Dumbarton 7/11/2016

Hello Family! Scotland, what a beautiful place and I'm loving the people of Glasgow (Since Dumbarton is a Suburb of Glasgow). On Tuesday: I was in 3 three different Countries in the same day (Ireland,Northern Ireland,Scotland)  I changed currencies (Euros€ to Sterling Pounds£) I also went through hearing 3 types of Accents My trip was around 281 miles with a total of 9 1/2 hours (Sligo--->Dublin--->Belfast--->Over the Irish sea on a ferry--->Glasgow--->Dumbarton) What a trip!  This email is going to be a little different just because it was a weird week! So I am in Dumbarton Now. Elder Roylance is my companion. We whitewashed Dumbarton Together which means that replaced the two missionaries who were already here. The Glasgow Accent is sometimes hard to understand. Our area is really nice. We cover up Loch Lomond (The Largest Loch/Lake in the Uk) and a little past. We cover several towns (Dumbarton, Helensburgh, Alexandria...) The members are really nice here.  The Gallachers had us over for dinner on Wednesday. I think we had  shepherds pie. It was really good! It was funny when they me, at the beginning, that they were talking to my parents and they were going to post of picture to them! I shared Alma 5: 45-46 with them. It talks about praying and fasting to know the truth. The Spirit will make it know unto us if we put in our part. They have a son around Dallins age, Paul. I think they would get along great! We had dinner on Thursday with a Less Active Member named Sister O'rawe. Let me say that she was really funny and her Scottish Accent added to that! For the most of the week we spent time trying to figure out our area (I think we got lost a couple of times). We didn't teach anyone but hopefully we can in the future! The Dumbarton Ward is nice. There is around 50 coming to church. the members are really friendly and really Scottish! Its a big change from a Branch of 20 people! There were actually some visitors from Sugarland Texas!  Remember the scottish soda, Irn Bru, well I had a lot of that in the past week. Its so big here that it outsells Coca Cola. In the place that we shop, ASDA, There is a huge section of it and the stores own Brand! They also sell root beer here so I'm set! We have a nice tarmac track and work out machines in a park in front of our flat!   We have a lovely castle, The Dumbarton Castle from the view of our Flat. I took some pictures of it from the town center. We are going there today! And Elder Davis is in my district Again!  Scotland is great!  I hope you all have a wonderful week Here is my address(There is a slash in between the 2 and 5, just to show the building number and apartment number, just know that so you don't put a 1). 2/5 Crosslet Road Dumbarton G82 2ES Scotland Love, Elder Joseph Udy                                            Looking at Scotland from the Ferry Elder Guillon and I                                                               Elder Davis and I                                                                   Dumbarton Castle                                                                           Scotland                                        Transfer from Sligo Ireland to Dumbarton Scotland

Sligo 7/4/16

Hello Everyone!  I am leaving the Emerald Isle to go to Scotland!. I will be serving in Dumbarton which is in the Glasgow Stake!   It will be fun, but this is how my last week here went! Monday: We played Frisbee in the park! I bought a Ireland Jersey! In the evening we met with Jesus and Loander. We shared with them the Mormon Message : Testimony of the Book of Mormon. I knew they felt the power of Jeffery R Holland's Testimony and it was so powerful to me as well. We then read 1 Nephi 7. It teaches us to be grateful for the blessings we have received from our loving Heavenly Father! Tuesday: In the morning, we had our district meeting over Skype. We talked about obedience and why it is so important. When we disobey we are blocking the blessings that could come into our lives.  The rest of the day we spent finding. We pushed hard and found some good people to teach! Wednesday: Today we taught a man named Robin Hey. He is from Holland. He plays the banjo on the street. I actually bought his CD about 2 months ago! We talked about keeping the commandments. He told us that keeping the commandments is something he would like to do! After that we taught our Brazilian friend, Eduardo. We read the first chapter of first Nephi with him. He knows what it was saying was true! He works on the weekends so we need to help him have a desire to come to church! Thursday: We went to Jesus and Loander's Latin Dance class. It was fun! They made some really good fruit punch!  After the class we actually taught a women, Hillary, that we met that day at the Dance class! She is very open and is willing to pray and read about the Book of Mormon!  In the evening we went to Tobercurry with Brother Ducusin to see Stephen! He is doing well! He reads all the time and has a strong testimony! Friday: We taught Robin again! He travels around a lot. we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. We committed him to live it while he is gone in Spain!  After we taught Ed. We talked about Gods love and how it is for everyone! He is such a great man but is held back because of Word of Wisdom Issues!  We then had Family home evening. We read a talk by Thomas S. Monson about having Christ as a center for our lives! Saturday: We met with Chris! He is not getting baptized yet because he wanted to know and be taught more so he can decide.  After we went finding for the rest of the evening! Sunday: What a great testimony meeting! In joint Priesthood/Relief Society, we taught about talents and how we can help others ! It was a great week! I get to my area tomorrow. I will be white washing (it means that they are putting new elders into the area to get a fresh start on the area!) Dumbarton! It will be fun! I will miss Sligo! Also when you send my package can you get me some bleach pens, tide to go pens and socks (if you can) I love you all so much! Have a great week! Love, Elder Joseph Udy

Sligo 6/27/16

Hello Family!

What a crazy week!  Ireland won against Italy but lost to France! The UK is leaving the EU and The Sterling Pound dropped so that's good for me!

This was our interesting week!

Monday:

We taught Chris in the evening and he is doing well! He is progressing towards his Baptism (which is the 2nd of July!). Things are beginning to pick back up here in Sligo.  We taught Jesus and Loander!   I shared with them the Mormon message, Daily Bread by Elder D. Todd Christtofferson. It talked about getting our Spirtual food like prayer and scripture study. We committed them to read the Book of Mormon, everyday and pray daily as well!

Tuesday:

We had district meeting and the Mullingar Elders came. I was assigned the devotional at the beginning of the meeting. I talked about being a Disciple of Christ. We always need to thinking how Christ would serve. We also need to focus on what can we do to become a better Disciple of Jesus Christ rather then trying to become like other people.  Afterwards we went out into the Towns of Boyle and Carrick-On-Shannon. We found a few people that we can go and teach!  After our day of finding we had district Dinner at a fast food place called Supermacs!

Wednesday:

In afternoon we went to the Garda (Irish police) Station to register for Elder Thaynes Irish Visa.

In the evening we went to visit Chris. We taught him about Prayer and Scripture study!

Thursday:

We went to Jesus and Loander's latin dance class. They taught us the Salsa. It was fun and probably more fun to watch me mess up! I'm glad that we can be a support to them.  In the evening we went to Strand hill to see our friend William. I shared a message with him on Prayer. I asked him to say the Closing prayer but he thought we wanted him to pray to us so that was interesting, we'll have to fix that!

Friday:

We taught Ed. He got engaged to his girlfriend, Caroline! He is awesome. I shared 1 Nephi 3:7 with him because this Scripture has meant a lot to me because it tells us that God doesn't give us any thing that he knows we can't do!  In the evening we had Family Home evening. We had a quiz game on the Plan of Salvation. It was fun!

Saturday:

We went to the Teirnans and helped trim their big tall grass. The trimmers/weed whackers they gave us, made me feel like i was flying a X-Wing. It had a nice harness that made it easy to hold. I also helped Brother Teirnan fix one of his Weed whackers that hadn't been working for 3 years! Sister Teirnan fed us some really nice Chicken Curry!  Afterwards we spent the rest of our evening finding!

Sunday:

What a great Sunday! We had a great lesson in Priesthood about always having Christ in our hearts, it will help us in our lives and bring us more Joy!  After Church, Brother Christensen, brought his grill out and cooked us some nice Hamburgers!  In the evening we had to Stay in our apartment . as directed by our Mission President, because Ireland was playing France and there was going to be a lot of Drunk people out.

It was a great week.

The whole deal with UK leaving the EU is going to have some bad side affects. Scotland and Northern Ireland wanted to stay in so I guess we'll see what happens.

There is this book, called the Infinite Atonement by President Callister, that is in our Mission Library, that would be one thing i would want for my Birthday.

I hope you all have a great week

Love,

Elder Joseph Udy

                                                 Service at Brother Teirnan's House

Sligo 6/20/16

Hello Family!

9 months (Half of Sister Missionary, as they say)

It was a wonderful week!

I got the Package! I loved it!

I'm glad that dad got my Letter! That was fast!

This was my week!

Monday:

We got haircuts! Fresh!!!   We played frisbee in the park! After PDay hours we went finding for the rest of the night!

Tuesday:

We did finding for the whole day because all of our appointments fell through!  In the evening we traveled to Mullingar (For Zone Conference the next day).

Wednesday:

We traveled to Dublin in the Morning!

We had a great Zone conference! We learned about Urgency in our efforts as missionaries! It was great to meet with President Donaldson! He is an amazing Mission President!

One of the Elders, Elder Trease had a friend serving in the Cinco West ward. His friend was Elder Williams! Elder Williams saw my Missionary Plaque and he sent a picture to Elder Trease. Elder Trease told me about it at Zone Conference.  After Zone Conference we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders! I went with Elder Crowe. Elder Crowe is really into music. He was in a boy band called Beyond 5 before his mission. He told me about the tours he went on! He preformed at Zone Conference and it was really good!

We taught a man named Vilnas who was their Investigator. It was an amazing lesson! He had the best questions and he is progressing towards baptism!  Afterwords we taught a Recent Convert named Jernes. He is receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood and we had a lesson to help him know that he is prepared for the Higher Priesthood!

Thursday:

We taught a Women named Jenny! She is searching for the truth so she was very interested. She had really good questions. Hopefully the Zone Leaders will help here progress towards Baptism!  In the evening we caught a train from Dublin Connolly back to Sligo!

Friday:

We saw our friend Ed from the Bronx. We had a lesson with him on Enduring to the End. He has some problems that he feels he can get over but we testified that he can he can know the truth if he continues studying and praying  and having faith in Jesus Christ!

In the evening we went to Family Home Evening! William, a less active member was there and he had fun. He is hopefully going to start coming back to church!

Saturday:

We taught our friend Chris. We taught him the Plan of Salvation! He loved the lesson and the spirit was so strong in his home!  We taught our friend Clement afterwards. We read with him in Alma 32 about Faith. He wants to know whats true but for himself, he needs to do his part in the promise!

After those lessons we found for the rest of the night. Ireland lost to Belgium in the Euros game so most of the people on the street were angry and upset so it was hard to talk to people!

Sunday:

We had a great Sunday meeting. Chris came and he really enjoyed church! It was great to finally see him there!   In Gospel Principles we taught a lesson on Temples. It was a great lesson and I love testifying of the Joy that comes from going the House of the Lord!

Hope you have a great week!

Elder Udy

Sligo 6/13/16

Hello Everyone!

Another week!

Our week was great!

Here we go!

Monday:

For the first time in my almost 9 months in the Emerald Isle, I have see lighting and it was great. There are rarely lightning or thunderstorms here so I was excited!  That was the highlight of the day! We spent the hours after P-Day, finding in the city.

Tuesday:

Our favorite missionaries from Mullingar came for District Meeting and exchanges.  We talked about our goals for the Sligo District in the Month of June and July.  Elder Davis and I went on exchanges! It was a blast, we went finding for most of the day!  For dinner we all got Kebabs to celebrate and kick off this new transfer.

Wednesday:

We did finding all day until our meeting with Jesus and Loander. We read about the Saviors visit to the Americas! It always brings the Spirit to read about the Savior!

Thursday:

We went to help and support Jesus and Loander with their Latin Dance class. It was actually really fun. We learned how to the Barchacha (I don't know how its really spelled). It was a great finding opportunity. We talked to a older lady that said remember when Ezra Taft Benson was the "Mormon Prophet".

Later,  we taught our Friend Garreth. He works at Game Stop! He was able to get a little break so we could talk to him. We taught him about the Restoration. Elder Thayne and I taught with true Unity, It was probably the most unified lesson I experienced so far on my mission. We testified of the power of the Holy Ghost. He was excited to read the Book of Mormon!

In the evening we went with Brother Teirnan, our branch mission leader, to go see our Recent Convert, Stephen! It was a great lesson! Stephen has a hard time studying so I was able to share with him what I do to study because I have that problem as well! We talked about enduring to the end and how we need to always follow the example of Jesus Christ!

Friday:

We saw Ed today. He is doing well. He has been trying to finish his over 150 poems so he can compile them into a book. We taught about always getting back up when things might be hard, just like Nephi when he got discouraged, he kept going!  Before Family home evening we went to KFC, (Because there wasn't going to be food at Family home evening). It was a tough because it was all uphill bike ride there but the food was good!  Only Jesus and Loander showed up to Family Home Evening.  We talked about Sacrifice  from the Gospel Principles book.

Saturday:

Sligo is most famous for the poet, W.B Yeats, who 150th would have been today! They had a big poem reading and free cake. All I have to say was that the Poem was great and the Cake was delicious!  After that we did finding for the rest of the evening.  We had some ice cream cones to cool off after a warm day!

Sunday:

Another Lovely Sabbath day! We had a great Priesthood lesson on being an example to others!

Later we went with our Branch President to visit some less active members!

It was a great week and this week we have our Zone Conference in Dublin on Wednesday!

I miss you all and hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Joseph Udy

Sligo 6/6/2016

Hello family!

This week was very interesting but fun!

Monday:

We took a train to Mullingar in the evening. Then we drove around 1-2 hours into Dublin! My second time driving in Ireland but it was better. I managed to get to the Zone Leaders apartment safely!

Tuesday:

We drove with the Zone Leaders to the Dublin Bus station, where I said Goodbye to Elder Vasvary! It was sad but he's going to great in Paisley.  The whole day I was with the Zone leaders because Elder Thayne was getting in around 5 at the Dublin Bus station.   We went finding until we had to head in to the City Centre. It was so hot in the city because there were a lot of people and the sun was blazing on the city.

At 6, Elder Thayne got in with the other missionaries! He had a long travel from Aberdeen to Dublin. He has been out for 14 months and he is from Lehi, Utah.  Before driving home, The zone leaders and us enjoyed some food at KFC.

Then we started our drive back to Mullingar, I found out that Elder Thayne Loves Star Wars!   We stayed at Mullingar for the night, it was great talking to each other!

Wednesday:

We took the train back to Sligo. When we got back it was so hot outside.   After getting everything organized and settled we did finding for the rest of our day! We found quite a lot of people to teach!

Thursday:

We had a whole day of finding but it was great!  We found a lot of people to teach!  We found a man named Thomas, who lives in London, but we were able to teach him the Restoration before he went back. He was so interested, we are excited for Missionaries to start teaching him in London!

Friday:

We went by a man named Clement in the afternoon. He is from Cameroon and loves watching tennis. We tried teaching him but he was too busy watching Serena Williams play in the Semi Finals in France. He was really intense because Serena Williams kept hitting the net and it made him really mad. She won which is good but we will have to go back when he isn't watching tennis.

We taught Ed today as well. We talked about how Star Wars has alot of Gospel in it. We also shared about how we can have a happy life if we trust and follow Jesus Christ!

For Family Home evening, We shared about the spirit and the patterns of the spirit videos by David A. Bednar. I was felt the spirit so strong as a shared my testimony on how the Holy Ghost blesses my life!

Saturday:

We taught Chris, from Cameroon, after finally getting back in contact with him! We read the Book of Mormon together and we shared why we need the Book of Mormon! We set him with a Baptismal Date of July 2nd !

Later in the evening, we took a Bus to strandhill where we met our friend William!. He brought us to his home. He has a beautiful view of the Knocknarea Mountains from his Backyard and a great view of the ocean from his front yard. He is a older gentlemen. We shared the Book of Mormon with him! After he drive us around the Mountain! It was a great!

Sunday:

We had Fast and Testimony meeting. I shared my Testimony on Our Baptismal Covenant. When we are Baptized, Heavenly Father gives a promise of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. As long as we are Worthy we can be led and helped by the Spirit Constantly.

The rest of our day was spent finding and then planning for our week!

It was a great week and we found success in the short week we had!

I hope every thing is going well back home both Maine and Texas!

Have a wonderful week

Love,

Elder Joseph Hyrum Udy

                                                     Goodbye to Elder Vasvary

                                                          On our way to Dublin

                                                    Knocknarea Mountains (Might Hike today)

                                                     The Mighty Elder Thayne

Sligo 5/30/16

We got our Moves call last night. I am staying and Elder Vasvary is going to Paisley Scotland. I am getting Elder Thane from Utah!  Here is how the week went  Monday: We just went around and looked at really nice suits and cool toys! That's what P-Days usually are here in Sligo. Tuesday: We did some service for a man named James, that we found the other day. We tore up his driveway with some hammers he gave us. I also tore up my hands as well as his drive way. It was great service to do and was hard work! In the evening we taught a woman named, Archena. She is from India and was investigating the church before. He family was having some health problems so she was questioning her faith because so many bad things were happening to her. We shared the Plan of Salvation with her and our testimonies! Wednesday: We did some service for the Walsh family, in our branch. We helped cut their hedges down to size. It was a lot of work but they were happy which was great! We taught Eduardo, our friend from Brazil. We brought him a Book of Mormon and shared the background of it. He seemed really interested to read it.  I'm excited to see what he thinks! Thursday: In the later part of the Day we taught a man named Dan from Congo, who lives in the Refugee center. We taught the restoration but he didn't like what was said so he said he doesn't want to go any further.  The rest of our day was spent Street Contacting! Friday: We saw Ed in the afternoon. He seems to be doing a lot better, health wise! We shared about help in the church and how we are all here to serve each other when some thing might not go well. In the evening we had family home evening! The Ducusins, shared about the Book of Mormon and why we have it. They made some delicious food from the Philippines! Saturday: Was a whole day of finding. Hard because most of the people on the streets were tourists. Its tiring work but I love working hard! Sunday: It was a strange day. Very few members came to church and it felt weird. At the end of the day I prayed that we can end the day with a lesson. How we were going to get that, I don't know, but I had faith. When we were tracting, the 3rd door we knocked on, the man let us in. His name was Clive. He was a very friendly man! We shared our purpose as missionaries. We also shared the Restoration! We gave him a Book of Mormon. He was so happy to meet with us! I truly know that God answers our prayers! It was a great week. We taught more lessons. I love you all ! Elder Joseph Udy