"You Never Know"

September 22, 2014

So this week was a hard one...but also AMAZING!! We had so much that has happened!!

I know that Heavenly Father is so mindful of me and all of the people we meet. That's the bottom line. And I know that he makes so much more out of what we give to him.  I was a little frustrated this week that what I was giving wasn't enough. I kept thinking, "If only I could do this better..."  Well, that's definitely one kind of attitude that will bring me down faster than anything. No good. And by the end of the week, I found myself listening more to God's opinion of me rather than the negative opinions I could think up.  But the reason why I share all of this is because I hope you know that the gospel helps us to understand that we are loved and that we are infinitely more than our weaknesses and our limitations. As we work with our strengths, The Lord magnifies them.  I realized this more and more as the week went on. In Relief Society on Sunday, they showed us a video called "You Never Know". It was about a mom going through her busy, crazy, hectic day. She felt pretty defeated by the end of the day.  But I love how she realizes that her perspective of the day wasn't the only perspective. Others saw all the good that she HAD done. Anyways, you will have to watch it to really understand what I'm trying to explain. And it's good for anyone, even if you aren't a mom :)

So that is my simple update for the week. I know that God makes so much more out of our efforts as long as we are willing and ready to serve him and give him our heart!  That's what he needs! I've realized as I put my faith and trust in The Lord, there isn't as much need to worry or ever feel down.  He has it all under control, and we will see His hand in our lives as we turn to Him.

I read this verse of scripture today in the Book of Mormon that really puts things into perspective for me..."But The Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen." (1 Nephi 9:6)

Life is so good! Hope it is for you too!

Love you all!!!

Sister Udall

An Unforgettable Weekend!

September 15, 2014

Well, this week was great! The highlights of our week were this weekend! It was an eventful one!

On Saturday we got to go to the Temple Visitor's Center with our investigator. He is so excited to be baptized soon! The temple was amazing! We got to watch a video at the temple visitor center about President Monson's life.  What really stood out to me was how he always ministers to the one that is in need, no matter how inconvenient the situation might be. And I love his example of always following promptings.  He is truly an amazing man! If you haven't seen the movie, it is called, "On the Lord's Errand". So good!

Sunday morning was an interesting one...I couldn't sleep all night and then I realized that it was because I was sick! Sister Adair was sick as well! We both had food poisoning! We mustered up the energy to go to our ward correlation meeting. While at our ward mission leader's house, I was so uncomfortable. I needed water so badly! Well, I didn't have the heart to ask my ward mission leader for water, so I just sat there and prayed for strength! Then my prayer was answered! His wife walked in the room and I got up and asked her if I could have some water. She ended up giving us medicine which helped so much! We went back home and slept before church. Then we had a cute new family come to church for the first time!  All the energy was taken out of us by the end of church.  We actually had to leave early and go back and sleep. I haven't slept so well ever! Then we got up and went to the two lessons we had planned. It was truly a miracle that we were able to do all that we did that day!  The Lord truly strengthens us when we are doing his work!!!! This scripture pretty much explains what got us through yesterday! :)

33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. (Moroni 7:33)

And I know that God answers our prayers and helps us through other people! :)  So grateful we are all here to help one another out in this crazy world!

Remember God loves you!

Love,

Sister Udall

Repentance is real and WONDERFUL!

September 8, 2014

So I feel that there is a lot of catching up to do...I have had some really next experiences in the last two weeks. I didn't get to share some of them with you last week and I have a little bit more time this week :) 

 

So two Sundays ago, Sister Akin and I were out working and it started raining really hard and then all of the sudden there was a thunder and lightning storm.  Sister Akin was really afraid of the lightning. I wasn't too phased, but it was starting to get really bad.  (She has had not so good experiences with lightning before.)  Well, we get in our car and are driving to the next place that we are going to when we hear the thunder and see the lighting at the same time! I also saw sparks from where the lightning had hit! It was a very surreal experience.  I was amazed at that moment with how we were kept safe! The place we were going was in the same neighborhood as where the lightning had struck.  So for a few minutes, we sat in the car and sang hymns. It was so peaceful to sing hymns amidst the crazy crazy lightning storm going on.  The Spirit truly calms our heart.

 

Then on Monday we got to go to the Temple!! I don't think I had sent a picture last week, so here it is! :)  It was a lot of fun to be with Sister Taylor. 

 

Tuesday was our last District Meeting with our Fort Belvoir District.  There were a lot of missionaries being transferred.  We had all stayed together for two transfers...quite a long time!   Tuesday we also took naps! We hadn't done that in a while.  I realized how needed rest and relaxation is for out own bodies. We can't give of ourselves if we are worn down and not feeling well. So grateful that we chose to take the time to nap during lunch :) Here is one of my favorite quotes from a talk that I read this week from President Holland:

 

"Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicianspromise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill."

 

Wednesday was a great day...........our investigator Brian quit smoking! :) 

He is so excited to stop! Repenting and living the gospel is truly joyous! He is a great example of that. He truly has a willing heart to become the best person he can. And he has recognized that it comes through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so proud of him!!!   We took a picture with the envelope that we decorated for the "no smoking program" and the bag with his cigarettes and lighter in it! Such a happy day ...especially because he was so happy :)

 

Thursday was TRANSFERS!!! Sadly, Sister Akin left. I will really miss my running buddy! We had a good time! Now my companion is Sister Adair! She is fantastic! We have already had so much fun together.  I know I will learn a lot from her. We are both similar in a lot of ways...fun fact, she only has sisters (just like me!). And we love talking to Hispanics and practicing our Spanish! She makes me laugh a lot! And it was funny because Sister Akin ended up going to Sister Adair's last area. They switched!

 

Sister Udall and Sister Adair

I've learned a lot this week. Like I talked about last week, I'm learning to really follow the Spirit. Thursday night we were driving to our next place when I felt like we should go to Rita's house and Joselin's house. Well, I knew that I would definitely regret it if I didn't go, so I started driving that way. It was crazy because it didn't make logical sense at all. But I'm so glad I followed that prompting. Joselin's husband was outside when we got there and Rita came outside and started walking her dogs. The Lord truly leads us to the places we need to be and to the people we need to see.

 

Saturday I leaned another lesson about following the Spirit! We got a call from a member who had lunch for us. All we needed to do was to go and pick it up! So we drove all the way up to Alexandria and got it. On our way home, I had a prompting to turn around and go see this lady named Agartha.  Well, I justified it and said that we needed to go home and do the rest of our weekly planning.....  Not good excuses. Well, we got all the way home and I said a prayer and basically repented for not following the prompting. We got back in the car and drove all the way back up there! Repentance is real!! When we got there she wasn't home, but we called her and she said she would be there in about 30 minutes! I remembered another person that we could go visit. She was home and we had a neat visit about learning how to recognize the Spirit.  Definitely not a coincidence! Then we got to go back and visit with that sister.  I felt so much better after turning around and going back to see them. It just felt right. It was hard and a little humiliating to tell my companion that we needed to turn all the way back around, but it was worth it! I know that God wants us to repent so that we can receive all that he has waiting for us! I know that repentance is possible because of Christ!

 

Saturday night we had this wonderful experience. It was 8:45 or so and we went to go check on a less active. On the way there, we said hi to a man on his porch.  His name is Kim. He told us that he was a member, but he hadn't gone to church since he lived in another city nearby.  Well, he told us that he wanted to come to church! We got his number and we gave him ours. We were pretty amazed that he was there when we were!! (We had tried knocking on his door a couple of days earlier, but no response.)

 

Then Sunday morning we got a call at 7am. It was from Kim!

 He said that the plans he thought he had had fallen through, so he wanted to come to church! We called a member and they gave him a ride to church! It was a miracle! He bore his testimony. It was really sweet. He also said that he felt really good coming back. He hadn't felt the Spirit this strongly in a while. It feels good to be a small helper in God's enormous work for all of his children!!

 

Well, that was that for this week! I hope you all have a great week and remember that God is there and loves us!

 

Love,

Sister Udall

Small and Simple Things...Following the Spirit

September 1, 2014

Hello dearest family and friends!!

Can you believe it is September?! I surely can't. Time flies by!     And this week flew by. I'm not exactly sure what all happened this week. There were so many great things that happened, but I'm not sure what to write as of now. But here I go! I'll start with a brief summary of some of the things we did/things that I learned...

Monday after I emailed we did a sisters sports day where we met up at the stake center and played basketball and volleyball. It was a fun time! I haven't played sports in a while. Sister Akin and I like to run outside, but that's the extent of our sports, etc.  I love all of these sisters so much!!

Tuesday we had a wonderful District meeting about focusing on the most important things.  That seemed to be the theme of the week for me...Where are your priorities? What are you putting first?  We talked a lot about making sure that we aren't being distracted from this great and wonderful work!  Satan tries to distract us in any way possible. Even if we aren't focused on home or the obvious distractions, he can find a way to try and distract us. It was a testimony builder to me that we always need to be aware of what we are doing and continually choose to do the right thing.

Wednesday I learned another good lesson about putting the promptings of the Spirit first!! ALWAYS!! Sister Akin and I had made a plan to do something. It wasn't anything that was bad or against the rules. But we both had the feeling that we shouldn't do it. Well, after the fact we both realized that we had both had the feeling to not do it, but we assumed the other person wanted to. NO GOOD!! I learned that no matter what we think the other person's reaction will be, we just need to speak up and say, "this is what I'm feeling". Let's think about what God wants us to do. Let's follow the Spirit! So I'm grateful for that lesson I learned. :)

I also learned this week that as we do the small and simple things, everything else falls into place! That is just how God works! He works by the small and simple things.

These scriptures say it all...

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

(Alma 37:6-7)

Oh, and we also got a phone call on Wednesday from another set of missionaries with an opportunity to start teaching someone. We were really excited! As we were driving home, I had this feeling that we needed to let the Elders teach this man. Well, since I had learned my lesson earlier that day I quickly told my companion and we talked about it. We both felt good about letting the Elders teach him. I felt so much better about following the Spirit :) And the Elders had a fantastic time with this man! God really knows what he is doing!

Friday and Saturday we did a lot of service. I love serving!!! That is that. It brings so much joy to my heart.  There are so many people that are in so much need of help and of someone to show them love and compassion. How blessed we are to have so much! We can share that with others :)

Today I got to go to the temple with one of my past companions Sister Taylor! :) We went to the temple together last time. It was a really good time, and I loved being inside the temple. It is truly a place of peace. I gained a greater testimony that God loves us! He loves us because we are his children....and he wants to do everything that he can to bless us!

Well, those are my thoughts from the week. I know it was very sporadic, but it was a great week!

LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!

Sister Udall

Highlights of the Week!

August 25, 2014

This week flew by! When do they not?  

There were so many miracles, ups and downs as well, so here I go...

Monday was a crazy preparation day. We had to tell ourselves that it wasn't even a preparation day because we were doing so much. The only time that we had to help clean someone's house was on Monday afternoon.  So we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Then we vacuumed our car so that it was ready for Zone Conference on Wednesday. And we ate a quick dinner and headed out to do our grocery shopping before 6. Craziness. Then we headed over to a member's home to teach them the Restoration. After that, we went to someone who joined the church two years ago, but hasn't been coming to church. She had just gotten home and seemed a litle flustered. She made some silly comment about the dishes doing themselves, and then I felt this force propelling me off of the couch and walking me over into the kitchen to do the dishes. It was fun! We talked and did the dishes for her. That is one way to have a lesson.

Tuesday was district meetings, service at the food pantry, and we finally saw one of our investigators that we haven't seen in a while. Miracels!

Wednesday was Zone Conference! There was a lot of preparation that went into that. It took two Elders to try and get out bike rack off of our car so that we could wash it and have it ready for Zone Conference. Then we had to prepare a little thought on love. It was a really wonderful conference. I learned a lot, especially just how important it is that we are doing the Lord's will and nothing else. I just know that this gospel is true!! That night was amazing! We had a wonderful lesson with Petris, the father of this family from the Cameroon that we are teaching. He is so humble and willing to learn. Then we had a lesson with Brian, and met a new lady who wants to come to church. She fed us enchiladas from El Salvador. It was a good night!

Thursday was great as well! We went on exchanges. I stayed in Fort Belvoir with Sister Watson. We had a great time. One thing that I learned from the exchagne is that the Spirit is so present in our lives. I could feel him leading me to where I needed to go or what I needed to say.  We had 10 minutes before dinner, and we went to go check on this one investigator Isata. She said come back on Sunday, but was running out the door for work. We haven't been able to see her in weeks! Miracles everywhere. The small and simple ones. We also had a really amazing lesson with Alexis. She read the Book of Mormon this week and learned exactly what we had planned to teach her! When we do the small and simple things that God has asked, we learn what His will is for us! I'm convinced more and more that the miracels come by the little things. 

Sister Udall and Sister Watson.

Friday was crazy! We had a wonderful lesson with a member named Jacky. I love teaching and talking about the Plan of Salvation! Sadly, I haven't been teaching it a lot. But this week we did!

Saturday was great! We got to help a sister do her visiting teacing this week! It is amazing to see how inspired visiting teaching is! The sister that came with us is perfect for this sister that we visit. God knows us invidividually.

And Sunday was the cherry on top!  Alexis came to church!! She was nervous, but really seemed to like it.  I felt such a peace at church. All the talks were exactly what I needed to hear. The past couple of Sundays have been really hard for me. I'm not sure why. But this was a testimony builder for me that even when it seems hard to come to church and be there, it gets better! Sundays like this come and we really feel the Savior healing us. We went back to see Isata, but saw her sister Vera instead. Sister Akin really needed a glass of water, so she asked if she could get one really quick. Vera let us in and then she voiced her concern about how Mormons worship Joseph Smith. We answered her concern and cleared that up for her. She said that next time she would listen and that she would tell her sisters that she was wrong and misinformed. That is a miracle!! We helped Isata and her sister Sarah out by talking to Vera and helping her know that we aren't crazy!  We also taught Petis' wife, Edith. She loved the Plan of Salvation and they are going to be a forever family and go to the temple someday! I just know it! We also got to have a great little visit with a member in our ward. She was so excited that we were coming. It really touched her heart. We both felt prompted to go, so we did! Miracles happened!

I'm all out of time, but love you all so much!!!
Love,

Sister Udall

Be of good cheer!

August 18, 2014

This week was great!
I took the challenge that I talked about in last weeks letter and saw so many answers to my prayers. As I was willing to be there for the Lord and be a ready instrument in his hands, I found so many ways that I could serve others in small and simple ways.

I really loved this because I truly felt like I was doing the Savior's work! I know that I always am, becasue I am on a misson, but I felt more Christ-like this week becasue my focus on service and love for everyone.  And I've realized that we don't have to feel super strong or full of energy to be an answer to someone's prayers. Let me explain why...

This week we went on exchagnes with the Mount Vernon Sisters!! I got to go to Mount Vernon again...this time with Sister Ellis! She has been feeling really exhausted lately, and I was especially tired that day.  So at the beginning of our exchange I told her... "Sister our goal for this exchange is to relax and refuel."  She said that that is exactly what she needed.  And I knew that was what I needed as well. God knew that he could put a tired Sister Ellis and Sister Udall together because they both needed it. I joked with her that "God qualifies the called". He called me to go to Mount Vernon and knew that she would need time to relax, so he wore me out the previous day!  haha It is funny and amazing how things work out. 

So we worked all day, but took it at a pace that we knew wouldn't kill us. And the most amazing things happened!! We helped Glenda (someone that I taught when I was there!!) clean her apartment. It was amazing to see the progress we had made in a little amoun of time. We also helped a woman bring groceries upstairs...and she happened to be someone that the sisters had talked to before!! She said she was absolutely exhausted when we came over and offered help and was grateful that we came.  

(A little side note: It's funny though how everyone  we ask for help initially says no, but once we insist and start helping they let us do it and eventually thank us.  At the beginning of my mission I was way more afraid to help when they said no at first. But then I realized that we just need to "First observe, then serve."  Sometimes we need to just jump in!!)

We also helped an older woman carry a bicycle up three flights of stairs. (Apparently that was the third day in a row that they had helped that woman). And we helped another lady carry up groceries!! The real miracle behind that was that the sisters had met her at the grocery store and she wants us to come back!  Then a few minutes later, we had stopped to talk to a lady and we were able to take out her neighbor's trash and drop a letter in the mailbox.  All of those things were opportunities that were given to us. It was miraculous! And I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father let me be a part of those tender moments. 

We also had some neat experiences a few days later.  We went to check on a friend of a member and when she opened the door her kids were folding laundry. So we just jumped in there and helped them out! Then we just listened to all that this mom is going through and decided that we would all fast together! 

I'm learning through all of this that no matter what we have, the Lord can make miracles out of it! And as we exercise faith and put our trust in Him, we feel more peace than we ever would if we tried to take on these problems by ourselves. There are so many hard hard things people have to go through. And the world isn't an easy or fair place to live in. 

This is the one scripture that brought me the most peace this week: 

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might havepeace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Remember, Christ has overcome the world! We can have full faith and trust in him!!

Love you all!!
Sister Udall

Oh, What a Wonderful Week!!

August 11, 2014

I hope everyone had a fantastic, happy, and joyous week!! It truly has been a great week because God is a God of miracles! He still blesses his children! And I have seen so many instances this past week where he has done that.

Here is just one simple story.  Last night, we went to a lesson and as we were walking back to the car I saw a man getting out from his car. We both started walking over that way and we said hi to him. He was really nice and we started talking to him about who we are and what we have to share.  He opened up a little bit and shared with us how he is not sure which church is right. He has been to a lot, but has noticed that they all contradict and say that they are the right church. As we kept talking, we taught about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how Joseph Smith had a lot of the same questions as he had. He was so sincere in knowing what God wanted him to do.  At the end of our time together, he thanked us for talking to him. He said that he had  really enjoyed the time he spent talking to us. He said that he noticed us talking with a man outside of his apartment complex last week. Once he said that, I remembered him as well! I had seen him pass by us, and had wanted to talk to him, but I was in the middle of a conversation. I was almost awkward about it because I went to talk to him, but stopped myself.  And apparently he had noticed that I had wanted to talk to him. So Jordan, this is the guy's name, told us that he promised himself he would talk to us the next time he saw us! Not more than a week later, we talked to him! SERIOUSLY SO MIRACULOUS!!! I'm so grateful that we took the time to talk to him. I'm continually learning how important every person is! Everyone has a story. Everyone is loved in God's eyes!

Simply put, the lesson that I learned this week was that when we focus on others and helping them everything else falls into place.

We went on two exchanges this week and saw so many miracles come from it!  I am in awe about how when we give Christ our heart (as imperfectly as we give it to Him), he takes it and gives us all of His heart and blesses us way more than we can ever serve Him!! It is amazing to see the amount of love that he has for us!

One thing that I love about exchanges is that I see so much greatness in these sisters! They are truly wonderful!! I just hope they know how wonderful they are and how much God knows they can do! They have so much potential because they are God's daughters.  And while I was thinking about how much God loves them I thought to myself...He loves me this much too!! I shouldn't sell myself short and put myself down all the time. I need to remember that I am no exception to his love! None of us are an exception to his love! I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to feel of a little bit of the love that God has for us all. And I know that has come from service.

I don't usually do this, but here is a challenge for the week (if you wish to accept it):

Pray for opportunities to serve someone every single day. Pray to recognize those opportunities to serve.

And the second one (which can sometimes be harder) is to accept the opportunity to be served. If someone wants to serve you, let them do it!

You will be surprised at how much you feel God's love for you and others as you do both of these things. I know I was surprised!

I hope that you are each doing well and seeing God's hand in your

life. I know it's there!

Love you all so much!

Sister Udall

Sister Udall on an exchange with Sister Harris.

Sister Udall with Sister Fakatou for an exchange.