A Clown answered the door!

Hey mom! 

Life is going good, thanks for asking! It's been a great week here in Gresham. Oregon forgot that it's supposed to rain every day so it was super dry the last few weeks, but don't worry, it remembered. It's been raining and windying (that one is for you cammie) all week! It's been nice, but cold. We did a ton of finding this week. We spent a few hours a day tracting in the rain which has become one of my favorite things to do. I thought people would feel bad for us and let us in, but I think it makes them see us as crazy Mormons battling the elements to drag them to our church. They can't believe we are out in it. But I have seen so many blessings as we have put our trust in The Lord and worked hard. We were tracting one neighborhood this week and no one answered. We were about to leave but I had another one of those test promptings that urged me to knock one more door. So we did.

We waited and waited. I could hear people inside so I didn't understand what the big idea was. So I peaked through this little window by the door and BAM! Clown face! Ha, the clown face then opened the door and talked to us for a minute. It was getting dark and I won't lie I was shaking in my cold, wet boots. My skirt may or may not have been a little wet too. Seriously I was scared! He had the paint and make up on, not a mask, and his teeth were sharp! But, I remembered that this clown is also a child of God and God expects me to say something to him. So we started talking and he said that the missionaries used to come by all the time and teach his mom when he was a kid. He said he always liked them and told us a few memories he had of them. We taught him a Book of Mormon and he accepted it. Then we set up a return appointment with him and his mom. Don't worry, he's normal. I guess he just wanted to scare us haha.

We had another funny experience too. During our prayer one night I got he distinct impression to visit a certain less active lady in our ward at 6:30 the next evening. So we did. We got up to the door, knock knock knocked, and she answered almost immediately! She was so happy to see us! She welcomed us right in, told us to take off our boots, and then introduced herself as Kyle's mom. We were like, who's Kyle? And then she saw the tags. Apparently 6:30 is when her son Kyle's girlfriend and her mom were going to come over, and she thought we were them. So she let us in. And at this point we were standing in her kitchen in our sock feet. I have learned on my mission that I am really good at getting into strangers kitchens. You could tell she was so mad at herself for what she had done, but we seized this opportunity to talk to her and her family. Her son plays center field on the baseball team at his high school so we talked about that for forever! And her husband told us he died on the operating table twice last week. So yeah, it was a miracle. The funniest part is that as we were leaving his girlfriend was pulling up, so it looked like he was two timing her. Ha it was so awkward but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

We had an awesome lesson with Tina this week where she committed to be baptized. We had such a great week I wish you all could be here and experience the amazing things that I get to experience. I feel like the luckiest person in the world. My mission is without a doubt the greatest thing I have ever done in my live. It surpasses any diving catch I've made in the outfield or any volleyball game I've ever won. The uniform isnt as comfortable, but I never wanna take off this tag. I love Jesus Christ so much. I hope you all know how real He is and how aware He is of your situation. I know that this is God's church and I know that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Love you all so much!

 



hi mama bear!

you and the doctor are besties now huh? Ryan is so awesome. I love hearing things about him. how tall is he? if he's taller than me now I will be shocked. im proud of baby kate for making the volleyball team! she better wrap her head in pre wrap for a headband. keep the tradition alive.

Gresham is exuberant! of course I still love it here. its the promised land! this is the place moses and the children of Israel spent 40 years wandering looking for! too bad they never found it. its a gem. transfers are two weeks from now. everyone tells me that time flies by so much faster when you're training and they would be right! I feel like sister Russell just got here! we are having a great time though! this has been a pretty good week. its had some ups and some downs. i'll explain a little of both.

 so sister Russell was pretty sick this week, which resulted in both of us spending a lot of time in the apartment. president ballard said that all day every day we should be asking ourselves "what is the best thing I can be doing with my time right now?" well, I asked myself that and the answer I decided on was I needed to be finding more investigators. one problem. we were stuck in the apartment. so I looked through our cell phone and started calling everyone in there that I didn't know. I ended up teaching a few lessons over the phone and got five or six return appointments! I was so stoked! that's better than any day ive ever had tracting. we will be seeing a lot of those people this week and im really excited. especially because we had to pass of 3 progressing investigators this week. they moved out of our area so they have different missionaries now. it was bittersweet. i get really close to the people i teach and then poof! they're gone. this next week we are dedicating our time to finding new people to teach. its going to be great.

 we had our ward Halloween party this week. it was awesome because almost everyone brought their friends and neighbors! we talked to so many people and found some cool families from that as well. we had dinner with one of my favorite families this week. we ate some chicken and then they said they wanted to take us for dessert but the place was a surprise. they took us to the one and only salt and straw! if you haven't heard of it, look it up. it will save your life. they have so many different kinds of ice cream and theyre all really weird: pear and bleu cheese, Hawaiian (with real pork bits inside), honey lavender, mince meat pie, apple pie and cheddar, and many more. its weird. well they had one kind called dracula's blood pudding and i asked to sample it. the lady got me a spoonful and said it has real pigs blood in it, is that okay? i thought about it for a quick minute, and decided that since ive eaten steak medium rare, this isn't much different. so i tried it. it really wasn't bad! it was pretty good actually. so yeah, that happened. i'd love to stay and chat but i have to go have a nerf war. to answer your question mom, i desperately need new boots. mine are all ripped up . i love you forever!



All is Well!!

okay is dad lazy rafter R? or who is that? im going to trust that its dad because thats his favorite brand other than flying box. family i am excited to be emailing you today. its been a great week, but also a really weird one. we have had cancellation after cancellation. no love for the sisters! but for some reason its still been really fun. im so proud of Ryan. and as for the Round Valley St Johns thing, i know of another instance when someone was falsely accused and slandered. in John 15 the Savior warns His disciples that this may happen to them and He explains why. 

 

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 

 

those that follow the example of Jesus Christ are often hated because of it, and i know that Round Valley folks are good people. the Savior sets the example for us of what we can do as we endure persecution in 1 Nephi 19:9

 

"wherefore the scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."

 

Christ endured a lot of persecution, and as disciples of Christ we should expect to endure a portion of that persecution, too. But, the good news is that even though the battle between good and evil is still raging on, the winner has already been declared. we know that God's team will come off conqueror, and Round Valley already beat St Johns. all is well :)

 

its been a really great week! we went on an exchange this week so i spent all day on wednesday with sister halgran from colorado. tuesday night i got a strong impression that we need to visit melody, a former investigator. now for all you who, like me before my mission, think promptings are constant in missionary work, i am here to tell you that they are not. God usually makes us earn them. so for me, its always really exciting to get a prompting and have it work out for me. have i ever told you about the 3 different kinds of promptings?

 

i decided that there are 3. 1) homeruns. the kind that when you walk up to the door the person had actually prayed you there. or some kind of miracle results from them. 2) indirect. when you feel you need to see someone in particular, but really God just needs you to be headed that way so you can meet someone else He has in mind for you. and last, and certainly the most common in my case is 3) test promptings. you feel strongly that you need to go somewhere or see someone and no one comes to the door. those happen to me 99% of the time, and the other two kinds make up .5% each. well, i guess i was having a .5% kind of day, because i felt prompted to go, and melody burst into tears when we got there. she said she had prayed us over. she lost our number and didnt know how to find us, but her mom had just passed away and she instantly felt that she needed to speak with us. AMAZING! we were able to teach her the plan of salvation and we had the elders come over and give her a blessing. it was so great and she really started feeling better after that. the spirit was almost visible! if i can try to describe it, it was like when youre sick and you get that weird, clear, filmy goop that covers your cornea sometimes. thats basically how the room looked when we all opened our eyes.

 

 it was really funny though because afterwards she wanted a picture with all of us and while we were standing there smiling she grabbed each of the elders butts! i didnt even know it. shes like 60 something so i didnt expect it. but later elder robinson looked at me and mouthed the words "she grabbed my butt." then elder alatini said the same thing. it was hilarious. i laughed the rest of the day about that.

 

 we also had the opportunity to watch meet the mormons this week! it was awesome! i laughed, i cried, and i really felt the spirit. its an awesome movie and goes through the lives of 6 people from around the world. i encourage you to invite a friend to go with you. they'll like it! i am grateful to be a missionary in the OPM! i love it here and i love all of you! mom, youre in trouble cause you didnt update me on your breasties. but i still like you. tell cammie happy birthday! i have a really funny card coming her way. well, i love you all! work hard, pray hard!

 

sister Udall

 

Embarrassing Moment For Sister Udall

 



Mom!

 I got your letter! And insanity! I love that you told me not to lend
it to my fat friends haha.

I'm glad we smashed St. John's! Glad, but
not surprised. I knew baby Boey was the biggest stud in the whole
world. Proud of him!

This has been a good week but it will be a short
email because I'm running out of time. So, I had one of those moments
that only happen to me again this week. I was trying to be all big and
bad because I'm a trainer and I told sister Russell I didn't need the
gps and I knew where our appointment was. So we drove down there,
parked the car, said a prayer, and headed up the steps. The front gate
was locked. I didn't remember them having a front gate, but I
rationalized that it was probably open last time and I didn't notice.
So we started trying to jimmy the lock and get in there because we
knew this family and they knew we were coming. It was our dinner
appointment. Then some guy walked out of the house. I didn't recognize
him, but the first thought that came to my missionary mind was "oh
good! They invited friends for dinner! Hopefully we can teach them!"
He came and helped us with the gate and we followed him up on the
deck. He started talking to us and then he headed inside, so naturally
I followed him. I was standing in his kitchen when he said sorry
ladies but we're in the middle of dinner. I replied "that's what we're
here for!" He looked so confused so I asked if this was the bardi's
home. He said no. I continued to stand in this strangers kitchen. It
was so awkward. Haha I had no idea what to say and we were late for
our dinner by this time so we left. I'm still laughing about it though
because I know he was super creeped that I just walked right into his
house. Haha it was so great. We are going to go back though because he
seemed super open and we already got our foot in the door, pun
intended.

We had a real miracle this week though. We have this
investigator couple, kami and Kevin, who rock so hard! We taught them
the plan of salvation this week and they both told us that they
already knew it. They said they believed this all along but didn't
know there was a church for it haha. It was awesome! They both just
said it makes complete sense. I love hearing those words. They're
praying about baptism right now. I love them so much! We had other
awesome things happen, but I have no time! I love you very much!