Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 4 Week 2

Feliz natal!!!

 

 

Wow, I feel like it has been a couple of weeks since I have really gotten a good email out. 

 

 

This week was so awesome. American Christmas is officially better than Brazilian. It definitely is easier to get into the Christmas season when it is colder than 400 degrees outside. 

 

 

On Christmas day, we had two awesome ward families figure out a way for us to socially distance and eat outside despite the cold. They made us an awesome lunch and dinner. The Loveless family made a literal feast. It was so good - french toast strata, waffles, bacon, hot chocolate, multiple quiches, ham, bacon, potatoes (mashed and scalloped), salmon, etc. I was so full afterwards.

 

 

Thank you to everyone that sent me something for Christmas. It made me feel loved, even if it was just a small card or note. Please know that I sincerely appreciated everything.

 

 

We had a really good week of contacting. We are allowed to knock doors again!! It has been super nice. Knocking doors might not be the most effective way ever to do missionary work, but we are guaranteed to at least talk with people.

 

 

Rosi is still doing amazing. She was supposed to get baptized on the 27, but we have had to push that back because we haven't really been able to have a solid lesson with just her. We haven't been able to teach her the commandments yet. But, she has been to like 9 straight Portuguese group meetings. She keeps saying awesome stuff to us, like: "I know I was baptized as a baby, and then again as an adult, but now I am going to be baptized into the church of God."

She is so ready to make that covenant with God!! Please pray for her!

 

 

Silvane is also doing well. We invited her to be baptized the other week. She is praying to know for sure, but she is also going through an amazing conversion process right now. It is so incredible to see.

 

 

We have had a hard time getting consistent appointments in the last little while because everyone is super busy with Christmas. Hopefully that changes in the next little bit. 

 

 

On Saturday, we had a zone finding day. We put 9 companionships in the Lakeview area for 3 hours and just tracted. We made 205 contacts and scheduled almost 20 return appointments for that companionship. It was so awesome.

 

 

I had the chance to speak in the Portuguese meeting this last Sunday. It went pretty well. I learned a lot as I prepared. I chose to speak on the Mercy and Justice of Jesus Christ. I'll add a copy of my talk below.

 

 

I was gonna write more, but once again this will be a short email because we had a random appointment scheduled for 5: 30  and we had to leave.

 

 

Talk

 

 

In order to understand mercy, we must first understand justice. Justice and mercy are an inseparable pair. They are both two of God's core attributes and are key foundations to His holy plan. One cannot exist without the other. 

 

 

Justice is the unchangeable law that determines the consequences of our actions, desires, and decisions. It also means the concession of blessings by obedience to the laws of God, or, the application of penalties to those that disobey those laws. This is why the first law in heaven is obedience. God is perfectly just. "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance" (D+C 1:31). 

 

 

However, justice really is not a bad thing. It is an essential part of the Plan of Salvation. Through justice, we are provided fair opportunities to learn and grow in this mortal existence, free to choose for ourselves. Jesus Christ made not only mercy possible, but justice. If He had not redeemed us from the Fall, our existence would be unjust because we would be automatically condemned. 2 Nephi 2:26. Because of Jesus Christ's Atonement, we are responsible for our own choices and actions in this life. We are guaranteed justice.  

 

 

By the laws of justice alone, we would still not be able to return to God's presence. We are imperfect beings. We all make mistakes. 1 Nephi 10:21 "no unclean thing can dwell with God". This is why Jesus Christ provided us with mercy. 

 Mercy is defined in the Guide to Study the Scriptures as "the spirit of compassion, tenderness, and forgiveness." In gospel topics, it also says "mercy is the compassionate treatment of a person beyond what is deserved." Jesus Christ's Atoning sacrifice was the ultimate act of compassion beyond what we deserve. He offered us mercy to satisfy justice.

 

 

There are two ways that mercy can satisfy justice. The first is to forgive our sins as we repent. Alma 34: 15-16 "15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption." In Preach my Gospel, it says: "We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ's grace and mercy, and we receive Christ's mercy on the condition of repentance." We are not required to be perfect by ourselves. That is impossible. However, through sincere repentance, our merciful Savior has forgiven us for our mistakes. He has paid our debts and made up the difference. Repentance brings mercy.

 

 

The second way Christ extends mercy to ys is through our obedience. When we are obedient to God's commandments, we receive blessings more than we deserve through Christ's Atonement. In Gospel Topics, it states that "Forgiveness of sin is not the only gift of mercy from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Every blessing we receive is an act of mercy, more than we could ever merit on our own." In Moroni 7:24, we read, "all good things come by Christ." All of our blessings come through our Mediator. God wants us to be happy. He will bless us as much as He can according to our obedience. 1 Nephi 1:20 says, "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen because of their faith." Chosen means obedient. Obedience brings mercy.

I would like to mention one other prerequisite to receiving the mercy of Jesus Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Redeemer taught us that: 'blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." Christ will always be as merciful as He can with us, but it would be unjust if he gave us mercy if we ourselves are not willing to be merciful. 

Sometimes it may not be easy, but the Savior asks us to "deny (ourselves) and take up (our) cross and follow (Him)" (Mark 8:34). He asks us to forgive not 7 times, but 70 x 7. He asks us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, cry with those that cry, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that are in need of comfort. As we learn to extend mercy to others, we ourselves will feel God's mercy and love.

 

 

 I am so grateful that we have a merciful, loving God. He sent His Son so that we could be provided mercy. So little is asked of us in return for such great blessings. Repentance is necessary to apply mercy, fulfilling the requirements of justice and therefore bringing forgiveness we would not otherwise deserve. 

 

 

 Obedience likewise applies mercy, fulfills the laws of justice, and then brings blessings that we would not otherwise deserve. If we so choose and are obedient and repentant, God's perfect justice and mercy work hand in hand to bless us with joy. The Savior has already enabled this. He has overcome the world. In those crucial sacrificial moments when the Savior extended mercy and the promise of justice to us, He was totally denied of those things. But that momentary injustice and denial of mercy has guaranteed us those things.

 

 

 One of the great pieces of evidence of the true scope of the mercy afforded to us by the Atonement of Jesus Christ is His very forgiveness of those who tortured and beat His broken body. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." The only thing left is for us to just choose to do what it takes for His sacrifice to have power in our lives. "Look unto Him and be saved”.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love doing the same thing in Washington, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!    

 

 

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley 

 

 

Photo 1 - Rosi gave each of us really nice cologne for Christmas

Photo 2 - super weird Brazilian cheetos

Photo 3 - Sufflair was an amazing chocolate bar that I bought every week in the MTC!! It was so good to get to have one again

Photo 4-5 - Christmas morning!!!

Photo 6-7 - The amazing feast that the Loveless family made us!!

Photo 8 - Caramels from grandma

Photo 9 - I had elf cereal for breakfast, but I ate it with eggnog and not milk because I didn’t buy milk on P Day. I bought two gallons of eggnog!!

Photo 10 - Elder Jones and I on an exchange

Photo 11 - Matching Christmas eve pajamas from Elder Schelin’s mom

Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 4 Week 1

Merry Christmas and Feliz natal!

 

 

It has been a great start to the new transfer. We had an absolutely wild week. On Monday, we had transfers. The next day, we picked up the new missionaries from the airport, and then we went immediately to zone council. The craziness has not stopped since. We have been busy every day. We did two exchanges this week. I was with Elder Charles one day and then with Elder Ward. Elder Ward is the new district leader here. He is also Portuguese speaking, and is training a brand new missionary that is going to eventually go to Porto Alegre Norte. It was really great to be with Elder Ward and get to know him. He asked me a ton of questions about training and being a district leader. It's weird to be getting to the point in my mission where other missionaries are the ones asking me questions. It is going by too fast!!!!

 

 

Many of you probably saw that video that we put out. Yes, you saw right, that was me. In the video. Singing. Shocking, I know. Believe me, I was shocked I did that too.  It was honestly a really cool experience to get to put that video together. We went to brother Richardson's house to record the audio. He has a recording studio in his house. He has a ton of super nice equipment for recording, and just tons of musical equipment. He was in a bunch of bands in the 80's, and he builds guitar for a hobby. The guitars he makes are sweet and sell for thousands of dollars!! It was super cool to just be in his house. 

 

 

It took us three hours to record the audio. I think it turned out pretty good for the three of us, having never practiced together before. Elder Breinholt (who played the guitar) is really good, and so is Hermana Bringhurst (who sang). She was actually super into music production before her mission. They were definitely the stars of the video, but it was super fun to do it with them. 

 

 

To take the video, we went to a really cool area in downtown totem lake. Another member, Brother Christensen, camera and filmed it for us. He has a ton of really nice cameras and other filming equipment. He really went all out. It was super fun. It took us about an hour to get all the shots.

 

 

I never expected to do anything like this, and definitely not on my mission, but it was a cool experience. It was really fun to kind of learn how to do this kind of stuff. I hope it helped you have a very Merry Christmas.

 

 

I ran out of time to finish my email, but I love you all. I will really try to get a better email out next week

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love doing the same thing in Washington, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!    

 

 

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley 

Photos 1-3 Filming the Video with Elder Breinholt and Hermana Christensen. Video Credits to Brother Christensen

Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 3 Week 6

Another transfer has somehow drawn to a close! It was such a good transfer. It burned so quickly. I am staying here with Elder Schelin again.

 

 

This is going to be such a good transfer! We once again have so many incredible missionaries in our zone. Elder Schelin and I will definitely do the best we can to capitalize on all of these amazing missionaries being here right now and we will keep the momentum rolling. So many of the areas are doing so well right now. 

 

 

The mission tour was incredible, as was the mission conference! I feel so blessed to have been able to have been here in this mission for both Elder Klebingats' mission and this one. It was incredible. The House of Israel is so amazing. I am so excited to get to go through the powerpoint he showed us. I think that I've quoted Elder Klebingat at some point in almost every single district/zone council since he came, and this mission tour was just as impactful as the last.

 

 

Church on Sunday was good. We are going to have to figure out a zoom option because some of the members aren't coming due to the spike in cases. These next couple weeks are going to also be tough because several of the families that come to the group every week are travelling to Brasil for a month or so.  

 

 

Our friend Rosi is doing so well. We are going to really firm her up this week and make sure she is going to be baptized on the 27. The change in her has been amazing. It has been a long ride for her. We started teaching her English in August. She has come to our group meeting every one of the last 5 Sundays! She is in the Book of Mormon and loving it, and just progressing so well.

 

 

We also had another really cool experience with our friend Silvane. We had actually cut her about 3 months ago, but we accidentally started teaching her again last transfer (long story). She has been progressing like crazy. She reads the Book of Mormon every time we give her a chapter. We had two amazing lessons with her this week. During the first, She ranted about all of the different churches in the world for 10 minutes after english. It was the perfect intro for us to teach the apostasy and restoration. She understood it perfectly! Then, during the week, we felt like we should send the entire hour long Restoration movie to her. When we had our next class with her, she talked with us about how her cousin had just passed away. She went to the Book of Mormon for peace. She said that she then watched the Restoration film and cried the entire time. She understands and believes everything. Next time, we are going to get her on date. 

 

 

We had an amazing mission tour with Elder Shane M Bowen of the seventy. We then had a mission conference with Elder Anderson, Elder Nielson, and Sister Craven. They were both amazing. I don't have time today, but I will share my favorite quotes next week!!

 

 

Scripture of the week. 2 Nephi 26:24

24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love doing the same thing in Washington, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!    

 

 

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley 

 

 

Photo 1 - The Village Mall in Totem Lake

Photo 2 - The zone!!

Photo 3 - Elder Griffin and I on a finding day. Elder Griffin is in his first transfer. He will eventually go to the England Manchester Mission Chinese Speaking

Photo 4 - Juanita Beach view of Lake Washington. You can see Seattle in the distance

Photo 5 - The Kirkland Zone Leadership - Elder Dudley, Elder Schelin, Elder Breinholt (District Leader), Elder Moyer, Elder Griffin, Elder Buhler, Elder Beardall (District Leader). We had so much fun together. My favorite part of each week was ZLC

Photo 6 -  Elder Breinholt and I

Photo 7 - Elder Moyer and I

Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 3 Week 5

Ola!! 

 

 

This week was a good week. It went by so fast that I feel like I can barely remember what happened. 

 

 

This is going to be a pretty brief email because I'm super tired. I've just been super slow all day. 

 

 

The biggest miracle we had this week was at church. We had another amazing fast and testimony meeting for the Portuguese group. We had 7 of our friends there, including Rosi, who has a baptismal date for the 27. The very first testimony was the testimony of a recent convert from Kent. She basically told her conversion story for 20 minutes. She came to the States to learn english. She was here for four months, and was about to go back to Brasil, but due to some legal complications, she had to stay in the US. She talked about not understanding why, and being frustrated with God, but because of the extra time, she met her husband. They got married. He was less active at the time, but they decided to go to church. The missionaries started visiting them, and she was soon baptized. She then talked about all of the blessings that have come because of her decision to join the church. She also talked a ton about the Plan of Salvation because her husband actually just passed away. All in all, it was the perfect Sunday for all of the people we are teaching. 

 

 

After the meeting, Rosi was finally able to stay and meet some church members. It was great. One of them asked her if she was a member, and Rosi said, "not yet." It was awesome! I really think that she is going to get baptized. It is so amazing to see her progressing so much.

 

 

I had an interesting experience the other day. We were doing our zone finding day, where we split all of the companionships up and sent everyone into two areas to work. I was with Elder Moyer and Elder Koenig. We met a man named Justin. Justin has met with many missionaries in the past. He really loves the church. He is also severely disabled. His hips never formed properly, and he is missing a leg. His hips cause him chronic pain that worsens every day. This has severely impacted his outlook on life. I understand that. I think that it would be impossible to not see things differently. However, he doesn't believe in God. He said that he was not blessed with faith. This made me think a lot about that statement. I think that most people in the world, to some degree, are not blessed with faith. I think for the majority, if not the entirety of the world, faith is a choice. That is how God intended it to be. It is a righteous use of our agency. Alma 32 teaches us that the first steps to faith are desire and a willingness to experiment and try it out. Then with time, patience, and diligence, faith is grown. And when we have faith, we have hope. Hope and joy come through our faith in Jesus Christ. Hope that sorrows will end, wrongs will be righted, loved ones will be seen again, aches and pains will be cured, wounded souls will be mended, and imperfect bodies will be resurrected. That is the hope that we have that comes from our faith in Christ. 

 

 

Ether 12:4

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

 

 

Moroni 7:41

41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love doing the same thing in Washington, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!    

 

 

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley 

 

 

Photo 1 - Elder Schelin and I after and online lesson

Photo 2-3 - The view from the morning workout

Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 3 Week 4

Olá!! It has been another great week here.

 

 

It was another great week here in Kirkland. Our zone is continuing to catch energy and build momentum. I truly feel like special things are happening here. Our zone council last week was absolutely incredible. We were setting our baptismal goal at the end, and the Spirit was so strong. We felt like we should set the goal as 9, and as soon as we did that, the Spirit confirmed the goal to us. Sister Callahan said a prayer to confirm the goal, and the Spirit was once again very present. It was amazing. So many miracles have happened during this last week in areas around the zone. Lots of the companionships have people on date for baptism now or have new potentials for baptism after this last week. It is so awesome to see.

 

 

We are out of quarantine! I never want to go back!

 

 

Thanksgiving was great. We got to do a lot of service and bagging leaves. We were able to bag about 50 bags of leaves, show the Light the world Video twice, and give out two Book of Mormons. While we were in quarantine, I had also made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, so that was pretty good. We had rotisserie chicken, stuffing, and pumpkin pie to go along with the potatoes. 

 

 

I've got kind of a funny story for the first time in a while. Last December, one of the members in one of my areas in Brasil made me suco de couve, which is basically just kale juice. She put a little kale in a blender with a lot of sugar, ice, and lime juice. It was actually super good. So, I decided that I was going to replicate that. I hate vegetables, so I made sure to put lots of sugar in with the kale, just in case it was different than Iremembered. I finished making it, took a big swig, and almost died. It was so disgustingly salty! I was so confused. I thought maybe kale was different than I remembered, or perhaps I had used seaweed instead. Elder Schelin then tried it, and he told me to check and make sure I had used sugar. Well, I guess sugar looks a lot like salt when it is in tupperware.

 

 

We had another good MLC on Friday. I always love the discussions that President leads there. Itake so many notes. The other missionaries at MLC are such good missionaries! I always take so many notes. I learned so much this time, and am so excited to use the things I learned with my zone.

 

 

Rosi is going to get baptized on the 27 of December! Please pray for her! We have had so many miracles as we have taught her over the last two weeks. It has been incredible.

 

 

We had the most amazing lesson last Monday with Rosi!! We were planning on inviting her to be baptized. She has progressed so much lately. However, the Spirit completely led us. It was honestly the most Spirit led lesson I have ever had. For the last few weeks, everything that she talks about is so led by the Spirit. It is incredible. This time, she started talking about having prophets today. She asked a lot of questions about President Nelson's gratitude message (which she loved). We were able to really explain about the continuing Restoration and the process of someone becoming a prophet. At the end, we asked her what all this would change for her if she knew it were true. She said, "Well, I will have to make lots of changes in my life." She is so ready!! God doesn't just want her baptized, He wants her converted. Then, on Wednesday, we had another incredible lesson with Rosi. She read 2 Nephi 31 like we committed her to, and as soon as we switched from english to the gospel, she said, "I already know what you guys are going to ask me." She then talked about how she knew baptism is important, but that she was already baptized twice. She asked why she needs to be baptized again. We were able to explain why, and she understood it! At the end, we asked her if she would pray to know if this was the right thing to do, and if the answer were yes, to be baptized on December 27. She said yes that she would be baptized on the 27!!!

 

 

We also had a really neat experience with Billy. We asked him about what he knew about Joseph Smith. He immediately started talking about a video that he saw about polygamy. We got a little nervous, but he didn't say anything negative about it. We then asked what else he read online about Joseph Smith's story. He talked a little about the First Vision. We then taught him a quick Restoration lesson. It went really well. He understood it really well. We also explained about polygamy at the end, and he honestly gave us a better response than most members would. He talked about how we can't judge things of the past through the lens of today and how the Bible also has stuff that is hard to understand. He also asked us to send him the doctrine of what we believe in, which was super cool. The best part about it all was that the entire thing was like a super normal, natural conversation. He is awesome.

 

 

Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 11:15

 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love doing the same thing in Washington, I love my companion, I love the Gospel and Atonement of Christ, I love my family, and I love my Redeemer. I am ready and excited to work harder, learn more, and love better this week!    

 

 

Love,

Elder Warren Matthew Dudley 

 

 

Photo 1 - Love from home

Photo 2 - The decorated apartment - Christmas lights!

Photo 3-5 - Making Thanksgiving mashed potatoes

Photo 6-7 - Rosi accepted to be baptized! This was right after the video call ended

Photo 8-9 - Thanksgiving day leaf raking!

Photo 10 - The Thanksgiving Feast!!

Photo 11-12- At the Juanita Beach dock!

Photo 13 - my parent’s gratitude post

Photo 14 - Seeing Elder Atkin for the last time at MLC