Dudley, Michelle

Even COVID brings miracles! Miracle #1. Philippa Smith The Elders in our zone gave us a referral to follow up with a woman named Philippa Smith. She had met with some elders just before the pandemic.  She requested a large print of the Book of Mormon.  She never heard from them again.  She had no idea that all missionaries were called back to their homelands for a while and there hadn't been any missionaries here on Anglesey until we arrived. So - she agreed to let us come and visit, but she was quite grumpy and still bothered that the young elders had never returned.  After explaining what had happened, she slowly became more friendly and accepting of our visit.  She is a sceptic, a thinker, asks lots of questions, and doesn’t like herself very much. But at the end of our hour, she was smiling and agreed to let us return. We called the mission office the very next day to request a large print Book of Mormon.  They are unavailable..out of print. The end....

The month of LOVE - red and pink hearts, valentine cookies, chocolates, candy, roses, valentine cards, expressions of love….even here in WALES!  We enjoyed a delicious Indian dinner in Llangefni with the Gill family with popadoms and toppings (I pretended it was chips and salsa!), curry meat, amazing pitas and rices.  It is probably our favorite meal we have had since arriving in Wales, or maybe because it was a welcome change from fish and chips!  Mike lovingly created some wall hangings to hang above our desks. I LOVE him. We spent an entire day inspecting elders and sisters flats in Liverpool.  We didn’t get to see much of the city because of the time it took to drive between flats…but we did have some wonderful visits with the sisters and elders. While we have to inspect their flats, our goal is to lift them up and champion their victories.  We LOVE them. Our weekly discussion with Kev and Elisha was even better than the week before - if that is even possib...

We received new missionary name tags - in Welsh!  We are trying to learn how to pronounce the name of the Church.  It is hard!   We have to go SLOW!   Slow as a snail Chichi has hired a Welsh tutor.  He is a diligent seeker and learner of everything - and he says ‘learning Welsh is hard’.  AGREED.  But there is power in our missionary name tags and I'm sure he will accomplish his goal!  I will be happy with a few simple phrases.  Each morning when I put my tag on, I feel energized and motivated to be the best disciple I can be as we teach and testify.  Weekly we teach young adult institute.  Weekly we teach a temple preparation class.  Weekly we attend youth activities and help.  Weekly we teach discussions to Kev and Elisha. Semi weekly we teach Gospel Principles in Sunday School.  Frequently we teach and testify to the young elders and sisters as we meet with them, drive them, eat with them, zoom with them. There is...