively get our investigators to church. We then did a role play in front of everyone where Elder D and i were teaching one of our investigators and trying to commit him to church using a member in the lesson. President Petersen was our investigator and he had to come up with a concern for us to overcome. Well his concern was he heard the church doesn't let black people in it! ha ha that was easy to overcome considering Elder D is my companion, and the member was black too. It was pretty funny.

 

After that I went on 3 exchanges in a row!! One with pinnacle mountain, one with the spanish elders, and one the the AP's. They were all good. The Spanish one was kind of awkward because every lesson we taught was in spanish so I didn't really say anything. The whole time I was praying for the gift of discernment but anytime the investigator looked at me all I could do is smile and say bueno. It was pretty neat though hearing a testimony borne in spanish because even though i couldn't understand I still felt the spirit.

 

Saturday when I was on exchanges with one of the assistants we went down to Hot Springs to do a baptismal interview. A few weeks ago I mentioned in an email that I went on exchanges to Hot Springs and we prayed to find someone we could baptize in 2 weeks and we found him. Well it was that guy! We interviewed him and he got baptized on saturday!! It was sweet!

 

Things are going so good over here. We have a new Bishop and ward mission leader in Little Rock and I know things are going to take off! I love this work. I love teaching! 

Our Investigator John Nickle is working on getting baptized this saturday! He is the coolest most humble dude on this side of the Mississippi. He has been smoking since he was 16 and now he is like 45 but he is just about to quit it for good. We gave him a priesthood blessing 2 days ago. Since then he said he hasn't had the taste for cigarettes! He said they taste nasty in his mouth now and he feels terrible when he smokes now!! Crazy huh?!! I know it was through the grace and mercy of the Savior that these miracles take place.

 

Family thanks for everything. Thanks for the letter and picture Kate!! 



March Madness

 

Elder Davis is awesome. He is really funny and he is a good missionary. We work hard!! Me and him have had the craziest experiences together!

 

 

                       The drink is "purple drank" aka "slow your roll." its a southern thing.

 

 March Madness Bracket for our Zone!

 

If only you could see the vision as I have. I wish I had your bodies to do
this work. I would run from house to house telling everyone the gospel, and
after I lost the strength to run I would begin to walk, and after I
collasped from walking, I would begin to crawl, and after my knees were so
bloody that I could not use them I would use my arms to drag myself, and
once my muscle in my body was gone I would begin to yell...oh, only if you
could see the vision that I have." - Spencer w. Kimball

 

 

 MARCH MADNESS!!!!


What a week in Little Rock its been!! So on Tuesday we had Mission Council which is always a spiritual treat. Thats the meeting the ZL's and STL's and AP's go to to set monthly mission goals.

So that night after that meeting we had a lesson with one of our baptismal dates Jhonequia. She has chronic migranes and was having one during the lesson, and her migrane medicine wasn't coming in for another week! So Elder Davis and the member that came with us and I  gave her a priesthood blessing. We had an appointment with her on thursday so we went to the UALR campus and she was a totally different person! She said she hasn't experienced any headache pains and she hasn't even took medicine for it!! The Priesthood is real. I have had so many experiences on my mission that back that testimony up. I am so grateful to be able to give priesthood blessings. Its one of the best experiences.

Anyways....wednesday was Zone meeting and it was pretty wild! We focused on HTBT (How to begin teaching) and how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively. Also to get everyone pumped about baptism we did MARCH MADNESS!! Due to my passion for bracketology we made a little baptisms bracket. Each team is one of the districts within our zone and we have 6 districts. I already figured out the seeds, odds, and sleepers for each team. It was a heck of a time!

After zone meeting I went on excahnges to Pine Bluff, aka Crime Bluff. That place has the second most murders per capita in the nation! Anyways guess who was my companion while I was there.....Elder Boyer!!! My second companion! He is now one of the district leaders in my zone. We had a good time! Cool Story: It was late in the afternoon and we were in another one of those situations where we had nothing to do, so I suggested we pray and in my prayer I asked for something very specific. I asked that we would be led to someone we could teach and baptize in 2 weeks. So far this transfer on every exchange we have went on we have asked for it and its worked! So we asked and got out of the car and went to the door......they weren't interested, but asked if they knew anyone who would be and they said the person downstairs! So we tried it out and this lady answered the door and let us straight in. She said she had prayed this morning for something to happen so she could change. We taught her about the enabling power of the atonement, bore testimony, and invited her to be baptized! She will be getting baptized in the 22nd! Miracles happen on exchanges!! It was awesome.

O ya and on saturday we were driving though a neighborhood and we saw a bunch of dudes playing ball on the screet  they say screet for street and scraight for straight here. So we got out and played and wooped them 2 on 2 in our screet clothes!!(Church clothes) my feet are so blistered from playing in my dress shoes!  It was sweet! The best part is we are teaching both of their families now! I love this mission. There is nothing else I would rather be doing. I love the screets of Little Rock! The people here are definitely different from AZ but they are awesome. I love them and I often get to feel how much Christ loves them.

Lately in studies I have been focusing on the character of Christ and it really has changed my mission. He has such an individual and personal love for each of us. In 3 Nephi it talks about him letting all those nephites feel the wounds in his hands and his feet. There were thousands of people there, and everyone got individual time with the Savior. I know he wants us to have that individual time with him. I know and can testify that the more we repent and seek the Savior, the happier we will become. On my mission I have never strived more to be obedient to the teaching of Christ and yet I have never repented more in my life. I love repenting! I love changing. I love the atonement which allows and empowers me to change. I know that through him we can reach our full and divine potential! I love you all. Thanks for everything!
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