So little time, so much to talk about. The miracles are just everywhere!!!!!!!! My "cup runneth over" as Brother Davis would say :) (He is the member that we live with!)
I will just start typing away and hopefully I get everything in this letter...here I go!!
We had a lesson on Tuesday with Jason and his little 4 year old girl Ella Grace. This time we talked all about Jesus Christ. We were planning on using lots of pictures to keep her attention. And we wanted to talk about the Atonement. So we went in there, and she LOVED the picture of Jesus Christ holding the little lamb. (It's the one we use on the restoration pamphlet..one of my favorites too!) And when we told her it was Jesus Christ her eyes got really big. As we showed her all of the pictures she just kept going back to the picture where Christ was holding the Lamb. I just loved seeing her face fixed on Christ. The spirit was so strong during that entire lesson! I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the sweet spirit of peace and hope that he brings into every single one of our lives. When we asked the dad if he wanted to get baptized, he said yes, not just a "down the road" sometime! It was such a neat moment!! I love being a missionary! And then on Sunday, we walk into the chapel and I start talking to some lady that I have never seen before. Then all the sudden (I don't know what got me to turn around) but I see the dad sitting there in his suit and tie all ready for church! We hadn't even planned on him coming! The surprise showed in my face. He said, don't be that surprised to see me here! Well I was, and I am so grateful that he came! I got all excited and told him that, "You will LOVE today, it's the Primary Program!" Well he looked at me funny and said, what is that supposed to mean. Whoops! Hadn't told him about that...but I briefly explained and he said "OK". The Primary Program was seriously the most spiritual Sacrament meeting I have been to in a while. The spirit was SO STRONG and the testimonies were so simple, yet so powerful. Every time one of those sweet children went up and bore their testimony I knew that what they were saying was true! And I knew that they knew it was true as well! They sounded like angels during all the primary songs, and primary songs are my favorite!! And oh, I just felt so blessed to be sitting there soaking up the Spirit!!!! Little children are so close to the Spirit! And after the meeting I turned to our investigator and said, "Did you like it?" He said yes and kind of brushed it off. (He is a pretty reserved guy though.) Then I asked, "What made you come to church today?" He said, well if I am going to get anything out of you coming, I figured I better put in my part." That pretty much brought me to tears. He really does want to learn, and he does want to have the blessings of the gospel in his life!!! And I know that Heavenly Father really wanted him here on the Primary Program Sunday, even if the sisters weren't pestering him about it this week. haha He is so mindful of all of us!!!!!!!!!! :)
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| Sister Rachel Udall with Angela at Trunk or Treat! |
We also had a Halloween themed dinner with some members and JC and Glenn on Thursday. It was so fun! There was a menu with lots of fun names for the items...we had spaghetti and meatballs (worms and eyeballs), a salad that looked like a clown (something to make you laugh or cry), breadsticks (which they called snakes) and "witches brew" or limeade with dry ice for added effects. It was so fun to be with everyone and enjoy dinner!!! I wish I had gotten a picture!!! Sorry!
We also taught a lesson to two guys on Friday night from Egypt. I am coming to love Egypt and Arabic. I want to learn it someday. It is such a pretty language! But we were planning to teach a lesson to the Egyptian family that we have taught before. Well, they both weren't home but this other guy was. It was clear that he didn't speak a lot of English. We tried to teach him using pictures, but it didn't work out so well. Then he gets on the phone and calls up his friend so that he can translate what we were saying. He hands me the phone to talk to this man...long story short. He came over and we ended up teaching him as well. His name is Peter and he is so prepared!!!! He had to teach the entire Restoration lesson because he was translating. Every once and a while his friend would get off topic, and Peter would say, "Let's get back to the lesson." It was so neat to see how he really wanted to listen and learn more! We got to read from the Bible with them...in Arabic. It is so cool to use the scriptures. They are true and such a powerful tool in teaching others...including myself!
Some sad news, we are no longer teaching Degi from Mongolia :( He said that he couldn't believe it. He wanted to give us all of the pamphlets back, but we made him at least keep the Mongolian Book of Mormon as a gift. We will miss him so much!!!
We had to get an oil change this week...that was an adventure! But it was really cool. As we were in the waiting room we were trying to study scriptures. It was rather difficult because the tv was blasting. One of the employees came over and asked us if we would like it muted. That was so considerate of him, and we got to share with him about how we don't watch tv, etc. It was a neat missionary experience. And then there was another man that was walking by and we smiled and said hello. He then looked at us and said, "The world would be a better place if everyone was as nice as you two." That made our day! And then when he came by I jumped on the opportunity and gave him a pass along card and said, "This is why we are so happy! We know that you will feel something as you go on the website!" I couldn't resist! I hope he does!!!!
So Presdient Riggs shared something with us sisters (at the Sister's Conference this past Friday) that is starting to change my attitude and it makes me feel more hopeful...it should do the same for everyone! In 2 Nephi 25:23 it talks about being saved by grace "after all we can do". Sounds daunting, right? ALL we can do. That is a lot, and I feel that I can always do more. Well, Elder Christofferson talked about how the word "after" really means "beyond or above". So when your read it like this, "it is by grace we are saved beyond/above all we can do". We are never going to put in a certain amount of effort that saves us, but Christ saves us during our difficulties and strengths. Grace comes in when we are trying our best, but it might not be our "all". I mean everyday I think I could have done more on this, or that, or this... But after he said that I thought, well maybe at that moment that was all I could give, and during the lesson the Spirit testified to them that it was true even though it wasn't perfect. I mean, as long as I am keeping the commandments and doing all that I can then it's ok! Grace is applied along the way during the hard times! Hope that makes sense!! I know that Christ is so anxious to help us and let us use his strength and mercy. We just need to have faith, humility, and diligence! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that he is here for all of us!!!! HE LOVES US ALL!
I think my arms are about to fall off I wrote so fast, but I wanted to get it all in there! This week was wonderful! It was full of lots of ups and downs, but it was wonderful!!! I hope everyone has a great Halloween!! You are all in my prayers!
Love you all!!
Sister Udall
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| Sister Udall Visiting with friends at a Senior Citizen's home. |
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