Totem Lake Portuguese #1 Transfer 2 Week 1

Week 1 of transfer two in Kirkland

This week was pretty good.  It was a little bit slower teaching wise, but that’s just because we have more companionships now. We left most of the teaching pool with Elder Schelin and Elder Buhler because last transfer was really hard for Elder Buhler. We wanted to make sure that he had an amazing transfer this next transfer. We spent a ton of time just texting people on Facebook this week so that we would have classes. We were able to get a good amount of stuff set up, so next week should be busier. We will all completely fill up our schedules soon. It is going to be amazing to have this much Portuguese work get done. It is crazy that we now have 4 Portuguese companionships when just 6 weeks ago Portuguese work had never been done in this mission. It is a huge miracle

I really like my new companion, Elder Beardall. He is super humble, obedient, and easy to get along with. I think we are going to be able to do some really good work together. Elder Beardall is from Mesa, Arizona. He previously served in Manaus, Brasil, and has been out about one transfer less than me. 

We had an awesome lesson with Gabb this week. She has a baptismal date for October 10. She understands everything perfectly. It is so amazing. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week, and she loved it. 

We also had a wild lesson with Rita, Liv, Luisa, and Bianca. They have some pretty deep questions. We responded to one of their questions, and then we watched the entire hour long Restoration video. It was so great. At the end we bore testimony, and the Spirit was so strong. Elder Beardall was in the middle of his testimony, almost crying because the Spirit was so strong, and then Rita's daughters completely lost focus, started talking with Bianca and asking us all sorts of random questions. It was such a bummer.

I went to in person church for the first time since Brasil!! It was both amazing and weird. We didn't have any Brazilians there 'cause we are planning on having the first Portuguese meeting on the 18th. It was so good to be there. 

I have had to spend so much time just organizing everything this week. I am running most of the correlation between the companionships. I also do most of the communicating with President Sowby and President Beardall. I am also the Portuguese Moderator on the English Connect Seattle page. I also have most of the contacts for the Brazilian members, so I do a lot of coordinating with them. I made a whatsapp group chat with all of them this week. We also have to coordinate some stuff with some of the missionaries in the Everett mission. It was just a lot of different moving parts to coordinate. It's a lot to keep track of, but it should be a lot smoother from here on.

Poto 1 - Elder Beardall and I

Totem Lake Portuguese Transfer 1 Week 6

Well, this was definitely the fastest transfer ever! I cannot believe how time has flown! We have been so incredibly busy. I feel like I can really recognize now that the Lord is hastening His work. Literally hastening. 

 

 

We got transfer information yesterday. We are now going to have five Portuguese speaking companionships instead of just Elder Schelin and me! The Lord guided us to so many people that we could no longer do it alone. There will be 3 companionships in the Kirkland Zone. Elder Schelin will be companions with Elder Buhler, Elder Brammer and Elder Ludgate will be comps, and I will be with Elder Beardall. In Bellevue South, there will be a companionship of sisters, and in Renton, there will be another companionship of Elders. It is going to be so amazing to see all of the work that we will be able to get done. 

 

 

We had to do a lot of organizing this week. We have so many contacts of people that want english classes. We set up appointments for an entire other companionship. They are going to be busy :)! 

 

 

We also found some more awesome members! They live in Bellevue and Issaquah. It is kind of far from Kirkland, so I don’t know if they would come to the branch, but they are all super cool. There are three families total. All three of the husbands are American and speak Portuguese, and they are all married to Brasilians. 

 

 

We got more info on how the branch is going to work. We talked to the Stake President this week. It is actually going to be a group at first. These first couple Sundays, it will be a combined meeting with the ward. Either we will have to translate or one of the members will. On the 18th, we are going to try and have our first sacrament meeting of just Portuguese. Hopefully, we can get enough people coming in the few weeks leading up to the 18th that we can actually have a branch. It is definitely exciting!

 

 

We started teaching English to a really rich lady this week. She pretty much already speaks,  she just wants to practice speaking with us. Her name is Fatima, and she is super nice. She lives in Issaquah, which is a super nice area. Her husband is the director of new technology at Microsoft, so they have a very nice house. It was really cool to be there. 

 

 

We did exchanges with Elder Buhler and Elder Collingwood every day at night this week. Elder Collingwood has really struggled this last transfer, and just wouldn’t leave the house or do anything, which has been hard for Elder Buhler. Elder Buhler was reassigned from Brasil, and he never finished his training in Brasil. He just got back out this last transfer. It has been a really tough transfer for him because he really wants to work. This next transfer is going to be really good for him, though. He is going to be so busy now that he is assigned Portuguese speaking again.

I am so excited for this next transfer! I know that miracles are going to happen. I just keep on getting more and more excited for the Portuguese work. This is so cool to be part of. 

 

 

Pray for:

Meire

Gabb

Walber

Wellison

Rita

Rosangela

 

 

Scripture of the Week: 

 Mosiah: 41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love representing Him in Seattle, 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 - Cheesecake Factory with the Chinese Elders (Elder Breinholt and Elder Lai). They lived next to us in the hotel.

Photo 4 - The Tibúrcio Family in the Totem Lake Ward made me try dried, spiced, Mexican grasshoppers

Photo 5 - Stroganoff Brasileiro

Photo 6 - Elder Buhler and I

Photo 7 - Our Facebook ad

Totem Lake Portuguese Transfer 1 Week 5

Ola!!

 

 

We had another incredible week here! I am just amazed at all of the incredible things that are going on here! We keep on finding more people to teach that have really good potential. This week, We had one or two appointments starting every morning at 8:30, before people go to work, and then we would come home, do personal study, then go to the park to try and find some more people, and then teach again starting when people get home at 5:00. We taught so many lessons this week.

 

 

It got pretty smoky here this week. When we are on the highway, we can barely see the tops of the trees lining the highway, and when we drive through Bellevue, we can’t even see the skyscrapers. It is pretty crazy. We all need to pray for those affected by the fires.

 

 

On Sunday, we had 3 Brasilian meals between 1 and 7. It was amazing, but very painful. I ate so much. We had lunch with some people we are teaching, dinner with some Brasilian members, and second dinner with another family that we are teaching. It was great!

 

 

I did a baptismal interview for the first time this week. It was pretty cool. The Willows Elders baptized Wei on Sunday.

We signed up one of the people we are teaching for BYU pathways! His name is Wellison. He is 23, and is super cool. He speaks really good english. We are also starting to talk with him about eventually going to BYU. Wellison is also progressing! He started tearing up during the restoration.

 

 

We had zone conference on Thursday. It was super good. We talked about moving to “Higher Ground” as a mission. I think it definitely helped the mission. Some missionaries were getting pretty relaxed after going home or being in quarantine. It was a good reminder of why we are here. I loved it.

 

 

After zone conference, Elder Schelin and I had a meeting with the Assistants and President to talk about the next transfer and to make some recommendations on where we need Portuguese companionships and how many. We have so much work that we are probably going to have all 10 Portuguese speaking missionaries in the mission helping us next transfer! It is going to be so cool! President Beardall is starting to get super excited about it all.

 

 

The Kirkland Stake President, President Sowby, called us the other day. He told us that he talked with the area presidency and got permission to start a Portuguese speaking group! It should hopefully start when we go back to church at the end of the month! I am so incredibly excited and happy! It is going to be amazing! I think that we might have a ton of people at church for the first time! We are going to start telling all of the people that we teach about it. They have all pretty much promised us that they will be there when we get it going.

 

 

We were finally able to get in touch with some missionaries in the Everrett mission that speak Portuguese. We have been talking with their mission office for a couple weeks about passing some referrals over, and we were finally able to get the contact information of some missionaries in Bothell and Lynnwood that speak Portuguese. We passed probably 25 referrals to them. We are just going to keep on finding more people on Facebook, especially in Bothell. We found so many people in Bothell already. There would probably be enough work in Bothell for the Everett mission to put two companionships of portuguese there, but right now they only have one missionary in Bothell that speaks.

 

 

Two stakes also finally got back with an official list of Brasilian members. That added 12 households to our membercount. Many of them are probably less active, but we will be able to start working with them. Hopefully some of them are active or just haven’t been going to church because they can’t understand it. Getting those lists also made us excited to hear from other stakes. We have only heard from Renton, Bellevue, Seattle, and Kirkland. We think that pretty much every stake will have some members buried on their records. 

 

 

I'm going to start including a list of people to pray for on my email each week. These are some of of our focus people

Meire

Gabrielle

Wellison

Vinicius

Walber

Adeí

Rosi

 

 

Scripture of the Week: John 15:7-12

We must abide in the Savior by loving Him, glorifying God, keeping His commandments, and loving one another. As we abide in Him, and as we let His words abide with us, we will become His disciples and have a fullness of joy.

 

 

I loved representing the Savior in Brasil, I love representing Him in Seattle, 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 1-6, 8-9 - The increasing smoke from the fires

Photo 7 - Me + Smoke

Photo 10 - Screenshot of handbook requirements to start a branch

Totem Lake Portuguese Transfer 1 Week 4

This week has been incredible. We are still getting swamped by people that want english. We are having to tell them to wait because we just don’t have enough time to teach them.We probably have upwards of 30 people on the waiting list! I think that by the end of this week, we will have enough people that we could keep 3 or 4 companionships busy up here in Kirkland, and probably 1 or 2 companionships busy down in Renton.

 

 

I have been amazed by how many members that we have been able to find. We have a list of 25 different Portuguese speaking households that are members of the church. A lot of them are active, too! Everyone that we have been able to get in contact with is super excited for the possibility to attend a Portuguese Branch.

 

 

So last week, I wrote an email to President about the new strategy that we have been using to find people on facebook, and the success that we are seeing with English classes as a chance to teach the gospel. He ended sending that email out to all of the language speaking missionaries in the mission! I felt a little embarrassed, but I think that these things are things that the Lord has helped us learn that will  apply to all the languages in this mission. I hope that stuff helps the others in the mission.

 

 

We had a huge miracle this week. We were in a park doing Facebook finding to find more people for English classes. We had a free English class poster and a Brasilian flag set up as we were sitting there. After a little while, this Brasilian lady named Katia came up to us. She thought that what we were doing was so cool. She took a picture of us and posted it to the Brasilians in Seattle Group on Facebook and posted it on some huge Whatsapp group chats with our number. Within the next 24 hours, we got 20 different messages from 20 different people that want the English classes!! Katia also gave us the contact information for one of her best Brasilian friends, who happens to be a member! We texted the member, and the member is so excited about the possibility of a branch!! The member then passed the contact information for more Brasilian members, so that was amazing!! Also, we found out from the member that Katia lives with some inactive Brasilian members in Renton. While we were in the park, we had given a Book of Mormon to Katia, so hopefully we can both visit and reactivate the inactive members and teach Katia and her family. Also, one of the people that reached out to us wanting english classes because of her social media posts is a member that has moved here in the last 6 months during the shut down, so no one knows about him. He lives in Kirkland, so we are excited to be able to teach him and get him involved with the church here. It was so incredible. It was definitely a huge testament to me that the Lord really wants the work to move forward with the Brasilians here. When we are in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, the Lord is able to work miracles.

 

 

We were able to set a baptismal date with two of our friends this week. We were teaching them English for the second time. The first time, we taught the Restoration, and it went super well. This time, we went over what we taught last time, and they remembered pretty much everything! They had some great inspired questions about baptism, so we read 3 Nephi 11 and invited them to be baptized! They got super excited, and we set their date for October 10! We are so excited to be working with them. It is so exciting to see people progressing because of English classes!

 

 

The Lord sure has prepared these people to receive the gospel. It has been incredible to see these miracles happen.

 

 

I love representing the Savior in Brasil and 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 Dudley

 

 

Photo 1 - I got my rackets sent to me!!

Photos 2-3 - My great aunt JoAnne and great uncle Richard Dudley live in Kirkland! I got to see JoAnne and some second cousins!!

Photos 4-6 - Creative park finding in downtown Bellevue. We held “Free English class” signs

Photo 7 - Downtown Bellevue

Photo 8 - We filmed our first video for the English Connect Seattle Facebook Page

Photo 9 - On the Road

Photo 10-11 The Facebook Post from that Brazilian lady we met in the park

Photo 12 - List of all the potential members for a Portuguese Branch

Photo 13 - Elder Schelin and I at Richard and JoAnne’s house

Letter To President Beardall And His Response

President Beardal:

This week has been incredible. We are still getting swamped by people that want english.

We are having to tell them to wait because we just don’t have enough time to teach them.

We probably have upwards of 30 people on the waiting list! I think that by the end of this

week, we will have enough people that we could keep 3 or 4 companionships busy up here

in Kirkland, and probably 1 or 2 companionships busy down in Renton.

I have been amazed by how many members that we have been able to find. We have a list

of 25 different Portuguese speaking households that are members of the church. A lot of

them are active, too! Everyone that we have been able to get in contact with is super excited

for the possibility to attend a Portugese Branch.

We had a huge miracle this week. We were in a park doing Facebook finding to get more

people for english classes. We had a free english class poster and a Brasilian flag set up as

we were sitting there. After a little while, this Brasilian lady named Katia came up to us. She

thought that what we were doing was so cool. She took a picture of us and posted it to the

Brasilians in Seattle Group on Facebook and posted it on some huge Whatsapp group chats

with our number. Within the next 24 hours, we got 20 different messages from 20 different

people that want the english classes!! Katia also gave us the contact information for one of

her best Brasilian friends, who happens to be a member! We texted the member, and the

member is so excited about the possibility of a branch!! The member then passed the

contact information for more Brasilian members, so that was amazing!! Also, we found out

from the member that Katia lives with some inactive Brasilian members in Renton. While we

were in the park, we had given a Book of Mormon to Katia, so hopefully we can both visit

and reactivate the inactive members and teach Katia and her family. Also, one of the people

that reached out to us wanting english classes because of her social media posts is a

member that has moved here in the last 6 months during the shut down, so no one knows

about him. He lives in Kirkland, so we are excited to be able to teach him and get him

involved with the church here. It was so incredible. It was definitely a huge testament to me

that the Lord really wants the work to move forward with the Brasilians here. When we are in

the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, the Lord is able to work miracles.

We were able to set a baptismal date with two of our friends this week. We were teaching

them english for the second time. The first time, we taught the Restoration, and it went super

well. This time, we went over what we taught last time, and they remembered pretty much

everything! They had some great inspired questions about baptism, so we read 3 Nephi 11

and invited them to be baptized! They got super excited, and we set their date for October

10! We are so excited to be working with them. It is so exciting to see people progressing

because of english classes!

Our district is doing good. There is a pretty good energy. The Chinese Elders seem to be

doing a good job trying to teach and find. It is hard for them to find people to teach, but I

think that they are doing a really good job. The Finn Hill Sisters also seem to be doing the

best they can to creatively find and work with members. They tried the member method out

with some success this week, so that is good. The Willows Elders also seem to be doing

well. Elder George is starting to really find his place in their companionship. It took him a

couple of weeks to get into the swing of things, but it seems like he is going at 100% now.

President, thanks for all that you and Sister Beardall do.

Love,

Elder Dudley

----------

President Beardall’s response

Wow! This reminds me of the stories from Wilford Woodruff and Heber C. Kimball when they

opened up missionary work in the British Isles back in the 1830's. You can see it starting to

happen. We will definitely apply all the available resources this next transfer to capitalize on

this surge in momentum. Thank you for all you are doing. It is exciting. We are so grateful!

We love you Elder Dudley!