Letters From Family

Dear Elder Dudley,

Welcome to Sao Paulo, Brasil!!!! Can you believe you’re finally there??? We hope your flight went well. We can’t wait to hear all the details! We’re curious to know who you sat by on both legs of the trip, what Miami was like and if you met other missionaries there, and how you did through the night in your middle seat. I’m guessing you didn’t sleep at all. You must be exhausted! But the Lord will give you strength. You’ll also have adrenaline as you go about your first day in Sao Paulo and at the MTC. I can see your eyes wide with interest as you travel through Sao Paulo to the MTC. I can picture your excitement at the MTC as you learn about your new surroundings, schedule, and missionaries in your zone! I bet the Spirit there is amazing! Oh, and I bet you’ll like the food there as well. If you have time, please fill us in on details!!!

We’ve been tracking both of your flights all through the night and this morning. Right now, you have 37 miles / 27 minutes to go. We think and pray for you constantly.

We are commanded to pray always. “But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” (2 Nephi 32:9) As you are prayerful throughout each day, I know Heavenly Father will guide and bless you in your diligent efforts to be a great missionary, to learn how to teach the Gospel, to learn Portuguese, and to get along with your companion and your zone.

Never has the scripture “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening” (Alma 34:21) meant more to me than now. We prayed for you so much last night. You were the first thing I thought of when I woke this morning. I dropped to my knees and prayed fervently for you. A prayer for you will be on my lips and in my heart all day and all night every day while you are on your mission. We all love you so much, Warren!!!

Our little family will write to you every week. We posted your email address to Hangouts, so you’ll start getting emails from extended family as well. You DO NOT need to respond individually to my or anybody else’s email. (You can if you want, but no expectation there.) If it’s easiest just to write one email, that’s just fine. Also, when you email us, if you ever want to write anything private that you don’t want to go out to the email distribution list we’ll create for extended family/friends, just indicate. We won’t share anything private you don’t want going out to everyone. We can even email you back the version we send out so you can see it if you’d like.

Well, you landed 12 minutes ago. This is going to be one of the best days of your life. We couldn’t be happier for you! We miss you terribly, but I won’t get into that. I know you miss us as well, but as you fill your days will focused effort, your heart will be filled and you’ll be happy. Prayer really works! Just as Samantha was protected and not in much pain after her fall (I believe due to the prayers of so many who love her) you too, will be lifted up, comforted, and strengthened because of the daily, constant prayers of so many who love you!!! I love you. I love you. I love you.

LOVE YOU, ELDER DUDLEY!!!

Momma

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Elder Dudley,

Welcome to Brasil!  I can only imagine how excited you must be to finally be in Brasil!  We are so happy for you.

We LOVED having a missionary in our home the last few days.  Your goodness and willingness to serve the Lord brought an incredibly peaceful feeling in our home.  Although it was hard to say good-bye, I will always remember these last few days as being days filled with tremendous, unforgettable spiritual experiences.

As soon as we arrived home last night, we pulled up the flight tracker and watched your little plane track from Virginia to Miami.  We woke up this morning, and immediately checked the flight tracker to see where your plane was.  (You flew right over Colombia!)  At this very second, you are flying over Brasil - scheduled to land in 30 minutes.  I can picture a flight attendant announcing to the plane in Portuguese that you are in your final descent to Sao Paulo, and you wondering if there will ever be a day that you could actually understand what the flight attendant just said.  You will!  You have been blessed with the gift of tongues.  Trust the Lord.

I hope that your first few days in the CCM are great.  I hope that you have a wonderful companion, a great district and inspiring teachers.  You are in one of my favorite places on earth.  Love these six weeks!

We love you so much.  We are so proud of you.  We are so happy for you.  

Love,

Dad

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Dear Warren, 

Saying goodbye to you and watching you leave was the hardest thing I have ever done. Even though I was sad when you left, most of all, I felt proud of you. I think this is what it felt like in heaven when you came to earth first. We were so happy for you, but we missed you a lot. I am excited to hear all about the MTC! I know you are going to be a great missionary. I will pray for you every day that you will be safe, learn the language, and find people to share your testimony with. I love you, Warren!

Love, 

Emma

MTC, July 31 - September 10, 2019

The flight from Miami to São Paulo, Brasil took all night. I didn’t sleep a wink. I was with a group of missionaries, but we were all scattered throughout the plane. When we got to the airport the next day, we took a van to the Centro de Treinamento dos Missionários (CTM). Little did I know that the Guarulhos Airport was actually part of the São Paulo East Mission! In this photo, I am unknowingly with one of the Elders that I would be companions with in the CTM. Elder Wolcott is the third from the right. Elder Merritt, the first on the left, would also be part of my district in the CTM.

This packet is the first thing that I received when I got to the CTM. On the front, I found out who my companion would be (Elder Christensen) and what district I would be in (31A). I was then directed to my room on the fifth floor, where I met Elder Christensen. We then went to lunch out in the courtyard with all the other missionaries that had just arrived. Elder Christensen was awesome. He is from Oregon, and is also going to go to BYU. I really liked being his comp. We got along great and had a lot of fun together. Four days after we got to the CTM, we were called to be Zone Leaders together. It was definitely not a lot of responsibility, but I liked it. We got to meet with the CTM President, Presidente Milder and the other Zone Leaders each week. We were also able to organize the sacrament services.

São Paulo as seen from the CTM

This is my district. From left to right: Elder Christensen, Elder Dudley, Elder Wolcott, Elder Miller, Elder Satteson, Elder Frehner, Elder Hamblin, and Irmã Gabriela. We had another Elder in our district, Elder Merritt, but he went home due to really bad depression. It was really hard for our entire district. We all formed bonds so quickly. Elder Wolcott had been comps with Elder Merritt, and he was then put in a trio with Elder Christensen and me. I really liked him, too. He was from Washington, and was a huge football player. I truly loved all of the Elders in my district. I had so much fun with them. Our two teachers were the best teachers in the CTM, Irmã Gabriela and Irmão Andrade. This picture is with Irmã Gabriela. They were both incredible teachers of the gospel and Portuguese, as well as great examples. Irmã Gabriela served in the Brasil Salvador Mission, and Irmão Andrade served in Utah. They both had really fun personalities. We all got along great with them. 

This is a group of some of the missionaries that arrived to the CTM at the same time as me. Presidente and Sister Milder are seated in the front. I didn’t really get to know President and Sister Milder because there were so many missionaries at the CTM, but they both seemed awesome. Presidente Milder would give us devotionals multiple times a week.

One thing that I liked doing in the CTM was drawing pictures of temples on our district classroom's whiteboard. I'd never really tried dioing anything like that, but they actually turned out pretty well. It was just something fun to do each day.

These are pictures of the places that I spent the most time at in the CTM. The interesting thing about the CTM in São Paulo is that it is pretty much just a five story building. There really aren't any grounds. The only time I spent outside for those six weeks was on the basketball court outside for one hour each day. I always had fun playing basketball with my district and other missionaries. Other than that, we were in our district classroom, the cafeteria, our dormitory room, the courtyard, or the computer lab. We also spent a good amount of time in the auditorium listening to devotionals or doing various activities. It was really weird to just be in one building for six weeks. The only break we had from being inside was on P-Day.

P-Days were awesome in the CTM. They were my favorite P-Days of my mission. The best part was waking up early each P-Day and going to the temple. It was so refreshing to be in the House of the Lord. It just gave me energy for the rest of my week. I could feel the Spirit very strongly inside, the same way I had felt when I had gone with my parents to the Philadelphia Temple. I could have spent hours there each time. I went to the Campinas Temple the first five P-Days. It was about two hours away from the CTM. It was always really fun to drive there in a big bus full of missionaries and get our first glimpses of Brasil. The first time we went, I had the unique opportunity to be an escort for an African Elder, Elder Merenje, who had not received his endowments yet. He was such a nice, polite, and friendly guy. I felt honored to be able to help him.

On my last P-Day in the CTM, we were able to go to the São Paulo Temple. I felt the same Spirit there. I really loved the woodworking inside the São Paulo Temple. It was really special to be there with my district for the last time. We had all grown so close together.

#3 - Elder Miller and I at the São Paulo Temple

#4 - Elder Christensen and I at the São Paulo Temple

#5 - Elder Hamblin and I at the São Paulo Temple

#6 - Elder Frehner and I at the São Paulo Temple

#7 - Elder Satteson and I at the São Paulo Temple

#8 - Elder Wolcott and I at the São Paulo Temple

Once we got back from the temple on P-Days, we were free to roam a few streets close to the CTM. It was really fun to be able to walk around on the streets. There were really fun souvenir shops, bread shops, pastelarías, futebol shops, and places to buy açaí. My district went with Irmão Andrade to buy açaí every P-Day. It's the best! One P-Day, I bought some amazing leather scripture cases and a super cool futebol jersey. The last P-Day in the CTM, my district went with both Irmão Andrade and Irmã Gabriela to a really fun padaría.

Just some of the guys from my district.

I really loved the CTM. I had a bunch of really unique experiences. I saved Elder Miller’s life when he choked at lunch and I had to give him the Heimlich Maneuver. I had to go to the hospital in the middle of one night because I got the sickest I had ever been in my life. I did my first day of proselyting one day when we all went to Avenida Paulista the Saturday of our fourth week. We listened to President Nelson speak over broadcast transmission when he came to Brasil. My district was the best. I really loved being with and making friends with all of the other missionaries. I ended up having three comps because Elder Smith was transferred to the São Paulo CTM from the Provo MTC part way through. I was split off from my trio with Elder Christensen and Elder Wolcott and was put with Elder Smith. It was kind of hard because I had really loved my previous companionship. I was excited to move on to teaching the gospel when I left the CTM, but I felt sad to leave the place where I had worked so hard to learn how to be a good missionary. I really loved how strongly the Spirit always was within the walls of the CTM. I loved my instructors. They really blessed my life. I will always remember them. I was always grateful to have gone to the CTM in São Paulo rather than Provo. I am sure the Provo CTM is great, but I feel like being in Brasil just gave my Portuguese an edge. By the time I left the CTM, I felt like I had learned a lot. I was definitely far from fluent, but I had acquired a solid foundation through diligence and the help of the Lord. I had also, and more importantly grown in my testimony of the Savior and I was excited to represent Him.  

Off To Brazil

Today I left for Brasil! My family and I went to the airport several hours before my flight that day. We waited in the lobby playing some card games for a few hours. It felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe that I was really leaving my family. However, I did know that what I was doing was right. The time passed way to quickly, and before I knew it, I was on a plane to Florida, and then on another plane to São Paulo, Brasil. I was sad, and already missing my family, but I was incredibly excited to finally embark in the service of the Lord.

My Setting Apart

President Sloat set me apart as a missionary on July 29, 2019.

Farewell Sunday

I spoke in church today as planned. Samantha had to stay in the hospital, but other than that, it was awesome. It was great to have Grammie, Grandpa, Grandma, and Chichi there. Steve and Brenda also flew out, which was really special.