January 12, 2015

hey mom!

 

okay, so this was an awesome week. so many things happened i don't even know where to start! we were so privileged to have Elder Ballard, the apostle, come visit our mission this week. i have met elder christofferson and elder ballard since ive been out here. i am so lucky! it was amazing! he said so many awesome things and i learned so much from him! we met with him friday morning from 8-11 as a mission, and then we had an MLC meeting with him from 12-3. but wait, there's more! we also had a fireside friday night from 7-9 and then another meeting saturday morning for the mission leadership, the stake presidencies, high council, bishoprics, ward mission leaders, and ward missionaries. man alive it was eventful! i wish i could explain to you the feelings i had during that meeting. he answered so many questions i never knew i was asking. the coolest part was MLC on saturday because it was a small group and he interacted with us a lot. it was so nerve wracking when he would ask questions specifically to me. i have no doubt that he is a true apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  He talked a lot about missionary work, obviously, but he said that the problem with the members of the church is that they know what Gethsemane is, but they've never been there in their minds. He said that if each day we take a mental journey to Gethsemane, if each day we remember the One who endured all for us, if each day we would put that in the front of our minds, we would never be as selfish as we are currently being when we forget or even refuse to share the gospel. he said each time we bring someone to baptism we are literally bringing them to gethsemane and to golgotha, because now they have unlocked the atonement and can receive remission of their sins. he also said that we should be setting monthly goals for ourselves of how many people we are going to invite that month. i thought that was genius!

earlier this week we went on an exchange and had the funniest experience. it all started two weeks ago. so there is a sister that we are over that was sick,so we brought over some treats and cards and doorbell ditched them. they never said a word about it, so we thought that the elders that live in the same complex must have stole them. anyways we show up at their apartment two weeks later for the exchange and they will not answer the door! we started singing and knocking really loud. at one point i rapped all of fresh prince of bel air while sister jensen beat boxed. still not answer. but will we shrink or shun the fight? NO! so we kept knocking and finally the door opens, only it isnt the sisters, its some lady who does not look happy. we were so embarrassed! we apologized and she lightened up and gave us directions. we had already parked and it didnt sound far so we decided to walk to the apartment from where we were. turns out it was a good 3 miles and we were so lost! the good newsis we got to talk to a ton of people and find some new potentials as we walked. but yeah, it took forever haha. we exchanged with some of the visitors center sisters, so i was a VC sister for the day! it was so weird. it was fun but i dont think i could do it. sometimes it was really slow and we sat and waited awhile. it was fun for the day, but heavenly father knew i was not cut out for the VC life!

we had an amazing miracle this week. so remember when we did volleyball? well we had a girl from japan show up. random i know. we were able to get a return appointment with her and we taught her the first half of the restoration this week. normally we would teach the whole thing but she doesnt speak much english so we really had to slow it down for her. we invited a guy from our ward who speaks japanese and he helped translate at some points. it was amazing though! we talked about the atonement and about Christ being baptized and she said "i know that this is good. it feels good to my heart." at the end we were talking about prayer. she told us she has never prayed in her life. then she asked if she could try praying! it was amazing! the spirit flooded the room! she cried a little as she spoke to God. it was short and simple, but it was so sincere. i felt the spirit reminding me so strongly "you witnessed her talk to God for the first time in her mortal life." i felt like a private detective helping someone find their parents. i seriously felt so blessed that i got to be there when she said her first prayer. she accepted the invitation to be baptized! we are so excited for her. we had an investigator go to salt lake this week so she could go to temple square (shout out to mace). sister jensen's family took her around. how cool is that? and i spoke in church this week on the book of mormon which was great since im new to the ward. now they all know me. ahh i wish i had the time to tell you all the miracles we saw this week because ive only scratched the surface! congrats on the job dad! im so excited for you! mom i sent you something today. someone gave me a pass to the columbia employee store and everything is at least 60% off there. i love you all very much. i hope you never forget that i told you this church is true. the atonement is real. you dont have to be a missionary to see miracles, you just have to be involved in the work! love ya!

sister udall