February 24, 2015

Dear Mom, 

Sorry I couldn't write yesterday. We had a meeting with elder Nielsen of the seventy and brother Heaton, the MTC president. They came to talk about the iPad's since we are a test mission. They wanted our feed back before they roll out to the rest of the missions in the world. It was an awesome meeting! Something they said really stood out to me. Elder Nielsen told us that from 1830-1930 the church baptized 300,000 converts. He then told us that in 2014 alone, the church baptized 300,000 converts. Isn't that insane? The work is hastening people! Elder Nielsen is a stud. He told us that "God's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He will not fail. If you don't think He will get all of His children, then you don't understand this work." Wow! That was mind blowing. Between earth life and the spirit world, he'll help His children choose Jesus Christ. It was an awesome lesson to learn.

We had such a good week! I don't even know if I can tell you all of it in the short amount of time we have to email. One cool thing was that I got to attend two baptisms this week in former areas. One was sherwood for a kid I taught named Jake. The second was in Gresham for a kid named Mason. I spoke on baptism at Mason's. It was so good to go back and see them! They are both just little guys and so so sweet!

 We had a really cool experience this week. We have been going into the homes of all the members and setting dates with them to find someone for us to teach. Elder Ballard has really been pushing that. We've been going around and doing that and the success isn't immediate I must admit. We really really needed to find new people to teach, so we decided to set a date for ourselves as well! We prayed, set our date, and went to work. We did some tracting and street contacting with no luck, but we were not faithless! As we were out working we got a call from our Zone Leaders telling us they have a referral for us! They met a lady who lives in our area and wants to learn more. Apparently she had already been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to know more! We have an appointment with her for this week so we are pretty stoked about that.

This Sunday was awesome too. A member of our bishopric spoke about how the gospel has blessed his life. In it he talked about uncle Brian! He said that uncle Brian was his favorite missionary growing up. He said that uncle Brian played a role in him going on a mission and he got really choked up! It was awesome to see how missionaries can affect people, even active members. It was really cool that it was my uncle though. It gave me yet another reason to be proud to be a Udall. We had a Skype lesson with Misa is week! Other than that I'm not sure what else to tell you. All my stories would take too long to type. I love you mom! 

Sister Udall 

 

February 16, 2015

Dear mom,

    The chiropractor went good! It was funny. He told me my neck and back are really flexible. Too flexible. It's cause I pop and twist them all the time! So he told me I'm not allowed to do that anymore.

I'm supposed to go back again next week. Apparently my back sucks. But the good news is we have an appointment to teach his receptionist this week! We just started talking to her and she said we could come by.

Pretty sick huh? This was such a good week! We taught so so much! We taught double the number of investigator lessons that we did last week, and last week was a good week for us too. We are seeing miracles. They are coming slow, but they're coming. We were doing service at the food pantry this week and Phil came up to us and started talking about church. There is a girl who just got home from her mission in Brazil that gave her homecoming talk this week, so we told him that was happening. He was so excited and started calling al, his kids telling them he's going to a mormon church this week and they should too! It was so amazing to see him get excited about coming. I know you're reading emails from people talking about all the baptisms they're having and those kinds of miracles. Trust me, we are working so hard to help those we are teaching be baptized. They are just so sucked in to the Portland way of life. People rarely believe in God in this city. The only thing they believe in is naked bike races and recycling. We are trying to get them to take off those hipster glasses and see the world more clearly. It makes me so sad because I see so many people chasing the temporal things in life. They chase new clothes, cool restaurants, concerts, nice houses, new cars. All things that are good, but won't last. They don't realize that us 20 year old girls are laboring with all our might, praying without ceasing, studying, and fasting for these people so that they can have the one thing in this life that will last forever. The one thing they can take with them to the next life. I was talking to my mission president about this this week in interviews. I feel like I've put more of my heart into this area than ever before and received almost nothing in return. He gave me some awesome advice! He read parts of a talk from the most recent CES fireside and I don't remember who gave the talk, but they said a quote that I loved! He said "Follow your bliss and follow your blisters." I love that! Chase what makes you happy, and anything of real value takes hard work. I instantly thought of this area. It's hard work. We labor constantly. We tract, street contact, search for less actives, teach members, put together activities, literally everything you can think of, we've tried. I've been spiritually bruised and blistered. But the fruits of that hard work are delicious! I have never been happier. I smile more than ever before and I feel more love for people than I thought possible. This is my bliss, but it's also my blisters. God wants us to work hard because hard work brings joy. It brings a feeling of accomplishment. I wish we grew as much physically as we do spiritually on our mission, cause I would be a lot taller than 5'3! I love my mission. I love my people. I love my Savior and I know He lives. I love my mom for sending me packages :) love you all so much! Have the best week ever!

February 09, 2015

Hey family! 

Okay, so I just read Goodes's email and saw that he has 10 people getting baptized. That's wild! I was just about to write and say how many miracles we have had this week, but I guess 10 baptisms kinda trumps it! It was still a great week though! Ahh so many things have happened! Mom, I love my mission. If my mission was a guy I would marry it. Granted, it's hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever loved, but I wouldn't change it.

We taught more lessons this week than has ever been taught in this area since its been opened. We have seriously been working harder than I've ever worked in my life trying to find. What's frustrating is that in previous areas you can go walking down the street and talk to people everywhere! People in most parts of Oregon love to walk or ride their bikes and a lot of people literally just hang out on the streets. Even in the pouring rain. In previous areas we could tract an apartment complex and find a whole slew of new people to teach. West Linn is not like that. There are few apartments here, no one is on the street, no one is even home during the day, and many of them are wealthy and don't feel the need for change. It has been such a strange area for me and I have stretched and grown in different ways. It's a completely different kind of missionary work, that's for sure. But just because results aren't immediate, doesn't mean you can just stop trying or stop tracting. You gotta do them both more! We went tracting this week and got slam after slam. I finally had a knock one more door experience on my mission! We were getting discouraged and a little frustrated and we were about to turn around and find a better use of our time since knocking was obviously getting us nowhere, but we felt impress to knock one more door. We did and a sweet young woman and three little kids came to the door and let us in! We taught the restoration and had an amazing lesson with Annie and her little family. It was a tender mercy from the Lord that we really needed.

So for some odd reason, Portland is the church's pilot mission for literally everything. They test everything on us and soon I'll tell you about some more new stuff that we are testing. At first this really frustrated me. We constantly have to have people come out and observe us, call us, make us take surveys, and report any suggestions or problems we are having with the new program they've instituted. This week we saw a few miracles concerning the new programs instituted by the church. First, we taught our first ever skype lesson! Remember Cameron rich from high school? So I've been talking with him on facebook and he accepted to have sister Jensen and I skype him and teach him. So we did and we taught the restoration. It was amazing! We taught a guy in California! It was just really cool and now we are sending him the scriptures and continuing to teach him. How cool is that? Okay, so I'm not sure if I told you, but sister Jensen and I are the leading Just Serve Missionaries in our mission. We do 20 hours of service each week and then report on our miracles and success to our Mission Presidency and to Salt Lake so they can track the effectiveness of Just Serve. We got a call this week from a guy in the Just Serve Leadership for the church this week and he told us that our emails and reports have touched him really deeply and he wants to come out here to Oregon and come to service with us next week and witness these miracles in real life. Then he told us he might end up having a camera crew follow us around and record our work. Not sure how I feel about that but I guess if the Lord wills it then I'm in.

Okay, so one last thing. Elder Ballard wrote a follow up letter to our mission this week and president asked us to study it in preparation for MLC. In it he talked about how hard our mission is. Statistically, we are not the best mission in the States. He talked about how that is not because we don't work and hard or don't teach as well, but it is because we live in Portland: the least religious city in the United States. People live to disprove our message. For many, they don't even want to try to listen to us because Christianity is too main stream. Dang hipsters. He told us that every mission has its hardships but we shouldn't feel that we are worse because there is no other place in the world that is quite like Portland. It brought me so much comfort. One thing I love about my mission and that I will miss a lot is the refiners fire. I have spent 13 months cookin in the refiners fire. You never get out. You're always being pushed and stretched and yanked out of your comfort zone and being molded into something better. Someone better. The second you think you have it down, you'll get a new area, new companion, new bishop, new concerns from an investigator that will challenge you in a new way and make you learn in ways you wouldn't have otherwise. I have a love hate relationship with the fire, but it's so cool to watch God literally mold me into a new creature. A better disciple. I think the key to life is becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. We have to realize that we will forever be in the refiners fire. We can either embrace change and be humble enough for God to mold us to what he wants us to be, or we can resist and never reach our full potential. So, if you are currently engulfed in the flames of the fire, remember whose fire it is. Remember that He knows better, and His ways are always higher than ours. I know that to be true. Mom, I love you. I don't know what I would do without you. I hope you know how many people are praying for you! Each of my companions do. And in our nightly prayers, the couple I live with always do too. And go read 3 Nephi. Christ prays for you too. By name for specific blessings. Love you all! 

february 2, 2015

Hey mom! 

We had a really strange week. We were so slammed and busy but you wouldn't know it looking at our numbers. We had a girl from candy come on a mini mission with us this week which was way fun! She got to experience a couple of days in the life of a mormon missionary. It's more exciting the. It sounds! Thursday we had an amazing miracle! We were at the food pantry and one of my favorite guys asked when we could do dinner at his house with him and his wife. We picked a day and then he asked if when we came over we could mark some chapters in the Book of Mormon for him to read. We said "ha know Phil, we could always sit and read it with you." He loved that idea! So we are going to go eat dinner with them and read the Book of Mormon! It was such an awesome miracle! At the food pantry a lot of times our job is to help people out to their car with their groceries. I was helping this one lady and she saw my name tag and got so excited! She just kept saying "Jesus!" Ha I didn't know what to say back. She was old and might have been borderline crazy, but I was able to talk to her a bit and find out that she's a member of the church but hasn't been in years! Food pantry miracles, I tell ya!

So this week I got locked in my members garage. We live with her and I went downstairs in the garage to grab something for her and I got locked in! I was in there for ten minutes before anyone found me! I was yelling help and trying to pry open the door but it just wasn't happening haha. It was really funny. I thought I was going to be spending the night in there. We taught some crazy lessons this week that I just can't even explain. Some good, some not so good. It's so fun to be a missionary. We have experiences that I never would've had otherwise. I have learned a lot about agency this week. I get to watch people use their agency all the time. So use it for good, some don't. God gives us commandments to show us what things are good to choose and what things are not. After all, He knows everything beginning to end. He's a trustworthy source if we want to know what we should do to achieve happiness. I've realized that agency isn't the the power to choose whatever we want, it's the power to choose what God wants, and when we use it any other way, we're abusing the gift. We can literally choose to be happy. I abuse the gift every day, so I am extremely grateful that God took that into account before He ever sent us here by providing a Savior. When I use my agency for bad, I turn to Him and He helps me get back to where I need to be. I am so lucky that God also sent me a mom that helps me use my agency for good. I wish I would've listened to you more mom. You really know your stuff! I love Jesus Christ with my whole soul. His atonement really does cover every negative thing we could ever experience. I know that you know it but I hope that you feel it; and if you don't feel it in your life right now, use your agency to choose Christ. Choose the Gospel. Choose the scriptures. Choose Church. Choose the atonement. Choose happiness. It's true, I promise. I love you so much mama! You're the best woman God ever created. Have a great week! Pray hard, study the scriptures, and share the gospel. 

Sister Udall

January 27th 2015

hey fam! 

how's your time? mine is flying by! we had an amazing week! im writing today because yesterday was transfers but not to worry, sister jensen and i are staying together here in west linn. this week was so good. we had so many miracles and amazing lessons that im not sure if i can include them all but i will try. okay so on thursday we went to the food pantry to do service like we always do. its all part of the Just Serve initiative put out by the church. we are a test mission for it. we're a test mission for everything actually.

we have been instructed specifically that we are not to proselyte at these service projects. just serve, and if they approach you then you can teach. so thats what we do and we have made some amazing friends there! some of the best people in the world work at the little food pantry in the Methodist Church in West Linn. so we were working this Thursday and my favorite guy there, Phil, came up to us and said that he has been trying to read the book of mormon but it just has too many words and he's rather just go to church with us and see what its all about. AMAZING! then him and Lonnie, my other favorite guy, offered to take us out to dinner with them and their wives. we went and they asked us so many questions about what we believe and our missions in general. they asked about the temple so we offered to take them to the visitor's center and they said YES! not only that, but after we got side tracked on something else the wife, Kathy, pulled us back because we hadnt set up a time. they are so prepared and excited to learn more. Lonnie is the sweetest man ever and he bought us a present. we opened it and it was a picture of the temple and a bracelet that says "be your best self." he had bought them at deseret book. he literally googled it and went there because he wanted to see what it was all about and then he bought us gifts. it was so sweet! it was such a huge miracle and i am so grateful that God inspired His prophets to have the missionaries serving in the community.

we met with Misa again this week a couple of different times which was awesome! Misa is progressing so well and she loves the Gospel and learning about Jesus Christ. we have translators in all of our lessons which is really nice for her and us. last sunday a less active man and his wife who is not a member came to church. we got to talking with her and she wanted to take us to lunch. so last saturday we went out to lunch with her and got to know her pretty well. she is from Romania and is a anesthesiologist here in Portland. she is sooo smart. she told us that when she came to church with us she was touched at how sincere all the members were as they bore their testimonies and spoke from the pulpit. she loved it. she said that we have something that she doesnt have in her church and she wants to know more! so we were able to teach her in the restaurant and we gave her a book of mormon which she is really excited to read. she asked if we can start teaching her family ever saturday. um, of course we can! we have seen so many miracles this week! this has been my hardest but most rewarding area. i feel like i have put more of my heart and more hard work into this area than ever before and for awhile we weren't really seeing the fruits of our labors, but last week we saw so many miracles. i have firm testimony in the power of prayer. our prayers dont change the will of God, they help us to know what we can do to "be our best selves" and become what He has planned for us. God is so aware of us, especially when we are doing His work. i havent seen huge miracles on my mission. ive never seen an angel or any of that. my mission has consisted of small daily miracles, and because of the miracles ive experienced i know that this truly is the Lord's work. this week has been kind of scary in that we live in a sketchy apartment. it all started a couple of weeks ago when people started meeting by our window to sell drugs. specifically, meth. we had the cops and our apartment manager come by and ask us about it. it was pretty scary. apparently we live right by a suspected crack house. so thats been wild. on wednesday we went outside to go exercise and the big blue trashcan thing was on fire! haha it was so weird! on top of that we havent had hot water for the last 2 weeks. we have either been showering in the icy water or going to members homes. but the worst of it all is there is a creepy guy that lives upstairs. he is constantly texting and calling and telling us super weird things and he occasionally knocks on our door. it was getting a little out of hand, so we told him he cant come to our door anymore. that only made it worse. now he leaves weird books on our doorstep about not nice things and he is constantly begging us for money. needless to say, we no longer felt safe in our apartment, so we moved in with the White's! they are the greatest people in the whole world! the first night we walked in with all of our stuff and she started screaming and saying yay we're gonna have a slumber party! its so cute. we love them. okay, i best be off, but know that i love you very much! 

sister udall 

 

January 19, 2015

Dear Mom,

We have had quite the week! So I might've told you this last week, but I don't keep records of what I have and haven't told you, so this may be a repeat of a story you've already heard. So ha know how I get lost often? Well, that is one thing on my mission I have not been able to change thus far.

So on Monday we we supposed to be driving to the library in westlinn, but somehow I ended up in tualatin, so we just went to the library there. We sat down and starting emailing when this guy came and started eyeing the badge. He wasn't shy about it either! He was breakin his neck to read them! Then he asked if we were Jesus's sisters. We said yes and he asked if we could meet him in the mystery section at the table in 20 minutes. Seemed to be equal levels of odd and intriguing, so we waited for him there. He came over, addressed himself as Leo, and started asking questions and asked if it was too late for him to come to our church. Of course not! So we gave him our number. It was cool to see that God needed us in tualatin at that time. Getting lost pays off! We had a really sweet lesson with our Japanese investigator this week. We went to the visitors center with her and it was so sick! We had a member there that spoke Japanese to translate just in case, but the VC is awesome because the Christus statue and a lot of the videos and displays can be played in Japanese, so we listened to a few of them. She loved the Christus and said she felt peace in her heart, but what was even cooler is when we watched the restoration in the little theatre. She loved it! She said she was "moved" that her "heart felt like fire" and that she knows the Book of Mormon " is something very special." It was an insane miracle. People, do you understand what this means? She gained a testimony that God speaks to prophets just like He has always done! Isn't that amazing? Such simple doctrine and yet it is so crucial to our testimonies. Anyways she wants to be baptized and we are so excited for her! She's amazing and the spirit was so strong in her lesson, even though I couldn't understand a word of the Japanese things being said.

Ahh we had too many miracles this week I don't know how to consolidate them all into this tiny little email. I love being a missionary. Missionary work is the greatest work of all time. I know that you know it but I hope  you can feel it, and if you don't feel it then start doing it. Confirmation will come. It always does. You are the greatest family ever.

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

 

January 5, 2015

Hey mama! 

 

I'm glad you had a good new year! Mine was awesome too! I can't believe I got my year mark. This is going by way crazy fast! We had an amazing week! We went to an appointment with one of our investigators and lo and behold, she brought a friend! We were able to teach her friend the restoration and it completely clicked with her! Not only did she begin to believe, but it also helped our investigator as she bore her testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon. We have been trying to figure out ways to help members feel comfortable inviting their friends to activities and also help their friends feel comfortable. So we decided to do volleyball! Which is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. It was so much fun! I know myself really well, so I was nervous that I was going to get too competitive during it, so I prayed real hard all day that I would be a good sport and have a lot of fun, and it worked! I didn't get mad at myself or my teammates! It was a New Years miracle! We had so many non members there and we were able to become great friends with them. My knees are super bruised from it because even though I didn't get too competitive, I still went all out. It was awesome and everyone wants us to do it again, so we will.

For New Year's Eve we went to the home of a less active member of our Ward who is an artist. He is so funny. He drew a picture of each of us and then told us our strengths. He told me that I should become a news caster... Mom that's what you've always wanted me to be! So now I'm thinking about that one a little more. He's hilarious and I love spending time with him. We had a cool miracle after MLC. We talked a lot about talking to everyone and opening our mouths, and I really wanted to make that a goal of mine. So when we got home we saw our neighbor getting his mail. I had already gotten ours that day, but I figured pretending to get our mail would be a more natural way of talking to him. We got to talking about Christmas and New Years and I asked him if he had set any resolutions and he said that he wanted to quit drinking and find Jesus. Best. Answer. Ever. We told him that what we do is help people find Jesus and he asked if we could come over and teach him and if he could come to church with us. BOOYAH! It was awesome. I was so grateful that we opened our mouths and talked to him, or we might never have known that he was being prepared!

Okay, now let me tell you, I have been kissed more on my mission than I had in my 19 years of premish life. This week I was kissed 3 times. 3. Either by random people on the street, old ladies in the ward, or sweet grandpas in retirement homes. We were singing in a retirement home this week and this old man grabbed my hand and kissed it. I thought, Awh that was cute. Turns out, he was a real trendsetter. After him another old grandpa kissed my hand, but he kissed it for two whole verses of "there is sunshine in my soul today." His grip was so strong. After him this oldish lady who is always leaned a little to the left came and kissed my lips. MY LIPS! I just don't understand. It was so funny. I just love this mission. This week Elder Ballard is coming to our mission, probably to visit his son, but I get to learn from him in 5 different meetings. I'm so excited. I love you all! Have a great week! 

December 29, 2014

Dear mom and dad 

It was so good to talk to you guys this week! The whole week was awesome. First of all, did uncle Brian serve his mission in Washington? I've had more than one person ask me if I know a man named Brian Udall that served his mission in Washington and he fits all the descriptions. So just let me know about that one.

 Anyways, about our week. It ruled! On Tuesday we had a lesson with an investigator, E. She is so cool. She told me that from the looks of my face I could be her best friend. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it's because of my low cheek bones. They make me look innocent and trustworthy. We taught her at the visitors center early in the morning before she went to work. It was so awesome.

We took her to this display that shows different aspects of Christ's life. She wanted to watch the video about faith and it talked about taking steps of faith towards Christ. It totally hit her! We asked her what she feels her next step is toward coming near Christ and it totally hit her that she needs to be baptized! We haven't set the date yet, but stay tuned.

We had an awesome Christmas. Sister Jensen and I went to the best family ever for Christmas Eve. They even got us pajamas! It was so sweet. We moved our mattresses into the family room of our apartment so we could sleep near our Christmas tree that some members gave us and it was just so much fun talking about life and especially the Savior. Christmas Day was a blast. We had appointment after appointment of members feeding us. Everyone here is so nice! It was just so fun to get to teach members in their home about Jesus Christ on His day.

We got to do some service this week. We went to an equestrian barn and mucked stalls. Yum. But we also got to watch the girls vault! It was awesome to watch these 14 year old girls stand on horses and ride around. I was so impressed. We were able to find a lot of people to teach this week which was cool. We tracted a total of eleven hours. It isn't the most I've done on my mission, but it certainly ain't the least! We're working hard and teaching lots! I'm seeing so many miracles that I cannot name the, all. All I can say is that this work is true. The Book of Mormon is truer than true. I love my Savior and I love you all!  

 

December 22, 2015

Sorry im emailing late, this week has been wild! it'll be short. I got the packages mom! and cards from many amazing people! thank you all so so much! im such a happy missionary. I love my area and my companion. sister Jensen and I have been having so much fun together and doing a lot of work. we've seen a lot of miracles, i'll give you a brief summary of a few of them. we taught this girl, E, in the visitors center and it was amazing! she wanted to know more about the life of Christ so we took her to this little display and watched a bunch of the videos about him. afterwards she said sisters, you talk a lot about the atonement, and I don't fully understand it, but to me it means progress. ans becoming like Jesus Christ, not being exactly like Him right here and right now. its a constant, lifetime pursuit of becoming a little better each day. be patient with yourself! I wish I would've understood that in high school softball. and volleyball.


we also were able to have a super bold lesson with an investigator. we pretty much just told her flat out that she needs to be baptized. she knows its all true and she has to make a decision one way or the other. its always scary going into those lessons wondering how theyre going to take it, but as you bear testimony, they understand the importance of what you are teaching the spirit always has your back. we set a baptismal date with another investigator. he invited us over for Christmas eve so im excited for that. we spent a lot of time in food pantries this week volunteering which has been amazing! i'll elaborate on that more when I have time.


when sister Jensen and I first got together we set some companionship goals: 10+ hours of service a week, set a baptismal date every week, teach a lesson in every members home, etc. well our fourth and final goal was to catch a squirrel. and guess what, GOAL ACCOMPLISHED! it was the best thing ever! so we borrowed a trap from our bishop and set it up outside our apartment with some peanut butter inside. when we checked the trap the next morning we found a huge squirrel in our trap! we were so pumped. this thing was the size of a house cat, no joke. he was kind of freaking out, so we took the trap inside and put on some celine dion Christmas and that calmed him down right quick. something about celine dion singing about the savior is soothing to our squirrel friend. we weren't sure what to do with him, until we spoke with the elders later that day. they were at the church with grocery bags collecting presents from members. they literally had 5 garbage bags full, and they were still cramming more in their car. the members were spoiling them! so we decided to give them a present of our own by unleashing the squirrel in their apartment. so we went home, found a box, and tried to transport the squirrel, but he escaped and ran all over our apartment. you could call it karma. we chased him arounf forever! he peed, pooped, and vomited all over our carpet. it was nasty. but we finally caught him and made a successful transplant into the elders apartment. they still don't know it was us, they thought he just snuck in somehow, but he caused them a lot of grief. SUCCESS! anyways, im excited for Christmas. I love you all and I cant wait to Skype! stay classy!

sister udall

 

Transferred to West Linn, Oregon New companion and a calling to be a Sister Training Leader

yes, mom. i have been transferred. my daughter, sister russell is all grown up and taking care of the area! sad and happy. bittersweet. we had an awesome week though. there are many things i anticipated about a mission, but i definitely did not expect to be taken care of so well by all the members! i had a birthday party every single day last week and multiple parties on my actual birthday. i was given so many gifts, hats, candy, cakes, and a birthday enchilada! but best of all, the elders serving in my ward surprised me by bringing me a cow to milk! #farmlife #backtomyroots haha it was so funny. so i milked that little mama dry! it was so fun.

we were able to teach some awesome lessons last week, one of which was a tour of the church building. we are teaching a young man who has some anxiety and the thought of going to a unknown building with at least a couple hundred unknown faces didnt appeal to him like we hoped when we extended the invitation. but, not to worry, for there is a nifty little trick called a church tour, and missionaries, like myself, have keys to said church, so we can get in when no one else is around. that is exactly what we did! timothy and a couple of members came with us down to the church and we showed him around the whole thing! he saw where all the bathrooms are, examined the pictures on the walls, and peeked in each classroom. we gave a brief description of each room. my favorite thing to show people is the chapel, so i save it for last, because ive heard once that best is always last. the spirit in the chapel is so strong when no one else is around. as we went in and sat together timothy kept commenting on the feeling of the room. we said a prayer all together and then let him stay in there for a minute alone to say a prayer for himself. timothy came out of that chapel a changed man! his confidence seemed to increase a ton! it was amazing.

 i knew i was going to be transferred, so i wasnt surprised to get the call. i am now serving in west linn in the Willamette ward with sister jensen! i served in aloha with her, she was in the other ward, so we are excited to be together. she is from alpine utah and is tons of fun. im a sister training leader now which is kind of wild but im excited to be here. west linn is the second richest city in the state of oregon, so it will be different than any other area i have served in but im pumped about it. i was so sad to leave gresham! i love mt hood so much. #hoodlife. im just thankful that i can go back and visit. i have a few members that are arranging for me to marry their sons and grandsons when they return from their missions. thanks for everything you sent me mom! and everyone else! youre all the best people! love you so much!

sister udall

 



Happy 20th Birthday Kylie!

Dear mom and dad

 

Sorry this is so late! I'm the worst person. I forgive myself though so if you don't then you have the greater sin!

We had a great week! Ahh I love being a missionary so much. I love wearing my name tag, I love the weird stares we get, I love the awkward questions people ask, I love it all! I love having my name right near the Savior's and truly feel like I am helping others come unto Him. This has been a great week for that. We were able to teach quite a few lessons. I have been in a constant pursuit to be on the same page as God my whole mission. I'm striving to be a tool in His hands, so I want to understand what He needs me to do and where He needs me to be. I prayed really hard that I would be guided as I planned, that I might be in the right place at the right time to be an answer to someone's prayer.

Well, God surely answered my prayer. Thursday night we were planning and I felt strongly about two things: we needed to do some finding at the grocery store around noon and we need to see a certain part member family at 7. It wasn't a pressing feeling, the thoughts just came to my mind to do them. So we went to the grocery store and it was awesome! We saw some of our Ward missionaries there and we were able to talk to them for a bit. The man is so sweet! I'm not saying this to brag, I only say it because I was so touched when he said it. He told me that they have had a lot of good missionaries in that Ward, but I was the best, and he really meant it. Somehow God knew that I really needed to hear that and he just kept telling me the things that he thought I was good at. It was seriously exactly what I needed! I thought for sure that was the reason we were meant to go there, but I found out that God was killing two birds with one stone there. We saw one of our less actives that we teach as well! She was standing outside waiting for her ride and we were able to whip out our scriptures and teach her a lesson right there! It was great!

Later when we went to the part member family's home, we found that they had some friends over. We were able to teach the whole bunch! It was great! I've seen Gods power so much lately it's insane.

 

I love my area so much, but I think I might get transferred. I have a birthday party planned for every day this week! The members keep inviting me to come over to celebrate! Today the sweetest lady ever took me shopping and bought me a present and tonight this family invited me to celebrate again with them. And then every day of the week someone has either offered to take us out or invited us over. I feel so blessed here! The Lord really takes care of His missionaries, and He does it through amazing members! I love you all, I love the Lord, I love Oregon. Love, love,love. Next time you see my face, it'll be 20 years old! 



Cancer Isn't Stronger Than That

We hear everyday the things cancer can do
the word "cancer" itself makes my heart split in two
But my mom's sweet embrace seems to mend it all back
And cancer isn't stronger than that

Chemo and radiation, she took them both on
Making her sick from dusk until dawn
But instead of complaining, she smiles and laughs
And cancer isn't tougher than that

She gathered us kids all together one year
And showed us the meaning of holiday cheer
We gave up our gifts for families that lacked
And cancer doesn't serve more than that

Money isn't a good gift for my mother
She forgets herself and spends it on another
She'd give anyone the shirt off her back
And cancer doesn't love more than that

Mom goes down in the school hall of fame
Six kids playing sports and she's not missed a game
She's my biggest fan when I'm up to bat
And cancer isn't supportive like that

Mom can do any accent known to man
From southern, to Irish, to Mexican
She'll have you laughing till there's pee where you sat
And cancer isn't funny like that

Mom can cook better than anyone I know
She could legitimately have her own cooking show
Her cheesy potatoes will make you fat
And cancer isn't talented as that

Seems anytime I tried sneaking out of our home
Her mom senses would tingle, and she'd call up my phone
I could never get away with doing something bad
And cancer isn't psychic like that

Mom can make friends anywhere that she goes
In fact, I don't think that she has any foes
She's kind to all, even our evil cats
And cancer isn't friendly like that

In family baseball games, mom is the king
She's known for her aggressive base running
She keeps on running if she's out or gets tagged
And cancer isn't athletic like that

Mom's the epitome of "ride for the brand"
She sticks up for her kids as much as she can
She's gentle and kind, but she's got my back
And cancer isn't loyal like that

Mom cries in everything. She's got a big heart.
Any movie she watches, the water works start
She's a good hearted woman, and that's a fact
And cancer doesn't care more than that

I think of our Savior, who took on Himself
The pains and the sickness of everyone else
We can overcome all through His great sacrifice
And cancer isn't stronger than Christ

When we measure them up it's easy to see
Who's really stronger? Mom or the disease?
In the Plan of Salvation we learn the outcome
That cancer will not beat my mom

No matter the results, we have peace of mind
God promised to exalt the faithful on high
We've been sealed in the temple, a seal with no cracks
And cancer can never break that

Biggest John,

I loved your email! I'm so glad the Udall family continues to mourn the Thanksgiving Pie incident of 2012, a date which will live in infamy! I'm sad that mom isn't feeling well, but I wrote her a poem this week and I'm sending it today! I hope she enjoys it :) we had a great week! we did some major work in our area! we've still been doing a lot of finding. we felt impressed to go see a less active family, so we stopped by and they let us right in! miracle! we asked if we could set up a time to share a Christmas message with them, and they were all over that. the best thing is that their non member son was there. he's in his 30's or so. he was really happy to see us and was the one setting up the appointment around his schedule so he can be there. i was so humbled. the Lord really will use us as tools in His hands to touch the lives of those who are prepared. we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators. she is so close to baptism, but those cigarettes won't leave her alone. we talked with her about the blessings of the temple. it really really hit her. Recently president Ballard has talked a lot about how baptism isn't our goal for people. our goal is the temple and baptism is just a prerequisite to that. how blessed i am that my family is sealed in the temple. we can be together forever as we live worthy of it. anyways, she prayed for the first time in one of our lessons and it was so powerful! I cried. Crylie is stronger than ever out here. we also had another miracle. a former investigator couple has been having a really tough go lately. their health, finances, and life in general seems to be falling apart. well, she called us this week and asked if we could meet somewhere, so we chose dairy queen (don't judge). she opened up to us about the many trials she is enduring, but along the way she realized the good in every circumstance. we were able to share with her the love that God has for her. she asked for a priesthood blessing so the elders are going to give her one tonight! exciting! we had thanksgiving at two houses. The first was mysha poche's cousin, the ritz family! I love them so much! there is six kids in that family from teenagers to toddlers, so I felt right at home! we played games and had so much fun with them! Then we went to the sieburts, a recently baptized family. They are awesome! We got to see Lois there and we played games with them as well. let me tell you, for an old blind lady, Lois is dang good at operation. she got second place! she beat me! I guess any dreams I had about becoming a surgeon are shot. I reflected a lot that day on the things that I'm truly grateful for. I'm grateful for a family that prays for me. I know you pray for me. I can literally feel your prayers. if anyone else has experienced that, then you understand that there is nothing more humbling than to literally feel the prayers of your righteous mother buoying you up when you feel hope is lost. when you feel no one cares. I have the greatest mother in the whole world! I'm grateful for the times dad woke us up at the butt crack of dawn to read scriptures, even though his tactics for waking us up are annoying as I'll get out. Im grateful for a mom who loves unconditionally. She pre forgives. no matter what I do, I know my mom will forgive me and help me correct my mistakes. remind you of anyone? thats right, my mom is Christ-like! im grateful for my oldest sister Cammie. I'll forever be jealous that she got the blonde hair, that is something I'll never have. But i strive every day to mimic her work ethic. Cammie is driven and so accomplished. I hope to be just like her. I'm thankful for christie and trev for my nephew and also for teaching me to play poker. mostly though, I'm thankful for their example of a temple marriage. I'm so grateful for Rulon for going on a mission and setting the example for me. I'm grateful for baby boey (Ryan). he's always been the rock in our family. He's the spiritual giant and I'm proud of the man he is. and I'm grateful for baby Kate! I love that tiny girl! she has the biggest heart and the best sense of humor. I just have the best family in the whole world. despite our trials, I feel so indebted to God for our many blessings! I know God loves us and i know the atonement is real. Christ does live. The church is restored. I know it.

I love you!

Sister Udall

Dear mom and dad,

It's been a great week here in Gresham! I love this area and I'm sad to say that I'll probably be kicked out of it come transfer time. I feel like I just got here. Five months flew by! We have had a stellar week. We have taught a few awesome lessons and been able to find a few new investigators. For sure one of the highlights though, was that I got invited to attend the baptism of one of my best friends in the whole wide world. She was one of my first lessons as a missionary and I've never had more fun at someone's house. I've never met a family more similar to my own and who have treated me like one of their own. She decided to be baptized and messaged me on Facebook and asked if I would say the opening prayer at her baptism. So I got someone to take me down there and we went to her baptism! It felt so good to see the family again! Her baptism was simple. It consisted of an opening prayer, the baptism ordinance, testimonies, and a closing prayer. I have a testimony that sometimes less really is more. When I saw her I just was overcome with joy. As I watched her get baptized i realized that if this was the only person I saw get baptized, this entire mission would still be worth it. If she was the only person to let me in her door, it would still be worth it. I felt like the luckiest missionary in the world that I got to be there. I also gained a sure knowledge that God knows me. This is where I am supposed to be. If someone would've told me before my mission that I would find a family that would mean as much to me as my own family, I never would have believed them, but I have come to know that our God is a loving God. He has blessed me more than I could ever imagine. I was really hoping I would get called to some exotic country to serve my mission, but now if I had the chance to choose, I would choose the OPM without hesitation. I serve the best people in the world here. I have also learned that we aren't called to a place. We are called to people IN PLACE of the Savior. He loves us all equally. We serve a really cool God, ya know that? This is the true church. It's gotta be. No mere man could have called me to this specific mission without receiving inspiration from God to do so. It just couldn't have been this perfect if it wasn't from God, and if it was from God, that means our prophet is His mouthpiece on the earth today. After she was baptized, we each had the opportunity to bear our testimony. Mind you, she only invited about 8 people to her baptism. If you know me at all, you know that I always have something to say, but in this instance I was completely speechless. I am so humbled by the grace and mercy of God. I love Him. After the baptism the family offered to take me and my ride to dinner. It was so much fun just to spend time with them. I love them! The rest of the week was awesome too! We taught a few sweet lessons and had a lot of ice and rain. Missions are the best. They are just the best things to ever be invented. Serve God. You won't regret it. Thanks for the package family! I love you all! 

Love, Sister Udall 

Snow and Freezing Rain

Hey dad! 

I can't believe Ryan is such a manly man! I should've known! And Kate is the cutest tiny girl in the world. I'm sad that mom feels sick but I bet she will be athletic about being ball.

We had a great week! So I'm not sure if I told you this, but last week we were in an apartment complex and we saw this guy named Timothy that we always see. He's never mean to us, just kind of not happy to see us around. Or so we thought. I was feeling really gutsy this particular hour of the day, so when we passed by him I said hey Timothy! Have you ever talked to the sister missionaries before? He said no, so I said would you like to this Wednesday? I expected him to turn us down cause he usually isn't too fond of us, but he thought about it for a minute and said yeah I think I'd like to. So we taught him this week In a members home that lives in the same complex. We taught him the restoration and he committed to be baptized. It was amazing! It strengthened my testimony of talking to everyone. Don't think for a minute that they wouldn't accept. Don't make that decision for them, let them decide cause you never know, they might be prepared! So we are really excited about him.

We also had a crazy storm this week. Snow and this little thing call freezing rain. Which is terrible. I was on an exchange in sandy and we basically got snowed in the apartment. We got cabin fever really bad so we started walking to an appointment. Right before we knocked on the door she cancelled and said she was stuck across town. So that really bit a doughnut. We started to walk back and I felt like we should knock on this door. So we did and the lady let us right in! Which never happens. Turns out her and her husband had previously taken missionary lessons and have read the Book of Mormon, doctrine and covenants, and pearl of great price. Crazy huh? The sandy sisters will start teaching them now. It was a super awesome! I better go, but I love you guys so much! 



Listening to the Promptings

Dear mom, 

I can't believe what happened to Boey! Poor little guy! Will he be healed by basketball season? I hope so! I'll be praying for him. I hope your chemo went good. I'm sad you have to go through it. It breaks my heart to think of it.

We had a pretty good week. So we had to push Scotty's baptism to this next week, which is fine with me. He's doing so great and progressing really well. I'm so proud of him and Lindsay, because their focus is primarily on the temple. That's their whole goal is to get there. I'm so excited for them and I love them very much. We taught Tina this week and she received her answer about the Book of Mormon! She knows it's true, and wants to be baptized! She is praying about the December 13th, so we will follow up on that this next week.

We had a cool experience this week. We were on our way to the church building for a meeting when we saw this guy riding his bike and wheeling a stroller behind him. He looked like he was struggling and I felt like I should turn around, but we were on our way to a meeting and I didn't want to be late. But then I remembered a story President Monson told, about how he ignored the prompting to go to the hospital to see a friend because he was in a meeting, and his friend ended passing away.  So we turned around and stopped and found out he had already been riding for almost an hour and still had awhile to go! So we offered to take the stroller and meet him where he was going. So we went down to the gas station to wait for him and while we were there we gave out two book of Mormons and found a potential investigator and then gave the guy we helped one too! It was awesome! I'm about to go on a hike right now, so I'll have to get going, but I want you to know how much I love you all! I love my mission. It's the best thing I've ever done ever. 

Love you! 

Sister Udall 



To get to the other side!

Hey Mama!

I got your package! That was the best thing that has ever happened to me! You are such a blessing! and I got an awesome letter from Grandpa and Grandma. I cried. It was beautiful and just what I needed. We had a great week! We taught a young kid and his brother this week. His brother is only 6, so we're not really teaching him, but he participates in all the lessons. This week we taught about baptism. At the end of the lesson, to review, we asked him why do we get baptized. and then he blurted out, to get to the other side! hahaha I died laughing! its really true though. In John 3:5 Christ teaches us that to enter the kingdom of God, we must be baptized. Baptism is such a blessing! missionaries don't go out and invite people to be baptized because we want there to be more Mormons. Our work is not about statistics. We baptize people so that they can have full access to the atonement. Without baptism, we cant be fully clean from our sins and "no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God." We literally get baptized so that we can get to the other side. It was a cool lesson to learn from two little boys. After the lesson their mom asked if we wanted to carve pumpkins with them. She said she had bought two just for us. well how do you turn down an offer like that? So we carved pumpkins with them too! It was great, great fun. This week seemed like it went by so fast that I hardly know what else to say. We did have a miracle with this lady we have been teaching. She had been struggling to quit smoking. She missed two baptismal dates already and she took it as a sign from God that she wasn't supposed to get baptized. So we reasoned with her. We taught her about one of my favorite things in the world: priesthood blessings. I have received many over the years from many amazing men! my dad, Guy Phelps, Bishop Bluth, President Morby, President Nally of the MTC, and many others. I am so thankful that the Priesthood authority of God is on the earth today. I know its real, and Tina is proof! she used to smoke a lot of cigarettes a day. I wont tell you how many, but its a lot. In just a couple short weeks she has cut down to less than five a day. That is unheard of. un thought of. many would say its impossible! I know that she has been strengthened and she has seen a sure sign of the power of God. If there is anything you're struggling with physically, emotionally, or mentally, get a priesthood blessing! they help! I want to say more, but I don't know what else to say. We did a lot of finding and tracting in the rain! It's gettin' wet up in here! It's a lot of fun though and I'm loving every minute of it. Mom I love you so so much! You are so strong and I know you'll be athletic about beating cancer. Cancer ain't got nothin' on you girl! I don't worry very much because I have been comforted by the knowledge that we are sealed in the temple as a family. God promised us that we could all stay together for eternity, and we promised that we would try our best every day to live worthy of that blessing. I'd say we got the good end of the deal for sure! love you mama! I love dad too! and baby boey and tiny kate! 

love, Sister Udall

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!