Sister Rachel Udall: D.C. South Mission Possible, Week 1

Dear Family and Friends,

Rachel's email came today along with 6 pictures. Most of the pictures are from the MTC and one is from the day she arrived in D.C. The captions are my words. I was thrilled to get some pictures she took.

FYI, Rachel's 21st birthday is June 24th. Please keep this a "blog secret," I never told you it was her birthday! What happens on the blog stays on the blog. She likes to keep things very low key and not draw attention to herself. Just thought you might like to know in case you want to drop her a birthday note.

Lots of love,
Kristin

Hello!!!

Rachel's 1st day at the MTC (I think)
This picture makes me smile and I just want to hug her!

So I have just completed my first full week in Virginia!! The time really flies! The days are long, but I can't believe it is already p-day again.

This week was tough in some ways, but it was rewarding as well!! Here are some of the highlights...

Monday was a good day! We were out trying to contact some people that we had talked to the previous week (either given them a pamphlet to read, a Book of Mormon, or said to come back at a better time), and we weren't having too much success. Then we remembered an older couple that we had been trying to contact last week. We decided to give them a try. Well, we were in luck! We knocked on the door and the wife was so excited that we were there! She is the nicest ever, and was so excited to sit down and talk with us. We were able to teach her about the restoration and Joseph Smith. She really liked the story of Joseph Smith and said that it made sense that God would also give us prophets today, just like in times of old. It was really neat to teach a lesson, and not expected. We haven't taught very many lessons here, but this week was a good week!

Tuesday we went to district meeting. That was really good, and it was fun to see fellow missionaries. We got to teach another lesson, to a friend of one of the members in our ward. It was so neat to see how much the members really bring to the lesson. The member family practically taught the lesson!

Wednesday I got to go to a meeting called "New Expectations"...for all of the newbees like me!! It was fun to see everyone from the MTC. I ended up driving there, and I am glad that we had a GPS!! The roads are so crazy here! I don't know if I mentioned that in my last letter, but they are! They will have streets that will stop and then pick up 3 blocks later. All the streets are windy, and I never know which direction i am going. But everything is getting more familiar. They also have really similar street names. Like Turnpike Rd and Turnpike Ct and Turnpike Ln...all different! I'm just not used to it yet. haha My companion and I don't have a GPS yet, so it was a BLESSING to have one when we went to this meeting. We did service at a alternative youth home where we organize thier donations that we get. That was fun, and I love to organize so it was almost therapeutic! That night we taught another lesson, and our mission president came!! He is amazing, and it was so great to have his counsel and encouragement. That night for dinner we had a member feed us, but she bought this nice, expensive tray of bbq food from a restraunt because she didn't have time to feed us. It was HUGE! I thought it was so funny to see this huge tray of food and just two missionaries sitting in a park eating all that food. We are still working on the leftovers, but it was delicious!

Thursday we did service at a members house where they have a retirement home in thier basement. There are the three cutest ladies there that we talked to and played games with. They are very funny! We played "guess that song" with them. Both Sister Hansen and I would play the piano and they would guess what song it was. They were way good at that! We also played pictionary. I am excited to get to know them better! We had another lesson that went well! It was so exciting to teach people and help them understand more about the scriptures. We were reading in the Book of Mormon with her, and it was so neat to see how the scriptures can really help people understand what this gospel is all about!

Friday we had dinner with one sister who is just coming back to church! She is so kind and sweet, and I love her so much already!!!

Saturday and Sunday we visited quite a few members. It was fun to get to know them more. Our ward has so many wonderful people in it! I am grateful for the support that we do have. There are some members that are so busy, but still make time out of thier busy lives to help us out!

All in all, this week was great! I am definitely learning PATIENCE and HUMILITY every single day. I am also learning to just relax and to really focus on the people. Sister Hansen is so good about helping me take a step back and enjoy the moment!! She said that her trainer reminds her a lot of me, so it was meant to be that now I am her trainee!! Heavenly Father really does know us all!! I know that He is watching out for me, and everyone else!! He prepared Sister Hansen to be my trainer, and she is such a wonderful companion!!!

I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us so much, and more than we can imagine! I know that His hand is in all of our lives! I know that He loved us enough to send His son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for us so that we can all return to Him someday! I know that with all my heart! I know that we are all precious sons and daughters of God! I know that missionary work is so important, and I hope to be the best servant I can be!

I hope that everything back home is wonderful and well!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love,

Sister Udall