Homecoming

Pictures

Photo 1 - Saying good-bye at the airport with President and Sister Beardall

Photo 2 - A teary plane ride home

Photo 3 -a last view of Mount Rainier

Photos 4-5 Reunited at last

Photo 6 - Speaking in church

Letters From My Parents

Hello Dear Elder Dudley!!!


Happy last day of your full-time mission! You have served with your whole heart and have given your all to share the wonderful message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


We know you’ll be sad to leave your work as a full-time missionary, but we also know that the Lord has great things in store for you as you enter this next chapter of your life. You’ll be happy as you serve others and grow in so many additional areas in your life.


We are praying for your safety and peacefulness of spirit as you travel home today. I hope you’ll find comfort in the following verses:


D&C 78:17-19
Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours, and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. And he who receives all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.


We love you more than you can imagine.


Love always…and see you soon!!!
Momma
xoxoxo
-------

Dear Elder Dudley,


My heart fills with joy for you as you transition into the next opportunity of discipleship of Jesus Christ.  We have prayed since you were a young boy that you would be blessed with remarkable experiences as a full-time missionary.  We prayed for a valiant trainer, great teaching experiences, wonderful mission president couples, and more.  Heavenly Father has answered our prayers beyond our greatest hopes. 


You have heard me say often to you as you were growing up that I hoped and expected you to not be just a good missionary but a great missionary.  Oh, Elder Dudley, you are so much more than a great missionary!  Your faith, humility, dedication, discipline, hard work, singular focus, meekness and so much more have taught me beyond measure how a true disciple of Jesus Christ loves Him and serves Him.  You represent everything that is good and great about serving the Lord as a full-time missionary.  I honor you for your wonderful service.


As you complete this formal assignment as a full-time missionary, it is now your opportunity and responsibility to make sure this legacy of discipleship blesses your family - those you know now but more importantly those who will be blessed to be your posterity.  Continue following the covenant path, seek to hear His voice always through personal prayers, scripture study, and covenant keeping, and your legacy of discipleship - that you served and how you served - will bless you and your family for generations to come.  The blessings of your missionary service are just beginning.


For now, know how much true joy you have given mom and me.  You are our friend, our example, and our hero in every way.  We will continue to pray for your happiness and your eternal progress in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We will continue to support and love you and celebrate every triumph and support in every challenge.  We love you!


Love,
Dad

Bothell Portuguese Transfer 2 Week 6

The last email…..

 

 

Well, as much as I might be in a state of denial, I cannot change the fact that my two year service as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is over. It has been the most incredible experience. I have loved everything about being a missionary. The good thing is that I will be benefiting from this experience my entire life and that I do not need to stop sharing the “reason for the hope within me”. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so amazing! My missionary service might be over, but my mission is not yet over. I will continue always as a disciple of Jesus Christ, tag or no tag.

 

 

The last week of my mission was the perfect end to my missionary service. It was a week full of miracles and miraculous events. We had a super busy week that included exit interviews with our mission president, dinner at the mission president’s house, a meeting with the temple presidency, a portuguese group activity, and a baptism!!! 

 

 

So, our friend Savia was on date for a July 18th baptismal date as of last Sunday. She was still drinking coffee every once in a while, though she was down to one cup every once in a while. We had taught her all the lessons, and she was so excited to get baptized. 

 

 

On Monday, Elisangela (who has been fellowshipping her) texted us and told us that Savia all of a sudden that morning and told her that July 18th was not going to work and that she needed to get baptized sooner.  That was cool to hear because she was so excited, but we knew that would not work. Typically, when people are addicted to something, they need to go at least 2-3 weeks without it before they can get baptized. Savia had her last coffee the day before. We told Elisangela that there was no way that Savia was going to be able to get baptized this week.

 

 

We went about the rest of our P-Day like normal. It was a good P-Day; we got to have a fun District Activity at the church. We had an interesting thing happen while we were at the church. A man just walked in and asked us for a priesthood blessing. Elder Ward and I went with him into another room and talked with him for a little while to figure out the situation and try to see if we should give him a priesthood blessing. He was a member that was kind of down on his luck. We did, and it was a really spiritual experience. After he left, I was wondering about how he managed to get into the locked church. I asked Elder Ward, and Elder Ward said that before we started the activity, he had an impression to go unlock and prop open the back door. He did so, and we got to have that cool experience.

 

 

We finished up P-Day and then we went out tracting at 6:00. After about 2 hours, we got a text from Savia telling us that she wanted to talk to us immediately. We typically teach her on zoom from the church, so we told her that we were heading over to the church to call her right then. We figured that it was about wanting to get baptized. We had a discussion within our companionship on the way over of what to do and how to respond. I felt pretty strongly that unless something truly miraculous happened, we should not even consider trying to figure out a way for her to get baptized. 

So, we got on the call and the first thing that Savia said was: “Guess what? I decided that I will be baptized this Sunday!!” She proceeded to tell us that she finally felt completely prepared and that she could not wait any longer. She said that she also really wanted us to be at the baptism. 

 

 

We then had to tell her that she needed to wait at least 2 or 3 more weeks without coffee. We also told her that the reason to get baptized is not because we were going home, but because she really had the desire and knew that the gospel is true. She then told us that she knew she wasn’t going to ever drink coffee again and that she had been completely prepared. She told us that the reason she wanted to get baptized was because she knew the gospel was true. She then told us that she needed to get baptized that weekend. We again told her that she would have to wait to get off of coffee.

 

 

Savia then told us that the reason she knew that she would never drink coffee again was because that morning as she was preparing her coffee, she had this strange feeling that there was someone else in the room watching her. She looked about and couldn’t see anyone. She went back to making the coffee and just had the strongest feeling that the person in the room with her was just so disappointed with her.

 

 

I don’t know if it was a ministering angel or not, but I do believe that it was a miracle. Savia completely lost her desire to drink even the occasional coffee once every several days. She promised us that she would never drink coffee again and that we didn’t need to worry about her drinking coffee. She told us that she was completely prepared and wanted to get baptized. She told us if we wouldn’t baptize her that weekend, she would baptize herself. 

 

 

We realized then that something incredibly miraculous had happened, so we asked her if we could pause the video call and take 5 minutes to talk about it as a companionship. She said yes, but that she wouldn’t accept no as an answer.

 

 

We got off the call and were just blown away. We decided to call President Beardall to ask him what we should do. We talked with him and explained the situation. He told us that as long as she didn’t drink that coffee that week, she could get baptized that Sunday!! 

 

 

We got back on the call and told her that she could get baptized that Sunday on the condition that she didn’t drink coffee at all that week and that we would also have a lesson with her every day that week.

 

 

Preparing Savia for baptism was our biggest focus of the week. There were some crazy things that happened leading up to the baptism. Once coffee was no longer impeding her from being baptized, Satan used a lot of other things to try and distract her. On Wednesday, she got super offended by something one of the members told her. She told us during our lesson that she almost blocked us and all of the members and cancelled the baptism. Elisangela ended up going over to Savia’s house and banging on the door until Savia came out and talked with her. Elisangela talked through things with her and helped her realize that she was way overreacting and that Satan was just blowing things out of proportion. Elisangela is the best. 

 

 

The next day, Savia’s husband ended up in the hospital, but again, Elisangela came to the rescue. She drove them to the hospital and then just stayed talking with Savia the entire time. In another situation, something like that could have easily deterred Savia from being baptized. I am so grateful that we have so many amazing members and disciples of Christ in this church.

 

 

We had lessons almost every day of the week, and she continued to progress and prepare for baptism. She passed her interview and did not drink any coffee!! On Sunday, Savia was baptized after church. If there were any doubt in my mind that she was ready to be baptized, it was gone once the baptism started. We began singing that classic baptism song about looking for rainbows, and the Spirit was so strong. Savia just had tears streaming down her face. The entire baptism was full of the Spirit. When Elder Almeida baptized her, she came out of the water with the biggest smile on her face. She stuck her arms up in the air and yelled, “Woooooohhoooooooo!!!” She was so excited to get baptized. 

 

 

After the baptism, Elder Ward and I had to say good-bye to Savia, the other recent converts, and all the other Brazilian members. It was so hard. I have seen so many miracles happen in so many ways. It has been so incredible. These people have been my family since August of last year. I was so sad to say good-bye to all of them. 

 

 

The rest of that day was kind of a blur. We went to the mission office for dinner with President and Sister Beardall, as well as all the other missionaries that were going home. It was really good. We then went to the temple, where we had a meeting with the temple president. For two hours, we were allowed to ask him any question about the gospel. I took tons of notes and learned a ton. I really loved one particular thing that he said. He said, “The topical guide should be your right arm.” Some of the questions were really good, and he ended his response by saying that we should look up and study every scripture on those topics. That is how he has gained all of his spiritual knowledge - diligent study and intentional prayer.

 

 

Saying goodbye to President and Sister Beardall in the airport was one of the hardest things I have done on my mission. I cried pretty much the entire ride to the airport and I was crying a whole bunch when I hugged them good-bye. This mission has meant so much to me. The two of them mean so much to me. Serving a mission has been the greatest blessing of my life besides my family. Every experience, every opportunity, all the learning, all the trials - it has all worked together for my good, and for the good of so many others. Covid-19 was such a huge blessing and opportunity for me. 

 

 

I am amazed by how much the Lord trusts us to do His work. Though we can barely stretch ourselves to grow a mustard seed of faith in the Lord, He has perfect faith in us. Our responsibility is so great. This work is so great.

 

 

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that there is power in the gospel. It is a gospel of repentance and change. I have witnessed the great change that is brought about by the gospel both in my life and the life of many others. That gospel was truly and fully restored to the earth by God through the prophet Joseph Smith. 

 

 

With Paul, I would say I have fought a good fight, but I know that this fight isn’t over. I have concluded my service as a missionary, but my mission is not over. I got a whole life ahead of me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. These last two years have prepared me for my entire life. 

 

 

Scripture of my mission

 

 

2 Nephi 2:6-8

6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

 

 

I love representing the Savior in Brasil and Washington, 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 - Immediately after our miracle lesson with Savia

Photo2 - Sunny skies

Photo 3 - last time at the mission office

Photo 4 - Janaina Fokes made an amazing dinner for us. She made bolo de rolo Pernambucano and it was so good!!

Photo 5 - last picture with the Portuguese elders

Photo 6 - Elder Ludgate and I

Photo 7 - Elder Beardall and I

Photo 8 - Elder Diago and I

Photo 9 - Elder Almeida, Elder Ward, and I

Photo 10 - Elder Schelin and I

Photos 11-12 - Savia’s baptism

Photo 13  Elder Schelin and I with Raymond and Janaina Fowkes at the group activity

Photo 14 The missionaries at the activity with Rita, Liv, and Luiza

Photo 15 Elder Schelin, Elder Beardall and I with Rosi

Photo 16 Picture after the baptism

Photo 17 The Zone. Left to right: (Back row) Sister Callahan, Sister Wagner, Sister Schnebly, Sister Rees, Sister Crookshank, Elder Depew, Elder Keil, Elder Dudley, Elder Carpenter, Elder Whitley, Elder Williams. (Next Row) Sister Crabb, Hermana Zacarias, Hermana Covert, Elder Robb, (Front) Elder Ward, Elder Almeida

Photo 18 - The temple with all the departing missionaries. 

Photo 19 - President and Sister Beardall and I

Letter From Mom

Dearest Elder Dudley,

 

 

I can’t believe you’re going into your last week as a full-time missionary for Jesus Christ! This will be an amazing week. It will be the capstone to your mission! What an exciting time this is for you and the the people you serve!

 

 

You’ve worked so hard to hear the voice of the Lord as you’ve represented him the past two years. President Nelson has amazing things to say about receiving revelation in his book “Accomplishing the Impossible.” From chapter 6 “We can Receive Revelation” President Nelson says this:

 

 

The Master gave this instruction: “I the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great assail be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. To them will I reveal all mysteries [and] my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.” (D&C 76:5-7)

 

 

Revelation need not all come at once. It may be incremental. “Saith the lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receivers I will give more.” (2 Nephi 28:30) Patience and perseverance are part of our eternal progression.

 

 

Prophets have described what they felt while receiving revelation. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery reported that “the veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.” (D&C 110:1) President Joseph F. Smith wrote, “As I pondered over these things which are written, themes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me.” (D&C 138:11)

 

 

Every Latter-day Saint may merit personal revelation. The invitation to ask, seek, and knock for divine direction exists because God lives and Jesus is the living Christ. It exists because this is His living Church. (See D&C 1:30) And we are blessed today to be led by living prophets. That we may hearken to and heed their prophetic counsel is my prayer.

 

 

Keep working your hardest:  listening carefully to the voice of the Lord, and acting immediately. You will continue to accomplish the impossible even to the last moment of your mission, including your flights home.

 

 

We love you. We pray for you. We are soooo proud of you, Elder Dudley!

 

 

Love always,

Momma

 

 

xoxoxo

P.S. SEE YOU SOON!!!

Bothell Portuguese Transfer 2 Week 5

What a week!! THis week has been so crazy!!

 

 

We had to take Elder Almeida to the SeaTac airport on Wednesday. He had to go to San Francisco to do some visa stuff for portugal. He was only gone for 24 hours, but it was good just to be with Elder Ward for a day. The next day was Elder Ward's birthday, so that was fun!! I took him out to a fun burger place. They had eggnog shakes!! In July!! Of course I had to get one, and it was the best thing ever!! We had to spend 6 total hours in the car driving between the two days, though!! The traffic to get to Sea-tac was awful!!

 

 

Exchange with Bothell

We had a crazy exchange with the Bothell Elders this last week. With Elder Whitley's grandpa being in the hospital, we decided to do an exchange to keep his mind off things. I went with Elder Keil in their area. When I woke up in the morning, I looked over at Elder keil and realized that something was wrong. He told me that he had been throwing up all night and that he thought he had food poisoning. He kept on having massive stomach problems and throwing up. We ended up having to stay home the entire day so he could rest and be by the toilet. I felt really bad for him. It was about the strangest exchange I have ever done. He was too wiped out to talk except for companionship study. I had a productive day though. I was able to finish the New Testament, finish a course called MY PLAN that I have to do before coming home, adn get a bunch of other studies in. It was good.

 

 

Lunch with Rita, Liv, and Luiza

Rita, Liv, and Luiza had us over for one last lunch this Sunday. I am so grateful for the chance I had to teach and baptize them, and to now see the change in them and how they have taken off in the gospel. They are so different now. They have the SPirit with them. They have peace in their home. Their futures have changed. Luiza is doing BYU Pathways and institute. Liv willstart pathways during her senior year of high school this year. They both want to go to BYU Provo after this next year. Liv wants to serve a mission. I feel so blessed to have been able to witness all of this. I have such a good friendship with Rita, Liv, and Luiza, and am so grateful for them. (the food was also delicious)

 

 

Savia's miracles

So, Savia texted us this week and told us she didn't think that she could get baptized on the 18th. We got kind of worried, but we just set up a lesson for the next day. She started the lesson just in tears. She has a really hard family situation. We read some scriptures with her, and talked and taught about the Savior's Atoning sacrifice and grace, and by the end, she was totally happy and smiling again. She definitely felt the Spirit. She came to church the next day, and was completely normal again. It was definitely a huge miracle! Please pray for her to be baptized on the 18th!!

 

 

Josue

So, this transfer has been a little bit of a faith challenge for us. Last transfer, the Lord guided us to find about 60 Brazilians. We had a pretty good teaching pool and a couple appointments every night. This transfer, we had found 5 total people. Everyone that we taught has pretty much dropped us except for Savia. It seems like the entire Brazilian community is working so late and not getting home until 9:30 because during the winter it is hard for a lot of the construction companies and other things they do for work. That has been pretty hard this transfer. This week, I had the impression to start using the app Whitepages again. It is basically like an online phonebook. We have tried using it a couple times before, and it isn't super effective with Brazilians, but we had never tried it in Bothell. We searched for a common Brazilian last name in the app and filtered for the city of Bothell. We repeated that process with as many last names as we could think of, and we ended up with the addresses for about 6 Brazilians up here in Bothell. Typically, in the past when we have done this, the Brazilians had already moved and it wasn't updated on the app. it had never been super effective. 

We decided to try on Sunday night. We went to one of the adresses, and no one was home. WE then moved on to the next house, and it was Josue and Ivani. They are so nice!! They are from Curitiba, Brasil. We have a return appointment with them tomorrow at 6:30. The incredible thing is that they told us that there are 9 other Brazilians in their neighborhood!! It seems like the trial of our faith is finally over!! 

 

 

Zone Conference

Zone Conference was absolutely incredible!! I loved it, justas I always love zone conference. It is always such a spiritual high. This was the first full day zone conference since before Covid!! It was awesome! We didn't have masks on and we had lunch and everything! The best part was definitely the end. We were with the Seattle and Auburn zones, and there were 9 total missionaries going home. We all bore our testimonies in alphabetical order. Before we started bearing our testimonies, Elder George played a special musical number on the piano. He is one of the most incredible pianists I have ever heard. I served around him in Kirkland almost a year ago. He has been playing for weddings and other things since he was 11 years old. Elder George is also going home, and he put his entire heart and soul into the music. He played the most incredible, beautiful, and heartfelt arrangement of "If you could high to Kolob" that I have ever heard. Almost everyone was in tears by the time he was done. 

The first Elder to bear their testimony was Elder Carpenter from our zone. He got up there and just started crying. He bore a very heartfelt testimony. I had started getting teary during the music, but I was definitely crying listening to Elder Carpenter. 

Then it was my turn. I got up there and immediately choked up. My mission has meant everything to me. This gospel means everything to me. I have such a strong testimony that God exists and that He is our loving Heavenly Father. This is a great work that He has given us. I have always wanted to serve a mission, but this has been more incredible than I could have ever imagined. I have a witness that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know He lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

 

 

Well, I will send one more email next week. I am ready to continue strong and trust the Lord more than ever this week!! 

 

 

3 Nephi 11:10-11

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

 

 

I love representing the Savior in Brasil and Washington, 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 - Washington is so pretty in the summer

Photo 2-5 The temple!

Photo 6 - Cool park

Photo 7 - Mom sent us matching July 4 ties

Photo 8 - Washington is amazing!!

Photo 9 - Again the July 4 ties

Photo 10 - Last Mission Leadership Council