The Gospel fills gaps...

 

Hey Family!

Sorry I am emailing late, we played ball with President today. We decided we would get some elders together and play one more time with him before he left. I am still standing by my statement that he is the coolest mission president of all time. He played with us forever. Me and him were guarding each other and it got pretty intense! He is dang good for an old man! Afterwards he bought all the missionaries little caesars. It was a P-day for the ages. 

Anyways this week was pretty awesome. We went on exchanges with the frayser elders on Tuesday.   Frayser is in Memphis and its the sketchiest, most dangerous, most ghetto place in our mission.  It was an eye opener for me. We taught a lot of people though and it was way fun! 

Kate will appreciate this story: While I was in Memphis we were at a dinner and we were talking to a guy that said he knew Michael Oher. (Blindside) The neighborhood he grew up in was in the area I was working in that day. We asked the guy if he could set up an appointment with his family for us to teach them and he called them right there! So I am pretty sure those Memphis elders are going to start teaching Michael Ohers Mom and brother. Crazy eh? 

On the way home from Memphis that day Elder Armstrong and I were stuck in traffic right after we crossed the Mississippi for 3 hours on the I-40.

Yesterday was fast sunday and Carsha bore her testimony! It was so awesome! She loves the church and got a calling to be the sunday school vice president. Ishia came to church again too. We are still teaching her and her family. Her kids are good to get baptized now and so is she but she wants to wait to get baptized with her husband. So its kind of a sticky situation but it will all work out.

I have been so busy but I have found that the busier I am, the happier I am. On Saturday we went and helped with a ward out reach with the searcy ward. It was nice to see all of my hometown people again. Things are going well over here. I love missionary work and I love testifying. I know that this Gospel "fills gaps," in the words of Rocky Balboa. Anything unfair or painful or missing about life can be made up, made better, and found through this Gospel. 

Thanks family!

Carsha was baptized!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Man....sorry I haven't had a lot of time to email. This last week was awesome though. Here is the run down! So last Tuesday was Carsha's baptism. It was really good! We had really good ward support! I baptized her and she was so funny because right after I pulled her up out of the water she was like "Man I feel great!" And then she turned to the crowd and waved and said "God bless yall!" ha ha At the end of the baptism she bore her testimony and it was awesome. The ward really loves her because she is so outgoing. On sunday when they announced that she had got baptized she stood up and waved at everyone and was like "Hey i'm Carsha yall, God bless!" ha ha It was awesome. One thing about Carsha is she is a diligent note taker. From the first time we taught her she would just write down everything we said and go over it. Yesterday during sacrament meeting we were sitting in the bench behind her and she was sitting by a returning member. Her and the member were taking notes the whole time and asking questions. It was so cool. She is getting a calling as an assistant sunday school president. Things are going great here. I love Little Rock. I love beeing able to work so close with President Petersen. I am going to miss him so much. I am really grateful for all of you!! Have a good memorial day!

 

Also one last story: we are teaching the coolest family right now. I sent you a picture with them a couple of weeks ago. They are getting baptized pretty soon. Yesterday we were having a lesson at their house and their dad called from prison. So he was talking to the mom for a minute and then he asked if he could talk to us.He told us he appreciated what we were doing for his family while he was locked up, he said that he had heard a lot about us and was looking forward to meeting us. It was awesome. Elder Armstrong and I wrote our testimonies in a book of mormon and are sending it to him.

Carsha gets baptized tomorrow!

Hey Family!

So my time is short to email today but our week was awesome! We had some scraight miracles happen in the Little Rock area. We are working with a couple families right now that are just so dang cool. Families are the way to go in missionary work. I love the spirit that is felt as you are teaching a family the gospel! 

Carsha was supposed to get baptized this last Saturday but the ward was super busy with all sorts of stuff so she is getting baptized tomorrow right before the relief society party. She is doing great. Her family is really anti against the gospel but Carsha has a lot of faith. She has quit smoking and she is reading and praying everyday. 

Last Friday was one of the highlights of my mission! Elder Kopischke of the 70 and Elder Meredith, an area authority, came to our mission. They held 2 meetings, 1 in Memphis for that side of the mission and one in little rock for this side of the mission. Elder Armstrong and I got to go to both! It was so cool! They are hilarious and they gave some of the most spiritual instruction ever. It was an amazing day.

 

I gotta go but I just want to let yall know that I am thankful for your prayers and support. I am grateful for all families that have family home evenings and daily scripture study. I know by those small and simple things, great blessings come immediately and eternally.

New Companion and lots of pics!!!

Hey everyone

I dont have a lot of time today but I just wanted to let ya'll know that things are going awesome! It was fun skyping and seeing all of you again! Things are getting crazy over here in Arkansas!

The tornado clean up was a good time and Chris's baptism was awesome. That night I got called to be an assistant. Its been a lot of fun so far. My first official day as an assistant me and Elder Armstrong were helping people take their luggage home and we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere between little rock and conway! It was pretty crazy.

Elder Armstrong is awesome. He is such a funny dude! He served in Little Rock already before so I am excited to see whats in store for this next transfer!   Elder Kopischke of the 70 is coming this friday! It is going to be sweet! He is doing a conference in memphis and in little rock and me and Elder Armstrong get to go to both and be with him the whole day! I am nervous but excited. Things are going great out here and I am loving every second of it!     
 

 

Tornados! And Chris Is getting Baptized!!!

HEEEY FAMILY!!

CHRIS IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!! Man it makes me so happy every time I think about it. He called us on Saturday night and told us the good news. I am not exaggerating when I say I lost my voice from shouting joyous praises to the heavens. Elder Boyer and I are going to the baptism on Saturday and I can't wait. Sister Cooksey is going to make my favorite dish for me too, lemon pepper fried chicken, a southern delicacy.

But of course since there is opposition in all things the devil had to send forth mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, and all his hail and mighty storms! Man that tornado was crazy. It was on the ground forever. We were eating dinner at a members home last night when we got a call from President Petersen saying we needed to get everyone in our zone in and safe asap. So we were calling everyone like crazy and making sure they were in a safe place. The only people we could never get a hold of were the Pinnacle Mountain Sisters who were the closest to the tornando! We freaked out but they ended up making it. It was pretty crazy. The alarms went off forever. President said that we will probably go help clean up on wednesday or thursday.

We had some miracles happen this past week in our zone. So at the beginning of the week it looked like we were going to reach our monthly goal easy, then crap hit the fan and a lot of our baptism fell through. So it looked like we were going to be 2 short of our goal, we fasted and prayed so dang hard! To make a long story short we are going to reach our goal this month after a baptism on Tuesday! I'm pumped!

Carsha is still doing good! The ward loves her. In gospel principles this past week we were learning about the 3 kingdoms of glory and we did a demo where Carsha was the judge and she had to judge people and where they were going to go. She sent everyone to hell. ha ha It was funny! She is really awesome though and she will be getting baptized soon! She is almost there. Robert is doing great too! 

Let me just leave with my testimony that the power of the Book of Mormon can help us overcome addictions. I have seen that in these past couple of weeks. I love the Book of Mormon! It is a pure vessel of the spirit and can bring comfort and solace to every human heart. I know that it is the word of God and testifies and Jesus is our Savior! Thanks for all your support family!

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!