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