Cork 11/30/2015

It’s been a crazy week! I can’t believe it’s almost December!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. I miss having Thanksgiving dinner. All that Ireland has is weekend Black Friday sales and the whole city of Cork has been really busy this week.

I went to the Blarney Castle last week.  It was awesome! I got some really good pictures! I was terrified because to kiss the stone you have hang upside down while the guy holds your legs so you don't fall and die.

I went on exchanges with other Elders three times last week. It’s really cool to travel around southern Ireland a lot. On Tuesday, I went with Elder Hansen, one of the zone leaders. He is such a great leader and helped me work on my goal of simplicity.

On Friday, I went to Tralee to go on exchanges with Elder Beveridge. He is so awesome and he gave me his ukulele so now I have 2!

On Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Christiansen who is from Canada. We taught a really awesome restoration lesson to a French man named Fredrick!  I could understand some of his French, but didn’t get to speak any.

I am really enjoying the food here. I learned how to make something called a Samoan. It is just Raman noodles and scrambled eggs combined and put on a sandwich!

I might stay in Cork at the next transfer, but wherever the President wants me to go, that’s where I’ll go. I would love to stay in Cork!

Yesterday the Church launched the 2015 Christmas initiative with the new video. I invite you to take a look at christmas.mormon.org and think of someone you could share this with. The Birth of Savior is center of Christmas and is the ultimate gift because we have the chance to live with our Heavenly Father again. The whole world should know of the Birth of Christ and how great a gift that is. That has always been my favorite part of Christmas and I want others to know of the Joy I feel from it!

I love and miss you all and hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers and mail. I love rereading letters that I get in the mail because they make me happy.  Have a great week!

                                                                      Blarney Castle

                                                                 At the Blarney Castle                   

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Cork 11/23/2016

Family,

It’s been a wonderful week with some ups and downs.

We had a record of dinner appointments this week which was 3. We usually don't get that many but it was amazing to go and visit with the church members!

My companion is good and he speaks English well.

It’s getting colder so I have to dress warmer! I bought a winter hat. I also bought an inexpensive backpack because all the other missionaries have them and it supports my back better. I use it when I am out.

Elder Cook traded me his Ukulele before he left so I’ve been learning some church songs on it. I can play “Come Thou Fount” on it!

Sister Kagari and another member named Britney (Both from America) are having an American Thanksgiving dinner on the 5th that we are going too!

On Saturday we had an All-Ireland Conference in Dublin. We were blessed to hear from Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was amazing to shake his hand and hear him speak! When I shook his hand I knew that he was truly an Apostle of the Lord. I felt the spirit strongly as he instructed us!

Our Mission President talked about the importance of “Ponderizing” (pondering or thinking about scriptures) and that when we do that we have no room for bad thoughts to come into our mind only good!

I gave my talk on the how the Atonement blesses my life yesterday. I’ll have to send it to you in the coming weeks! I wasn't nervous and I gave it all by memory with the help the Holy Ghost. Everyone said they liked it so that made me happy!

I’m glad everything back home is going well!

Ireland is amazing and it is awesome to serve here in Cork, Ireland!

Love,

Elder Joseph Udy

                                                                     Cork At Night

Cork 11/16/2015

Today marks 2 months being out.

This week has been very crazy because of transfers.

Tuesday, Elder Cook and Elder Arave left so I was with Elder Van Staden for the day.

On Wednesday Elder Van Staden and I got up early to walk 2 hours to the Cork City bus station to catch a bus to Limerick. When we got to Limerick I traveled to Dublin for the day with the Zone Leaders. We went shopping and touring around Dublin because it was Preparation-Day. We went to a mall and they had a Star Wars section there. The other Dublin Elder and I gathered around because they were showing the New Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer there. It was so exciting and we were all bouncing around.

That night Elder Olsen came in from the Dublin Bus station and we drove to Limerick and we stayed there for the night.

Elder Olsen is an awesome missionary. He loves chocolate so we always get tons of chocolate. He is a great teacher and he is very humble. I look forward to this next transfer with him!

Elder Ballard is coming to Dublin on Saturday so all the missionaries in Ireland get to go to an All-Ireland-Conference. I am really excited.

I was asked to speak in church on Sunday in the Cork Branch.

It’s been really windy and cold here.

We were told by the Mission President that we should stay clear of Public gatherings/events because of the Terrorist attacks on Paris. 

It’s been such an exhausting week but the New Transfer is here and it’s time to get working hard.

I appreciate all the emails and prayers!

Love,

Elder Joseph Hyrum Udy

                                          A View From Dublin

Rice Crispy Treats We Made for Church Members

Cork: 11/9/2015

Hello Family,

Yesterday we got our moves to see if we are staying or moving to a different area.  I am staying in Cork. I love all the members here. They have a funny Irish sense of humor.  Elder Cook is going to Glasgow to be a Zone leader. Elder Arave one of the other elders in our flat is going there as well. Elder Van Staden, from South Africa, is staying and we are getting two new elders. Elder Olsen is my new companion.  He is from Denmark and has been out 6 or 7 months.  Everyone says he’s a really good missionary so I’m really excited. I will probably see him on Wednesday night or Thursday when he gets here.

I love not having electronics. I don’t really miss it. It’s good not to have that distracting you all the time

Not much really happened this week.  It’s just been a very busy week leading up to transfers.  We have been cleaning our flat so when we have new elders come in they can be impressed.

It’s been really rainy and cold here so I have to bundle up.

I did get to go to Tralee for exchanges. They filmed part of Star Wars there.  I’m jealous that I’m not in that area. I got to go with Elder Jamieson. We talked a lot about star wars on our breaks. There is a senior couple in Tralee.  They fed us sloppy joes.

I'm glad everything is going well back home. Thank you for the prayers and emails.

I miss you all.

Love,

Elder Joseph Udy

                                          Elder Van Staden and I

                                          Elder Arave (next to me) , Elder Cook and I

Cork: 11/2/2015

Answer to questions:

We get 2 hours to email every P-Day

If we email at the Internet Cafe it costs 2 Euros and the library costs 4 Euros. We get reimbursed for it so it doesn't matter where we go.

Elder Cook is awesome. He is such an awesome missionary/trainer. We get along so well.

The only kids we have in the branch that come every week are the Branch Presidents and District Presidents kids.

We had an interesting Halloween. Halloween was very crazy in the Cork City Centre  It was hard to really have discussions with people on the street because they were too busy getting ready for parties or going to the pub.  We went to a church party where they had a “trunk or treat” and a haunted house.  We had to go inside at 6 pm because of mission rules. We were allowed to go to a church member’s home named Paul during that time. He cooks some really good Nigerian Food. He says I look like a Military man.

On Sunday, I was able to confer the Aaronic Priesthood on a recent convert named Brandon. Brandon is originally from Oklahoma City and his mom is from Texas. Brandon is 18 and he and his mom moved here to get a better life.  It was an amazing experience for me.  He reminds me a lot of Dallin because he loves Kevin Durant/OKC Thunder and shoes.

The Rain here is random and its on and off a lot. Instead of buying Under Armor, I’ve been wearing my Adidas Sweat Pants under my pants. They actually work out pretty well.

I got a haircut today. I went to a Turkish Barber and they did really good. I'll send a picture of that as well.

I bought a MP3 player to listen to music. One of the missionary who used to be in cork left a speaker behind so I’m going to use that.

I also got my Irish Visa today. It was a long and hard process but it’s finally over.

Our investigators are progressing but they struggle to come to church.  I'm so grateful for the chance to share the Gospel with the people of Ireland.

I'm glad everything is going good back home. As the Irish would say, “I Miss Ye Aw”.

Thanks for the email and pictures!

                                                                       Brandon and I