Well, it has been another great week here in Redondo!!! Things are going really well. It is always crazy to go into the final week of a transfer. I always feel like transfers go by so quickly. I will be interested to see what happens this next transfer. I have never stayed with a companion for more than one transfer, so that'll be kind of weird if I do. I also haven't stayed in an area for more than one transfer since November. I think that I will probably stay, so that'll be good, but definitely weird.
It is so pretty here on nice days!! The sun has been out a lot lately, so that is awesome! Today is an amazing sunny day, and we can totally see Mount Rainier and the mountain range that is out on the Puget Sound. We drove up to the mission office again this morning to pick up supplies and mail. I just loved the drive. It is so amazing just to look around and see the amazing world around us. Tall trees, clear skies, blue lakes, it just doesn't get any better.
One crazy thing that happened this week is that I am now part of a trio! Elder Bremer (another missionary in our zone) is now part of our companionship. His companion had to go home last Tuesday. President called us at 2 on Tuesday and told us that we would have to drop him off at the airport and bring Elder Bremer back with us. We did that, and then went back to clean the other apartment the next day. It was pretty crazy, We had to pack all of Elder Bremer's stuff up and then deep clean. We also had to bring one of their mattresses back to our apartment. Elder Bremer isn't even going to unpack because he goes home at the end of this transfer.
Elder Bremer is super fun to have in our companionship. He is this funny, little guy that is always cracking up. He is 5'2, so he is pretty much a foot shorter than me. He loves football and marvel, especially Spiderman. Every day at drive thru prayers, Elder Bremer brings a tiny little nerf football and throws it when there are no cars coming. It has been pretty fun, and has definitely spiced things up to have Elder Bremer with us.
We had Zone Conference this week. That is always one of my favorite things each transfer. It was actually the first time I have been to a Zone Conference in 3 transfers, so that was fun. We did it over zoom, so that wasn't quite as fun, but it was still really good.
King County entered into Phase 2 of the governor's plan. We can now teach inside people's houses upon invitation, and we can have dinner at member's houses. On Saturday, we had dinner at the Jarvis' house. Brother Jarvis is part of the Bishopric, and Sister Jarvis is a seminary teacher. It was so nice to be eating at a member's house for the first time in forever! They lived in a pretty nice neighborhood, right down close to the Sound. Inside their house, they had an observational beehive. It had a glass tunnel going from outside the house in, and two honeycomb shaped glass hives hanging on the wall. It was super cool to see all of the bees flying in and out.
This week, we knocked on all of our investigator's (called friends here) and potential friend's doors. We went through literally every one of them in the area book. Nobody is answering the door right now, but we tried to contact all of them. We were able to talk and teach a few of them, and we even have some return appointments scheduled, so that is pretty awesome. We also met some people on the streets of the apartment complexes.
We had a meeting with President Beardall and the Stake President in Federal Way because Elder Atkin is the Zone Leader. It was a pretty good meeting. We talked a lot about the drive thru messages of hope. In our zone, we are having a lot of success with the drive thru prayers. We typically get 60+ people to stop a week. Going forward, we are really going to focus on getting return appointments from these contacts.
A couple weeks ago, I ordered the patriarchal blessings of 7 of my great grandparents. They finally came this week, so I was able to read them on lds.org. It was really neat to read their Patriarchal blessings. I really enjoyed it, and was able to feel the Spirit very strongly. I feel much more connected to them now.
Scripture of the Week: Mosiah 4:10-12, 3 Nephi 9:22
These are some of my favorite scriptures on repentance. I love how joyous the scriptures in Mosiah make repentance sound. Repentance really is a wonderful thing that we should look forward to as one of the greatest blessings of our Heavenly Father. It is one of the great signs of His love for us. We should look towards repentance with faith and gratitude for our brother, Jesus Christ. Repentance is a cause for happiness. In 3 Nephi, Christ invites us all to come to Him as little children. I feel that one reason for that is because children are both inherently happy and are a cause of happiness for others. We should rejoice as we repent and as others repent.
I love representing the Savior in Brasil, 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 Bremer in his element at drive thru prayers. He has us throw him passes every day for the 2 hours we are at drive thru prayers while we wait for cars to stop by
Photo 2 - A glimpse of Mount Rainier. It overshadows the entire area of Seattle. It is huge!!
Photo 3 - Crazy view of the transfer board from São Paulo East. This is what it looks like after all of the American missionaries and missionaries from other countries around the world left.
Photo 4 - The Puget Sound
Photo 5 - The trio with the Sound behind us
Photo 6 - Sister Bak, who is from Korea, drew all the missionaries in the zone. I am below Elder Atkin, who is portrayed with glasses on the right.
Photo 7 - The trio on the road!!
