January 26, 2015

Hey fam whats up!

Its been another one of those really great weeks out here in the mish. I am loving Memphis! The ward, the people, the barbecue, its all top of the line! There has been more tender mercies then we deserve in this area. We have found a few really cool families this week who where the mom and dad are married, they have jobs, and they have a car. Now that might not sound like a miracle to all of you but in this area, families like that are needles in the huge memphis haystack. It has just been crazy to see the hand of the Lord lately in this work.

We had specialized training meeting last week where we got to hear from President and the assistants and it was really good. After that Elder Brown and I instructed on our purpose as missionaries. Now in all my instructions I always include a cheesy demonstration to illustrate the point. In this one I had 2 elders play some 1-on-1 basketball.One of the elders when he had the ball would just dribble at the top of the key and do all these streetball moves but ended up taking a horrible shot. The other elder made on move and got straight to the basket and scored. After observing the short game we had everyone evaluate. It was clear to see who was more effective, who was more focused on the end goal, and who actually in the end put the ball in the hoop. We related that to missionary work but I think it related pretty well to anyones life. Just like the elder just dribbling at the top of the key, there is a lot of things we can do that may look cool or look like we are doing something with our lives but are they really getting us anywhere? Do we the main goal or the purpose in mind? And are we always doing the things necessary to get there like the other Elder who just made one move and got to the hoop? Hugh Nibley said in one of his talks that we must all decide or who or what we want to be and then sacrifice anything that stands in the way of getting there. Thats one things I love about my mission is it had given me a greater vision of who I want to be and even more importantly, who others can become. Life would be a lot more enjoyable if we saw and treated others ad they can become. I am not very good at it yet but thats the kick I am on so I thought I would share.

 

I went on exchanges down in hernando, Mississippi this last week and it was awesome. Miracles always happen on exchanges! I dont have time to share but it will be a story for another time. I am just grateful for what I get to do right now. I am so happy. I got a great companion in Elder Brown. I love serving with the guy.

I am grateful for the 2 mission presidents I have had. Their examples have changed my life forever. I am grateful for the family I have. Seriously I have never been more grateful for my family than on my mission. And I am grateful for a Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ who see and treat us as we can become. Have a good week everyone! Love ya Mom!

January 19, 2015

Hey whats up Mom?!

So I just finished my first week in Memphis and it was pretty dang awesome! I'm serving with Elder Brown as zone leaders in the Memphis zone. We're serving  in the Memphis 2nd east area! This area is sweet! Its covers a lot of the "hood" in Memphis so of course, me being a red head, I fit right in.

We got some pretty awesome people we are working with right now. We just had a baptism a couple of days ago for a lady named Monica Wilkins! She is fired up about the Gospel. These last couple of days we have had people coming up out of the wood works too for us. It feels so good to be back in the grind of things again! I thought it would be hard to get used to a new area after being in one for a year but the new scene and the new challenge is pretty exciting and it feels like all the pieces are coming together for us right now!

Elder Brown is awesome. He has been out for just under a year. He is from grangeville, Idaho. He is tall, a good basketball player, and a really hard working missionary. He is new to being a zone leader so I get the opportunity of training him up which i'm pretty stoked for. Memphis is the place to be!

(Grandma Wellman just so you know, Graceland is right outside our area and its a big deal out here.)

I just love being out here and doing what we do everyday. The only thing I hate about it is how fast it goes. Its just a good feeling to fill your day with things that brings you closer to the spirit. As of late, my favorite scripture has been John 8:29. "And he that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things which please Him." I have definitely learned the secret to peace in this life, and its doing always the things that please Heavenly Father. I'm not very good at it yet but I know when I try my best to do that life is a lot more rewarding. Serving the mission has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done. Thanks family for all your support!

January 13, 2015

HEY FAMILY!

Guess what......im getting transferred! Can you believe it? After 11 months of dwelling in the oasis of southwest little rock! Yup i'm gettin' released as an assistant and being sent out to pasture for my last 4 months in.....Memphis!

And not just any part of memphis, in the infamous skreets of orangemound! Which is aparrently the most dangerous and "hood" part of Memphis! I am so dang excited! I am going to go be a zone leader there with Elder Brown. It has been hard this last week saying good bye to all my family here in Little Rock.

Last sunday brother Warner, one of the members of the bishopric, called me up to bear my testimony and to start it off he said "well everyone to start off sacrament meeting today, are losing one of our ward members Elder udall so we are going to call him up." ha ha thats how long I have been there. Member status! But ya I am excited to try out Memphis and I am also pretty dang excited to be back out in the field full time! Well this letter is short because we have to go get ready to pick up the new missionaries at the airport but I just wanted to give you the update!!

 

January 5, 2015

BULAVUNAKA FAMILY!

I'm pretty sure that mean "hi, how are you?" in Fijian. How is it going in AZ? I heard ya'll got some snow! How was your new years? Ours was awesome! On new years eve we had a mission leadership council meeting and it was great. Elder Daley and I instructed on "how to begin teaching" in PMG. I talked about the importance of first impressions and to illlustrate my point I used the example from Dwight in the office where he said that when he first met Pam she said something that slightly offended him, now ever since then she has been great to work with and very kind, but he hates her. Its amazing the gospel principles you can find in that show!

Anyways when the new year came and the clock struck midnight we definitely knew about. Guns were going off like crazy in our apartment complex. Our neighbors on both sides and everyone around was just shooting up in the air. Gotta love the ghetto!

So for the last couple of weeks Elder Daley and I have been in our area for only 2 days, so our teaching pool was looking more like a puddle. So since we had this week to be in our area we hit the skreets and promised the Lord we would talk to everyone we saw. We were so blessed this week to find people that are really humble and seem ready to progress in the gospel. I am excited to really start teaching them. We have an investigator named Ocie who has been coming to church the last 4 weeks and has a date for the 24th of this months. Also Mark Green our recent convert went out teaching with us this last week. And one of the most rewarding experiences of a mission is watching your recent converts teach the Gospel. We taught a girl and he was pretty much throwing down with her the whole time about how she needs to get baptized by proper authority and how much the book of Mormon will bless her. It was awesome! At the end of the lesson to he taught her how to pray and invited her to pray! Its just crazy because a couple of months ago he was being taught those things. It was a great thing to witness!

Family I am grateful for all that yall do for me! Things are going great out here!

December 22, 2014

Hey Family!

How is  going "holiday hoobie whatee" going? 

My yuletide has been both merry and bright this last week. The week has gone by really fast! It has been filled with meetings, exchanges, emergency transfers, and all sorts of holiday cheer! So ya mom you heard right about the sisters time out meeting. Sister Wakolo organized that meeting for all the sisters to come and pretty much have a spa day. The first hour or so though was for gospel instruction and he asked Elder Daley and I to come speak about virtue to them. It was really awkward being the only elders there so luckily we got to leave early at both of those meetings.

We also had our christmas zone conferences on both sides of the mish! Elder Daley and I instructed on talking to everyone and teaching restored truths on the first contact. In part of it I taught my salsa acronym and I also managed to work in my favorite John wayne quote "courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyways," speaking about how we shouldn't let fear keep us from talking to the people that are put in our paths. The second half of the zone conference was a talent showand it was pretty crazy! Lets just say at one point in the show I was on the mission presidents shoulder impersonating a partridge in a pear tree. ...but enough said about that,

Christmas is going to be awesome! We got breakfast lunch and dinner lined up with members so we are getting taken care of! Thanks family for the package you sent me!!! It was just what I needed! Also thanks to the Stinson family and all the cards that were sent! I am excited to skype with yall on thursday! 

 

Lots of freinds going home

Hey family!!

I'm writing a little bit early today because I have to go to memphis in an hour to pick up the departing missionaries from over there and bring them back to the mission home in Little rock. We have a huge group leaving this week! Its weird because we are sending home 2 of the companions I have served with- Elder Tate, and Elder Armstrong! There is also a lot of my other good mission buddies in this group so its going to be crazy! We had a pretty awesome week this last week!

It started off on Tuesday when that morning we had a feeling we should go check up on things at the mission office, which was weird because nothing puts a burr under my saddle like going to office but for some reason we felt like we should so we went up there. When we got there everything was running fine and there was nothing for us to do so we decided we were going to leave when a lady walked in the building to get a tithing slip and she asked if we could give her a blessing. That blessing was an amazing experience and one that I needed.

The next day we drove to memphis and went to a zone meeting there and we went on exchanges. I stayed in memphis with Elder Hanover from Logan Utah. He is a good missionary. We had a goal of setting a baptismal date on that exchange and nothing was happening for us that whole day. Everything fell through and it was kinda frustrating. The next morning though we had a couple of hours of proselyting time before we exchanged back so petitioned a miracle from heaven and went out to contact a refferal. The guy we were supposed to contact was not there but his roommate let us in and we taught the restoration to him! The spirit was really strong in that lesson and he excepted a baptismal date for January 3rd! That might not sounds crazy to you but miracles like that are what

make every stress and struggle of a mission worth it! 

This week we got the Christmas zone conferences which should be pretty awesome! Things are going so great here. Mom I will forever be in debt for your great example to me! I am so grateful for all that you did for me before my mission to help me prepare to serve! I love ya!  

 



The Power of Prayer

I cant believe Kylie is 20!! That is crazy! That poem was so awesome. I printed it out and read it to the office couples.

I already told you most of what happened this last week through my last email. Not much has changed since then but we have been seeing some miracles here in the ghetto paradise of southwest little rock!

First off, Mark is preparing to get the Aaronic priesthood next week! He is fired up about the gospel and its really cool to see. Also yesterday Elder Daley and I fasted to find someone that was ready to accept the message of the restoration. Yesterday evening we were in an apartment complex talking to a couple people when a woman walked up and interrupted us and said "Hey are yall Jesus people?" and we told her we were, and then she asked us if God and Jesus were the same person. Now usually in the south when people ask you that it means they want to bash and so we had our scriptures at the hip ready for a quick draw just in case this became a doctrinal shoot out. But as it turned out she was sincerely wanting to know because 2 different preachers were telling her 2 different things. So we taught her a little bit about the Godhead and then she asked if we could come talk to her and her sister and so we did and shared the message of the restoration and were able to set baptismal dates with both of them. It was awesome to see how they just sincerely wanted to know the truth. One thing I have always taken for granted or never taken seriously before my mission is the power of prayer. God hears the prayers of his children. I know that without a doubt! Anyone can have a sense of security and peace even in the hardest times of their lives if they are constantly praying and seeking out the Lords comfort. I'm grateful that I can be hundreds of miles away from my mom and know she will alright through the power of prayer. I love you mom! Thanks for all that you do for your children!