Tucson--#23

Hola a todos!

 

Oh do I have a surprise for you guys! I am staying in the Picture Rocks ward but I have also been asked to train a greenie and also to be the new district leader. You can start sending letters back to the Anthony address. Too much responsibility for such a small boy haha. My greenie is Elder Johnson and is from Oregon. 29 missionaries came in this transfer! Elder Wynn went to the Coronado Ward in the Tucson North Stake. Not much has happened this last week. A couple in the ward got married on Saturday so we are going to start teaching the wife and daughter.  They have been slated to be baptized twice already but the whole "marriage" thing put that on hold. The husband, Paul Olive, has been a member his whole life but has been inactive for a good amount of time. He is a HUGE Polynesian with long scruffy hair. I want to run away whenever I see him but he is a teddy bear when you get to know him. Brooklyn is still slated to be baptized on March 2nd. She has to attend church 1 more time though. President's main goal in getting us to teach 20 lessons/week is to get members more involved in missionary work. I feel like some member referrals are on the horizon and we already are seeing some members be outstanding missionaries. We should have at least three baptisms this transfer. Elay is still iffy and is giving me too many gray hairs. We are almost at the point where we will leave the ball in his court to make a decision. Looking forward to this week. Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

 

 

Love,

 

Elder Urry

LiveStrong

Alma 34:32-34

Tucson--#22

Hey Everyone!

We had a phenomenal week! Niiki, Thomas, Jenica, and Serah got baptized!
Elay was able to attend which was great becuase I know that he felt the
Spirit. The spirit was so strong at the baptism. It has been the most
spiritual baptism that I have ever attended! President and Sister Killpack
even attended which was not good for my nerves haha. I was the last one in
the font so I had to drain the font. I couldnt twist the plug with my foot
so I had to "baptize" myself in order to pull the plug. Yep I was drenched
from head to toe. As a mission, we have been challenged to utilize the 5-10
minute intermission after the baptismal ordinance. We asked the Sister
missionaries give a 5 minute lesson on the Restoration and then we had a 13
year old recent convert bear her testimony. From what I heard it was very
very good. We found three new investigators this last week! We went over to
teach Brooklyn and the 14 year old daughter, Bella was there along with her
cousin. We were teaching the Restoration and invited them to join us for
the lesson. Their desire was very minimal at the beginning but we were able
to answer their questions and able to relate concepts with analogies to
help them understand and they accepted to read, ponder and pray about The
Book of Mormon. The third new investigator is actually a funny story haha.
Multiple times a week we go and share a lesson with the Tucker's who are
recent converts. The daughter invited over a non member friend who had been
present for previous lessons but never wanted us to start teaching her. The
friend said, "I will read out of your mormon book if you do the cinnamon
challenge..." Elder Wynn agreed but we added on to the conditions and
invited her to allow us to teach her one lesson. She agreed and the deed
was done. We should be meeting with her later this week. This Wednesday we
are going to mutual for a "missionary night" and teaching the youth how to
perform a street contact and sharing one of the missionary lessons. We are
completely looking forward to this opportunity! This is the last week of
transfers so I will find out next Sunday whether or not I am getting
transferred. Thanks for the support! All is well in Zion!

Love,

Elder Urry
LiveStrong
Hebrews 12:9

Tucson--#21

Hey Everyone!!

For P-Day we hiked a local mountain that is called Sombrero Peak. Elder Wynn loaned me his Vibrams which are those little toe shoes that people have started wearing. They are not the best shoes to hike in....I will just say that the hike was rocky but I had a blast anyway! Because of Word of Wisdom issues (coffee) we had to change Elay's baptismal date to March 2nd. Niiki, Serrah, Jenica and Thomas are going to be baptized this Saturday!!!! They are the coolest family! We found out that Niiki and Thomas were actually born in Ethiopia. Last week was a little bit of a struggle to get them interviewed and confident about being baptized. In an appointment we asked them how they felt about being baptized on February 9th. They were very apprehensive, scared, did not want to do it, even questioned the need to be baptized by authority. Hmm...all thoughts and feelings that Satan uses to prevent God's divine children to come closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. We felt that we should review the baptismal interview questions with them. After we did this they felt more comfortable but still a little apprehensive. Elder Wynn and I were concerned that they might not be baptized on Feb 9th. We were not going to force them to do anything. Sunday came and all four of them were interviewed before church. After their interviews they were all STOKED to be baptized! That was truly an answer to our prayers. Last night after creating the baptismal program, I celebrated with them by showing them some of my "dance" moves. That was for you Miles! We have been able to meet with Linda Larson's youngest daughter, Brooklyn, and set a baptismal date for March 2nd. Brooklyn is a smart 9 year old and learns really quick. We have an appointment with them tonight. Hopefully we can get the 14 year old daughter to be present for the lessons. We went over to see Debbie and pretty much have a dropped lesson. We went over and said that she would like us to "study" with her which unknown to her means teach her the Gospel and get her baptized. Debbie told us that she will come to church this Sunday! Transfers are the 19th so we are trying to get as much work as we possible can before then. Cool experience for ya'll. We went to visit a partly active/less-active family with some unbaptized children. They were not home. I had a prompting to go see the Elder's Quorum President. I thought why the EQP? We went and as we got to his house we saw his wife and daughter drive up to the house. We talked with the whole family and the daughter asked us a lot of questions about the mission and mission papers because she is currently working on her own papers. We then talked about The Book of Mormon and how it is the keystone of our religion. We challenged them to hand out a copy and then left. We thought nothing of the visit. It was just a normal visit to some active members. Yesterday, the daughter thanked us for coming over and answering her questions. She was doubting about going on a mission and pulled over in her car and asked God if she needed to serve a mission. And lo and behold, we showed up at her house later that day and alleviated those doubts that she had. I am grateful I acted on that prompting and did not just brush it off as I have probably done too many times in my life. Who knows, if we did not come over she might have decided to not serve a mission. The field is white and ready to harvest and you do not need to be a missionary in order to harvest. The church is true.

Love,

Elder Urry

LiveStrong

Acts 7:55-56

Tucson--#20

Gooooooooooooood Morning San Diego!

This last week has been way good! Last Sunday when we taught Elay and his
family we forgot to set a baptismal date with them. We met with them again
on Wednesday and were adamant on setting a baptismal date with them. We
reviewed the Restoration, taught Elay about the Priesthood and watched *The
Restoration*. Afterwards I was left to extend the baptismal dates. I
started with Elay and committed him to be baptized. He accepted rather
hesitantly because he did not understand the Priesthood and why he would
need to be baptized again. I then asked 3 of the kids that were present and
they all accepted. They are set to be baptized on February 9th!!!!! Funny
thing happened though....while I was extended the commitments to the
children I got two of their names mixed up and said one name but was
looking at another. Apparently it looked like I was staring into her
soul....Elder Wynn was on the ball though and understood what was happening
haha picked up where I left off. Because of Elay's job he usually is not
able to come to church. We were only expecting to see the kids at church
but lo and behold he came!!! Although he has been to church the necessary
amount of times now (3), President Killpack would like to see him at church
at least one more time before he gets baptized because his church
attendance has been sporadic. I am praying real hard this week
that something will happen whether a change in work schedule or I don't know
what else that will allow Elay to come to church. It would be so great to
see he and his 4 kids get baptized on the same day! I am really starting to
enjoy going out every day to do missionary work! On P-Day we played
football, soccer, ultimate frisbee and basketball. I cannot remember if I
mentioned this last week but we have been challenged to give 20 lessons
every week. Whether it be investigators, less actives, recent converts, or
fully active members. I see this as a way to help better and fine tune my
teaching. It has been a wonderful experience talking about the Atonement
with people. The Atonement is such a special gift that our loving Heavenly
Father has given us and I have seen the infinite blessings that have come
from applying the infinite atonement in my life. We are going to start
teaching Elay separate from his children so we can more better address
their individual concerns. I love missionary work! I was so excited to hear
about the stake temple project that is going on. Words cannot express the
multiple experiences that I have done in family history work and taking
those names to the temple and allowing my ancestors the opportunity to be
spiritually freed and progress eternally.


Well...in the words of *The Best Two Years*...

Tot ziens


Love,

Elder Urry
LiveStrong
John 3:3-5


Family:

So much to write about! I have found my groove in missionary work. I have
gotten more comfortable and able to act like myself and I am seeing how fun
missionary work actually is! This update is going to be on the more funny
side. I just have to tell you some funny stories. We went to give a old
lady a blessing because she was feeling sick. We did and thought nothing of
it. She called us the next morning and said, "Elders, I have a miracle for
you! Thanks to your blessing I was able to put my dentures in and I did not
gag on the denture cream!" After we got off the phone we could not stop
laughing. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. Before sports we did
our shopping at Wal-mart. I did not really have to buy anything until we
went down the sporting goods isle. I saw bicep bands and eye black. I could
not resist. I looked like an NFL player with those bicep bands on and Bryce
Harper with smeared eyeblack down my face. Elder Wynn and I were on the
same team and I was chosen to be the play caller. I went all Peyton Manning
and did all these weird names and hand signals. Elder Wynn told me that the
best play I called was, "Double pit to chesty! Double pit to chesty!" while
tapping my head with both hands. These last couple Pdays have really
allowed me to really de-stress and get much needed exercise since I am in a
truck every day. A week has only gone by this transfer but this is by far
 the most unified district I have been in on my mission. We all get to
together real well and now I know why the constantly encourage activities
that will help unify a district. It makes us want to go out and work even
harder not to necessarily get high numbers but to not let the rest of the
district down. I feel that missionary work is really starting to turn for
the better in the Picture Rocks ward. Hopefully, more members will get
involved once Elay and his kids are baptized. 

Tucson--#19

Gooooooooooooood Morning San Diego!

This last week has been way good! Last Sunday when we taught Elay and his
family we forgot to set a baptismal date with them. We met with them again
on Wednesday and were adamant on setting a baptismal date with them. We
reviewed the Restoration, taught Elay about the Priesthood and watched *The
Restoration*. Afterwards I was left to extend the baptismal dates. I
started with Elay and committed him to be baptized. He accepted rather
hesitantly because he did not understand the Priesthood and why he would
need to be baptized again. I then asked 3 of the kids that were present and
they all accepted. They are set to be baptized on February 9th!!!!! Funny
thing happened though....while I was extended the commitments to the
children I got two of their names mixed up and said one name but was
looking at another. Apparently it looked like I was staring into her
soul....Elder Wynn was on the ball though and understood what was happening
haha picked up where I left off. Because of Elay's job he usually is not
able to come to church. We were only expecting to see the kids at church
but lo and behold he came!!! Although he has been to church the necessary
amount of times now (3), President Killpack would like to see him at church
at least one more time before he gets baptized because his church
attendance has been sporatic. I am praying real hard this week
that something will happen whether a change in work schedule or I dont know
what else that will allow Elay to come to church. It would be so great to
see he and his 4 kids get baptized on the same day! I am really starting to
enjoy going out every day to do missionary work! On P-Day we played
football, soccer, ultimate frisbee and basketball. I cannot remember if I
mentioned this last week but we have been challenged to give 20 lessons
every week. Whether it be investigators, less actives, recent converts, or
fully active members. I see this as a way to help better and fine tune my
teaching. It has been a wonderful experience talking about the Atonement
with people. The Atonement is such a special gift that our loving Heavenly
Father has given us and I have seen the infinite blessings that have come
from applying the infinite atonement in my life. We are going to start
teaching Elay separate from his children so we can more better address
their individual concerns. I love missionary work! I was so excited to hear
about the stake temple project that is going on. Words cannot express the
multiple experiences that I have done in family history work and taking
those names to the temple and allowing my ancestors the opportunity to be
spiritually freed and progress eternally.

Well...in the words of *The Best Two Years*...
 Tot ziens

Love,
Elder Urry
LiveStrong
John 3:3-5

Family:

So much to write about! I have found my groove in missionary work. I have
gotten more comfortable and able to act like myself and I am seeing how fun
missionary work actually is! This update is going to be on the more funny
side. I just have to tell you some funny stories. We went to give a old
lady a blessing because she was feeling sick. We did and thought nothing of
it. She called us the next morning and said, "Elders, I have a miracle for
you! Thanks to your blessing I was able to put my dentures in and I did not
gag on the denture cream!" After we got off the phone we could not stop
laughing. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. Before sports we did
our shopping at wal mart. I did not really have to buy anything until we
went down the sporting goods isle. I saw bicep bands and eye black. I could
not resist. I looked like an NFL player with those bicep bands on and Bryce
Harper with smeared eyeblack down my face. Elder Wynn and I were on the
same team and I was chosen to be the play caller. I went all Peyton Manning
and did all these weird names and hand signals. Elder Wynn told me that the
best play I called was, "Double pit to chesty! Double pit to chesty!" while
tapping my head with both hands. These last couple Pdays have really
allowed me to really destress and get much needed exercise since I am in a
truck every day. A week has only gone by this transfer but this is by far
the most unified district I have been in on my mission. We all get to
together real well and now I know why the constantly encourage activities
that will help unify a district. It makes us want to go out and work even
harder not to necessarily get high numbers but to not let the rest of the
district down. I feel that missionary work is really starting to turn for
the better in the Picture Rocks ward. Hopefully, more members will get
involved once Elay and his kids are baptized.

Tucson--#18

Hey everyone!

I will be staying in the Picture Rocks ward for another 5 weeks. So you can
start sending mail back to my Anthony Dr. address. Yep..I said 5 weeks and
not 6 weeks. This transfer is going to be only 5 weeks because of the
shortened MTC time. The last couple days have been funny and weird.
Transfer calls were Sunday night. The other area in our district got
"pink-washed" (replaced with sisters). So we were expecting a call because
we thought either one of us was going to be the new district leader or one
of us was going to get transferred and a district leader would be brought
into the area. We didn't get a call. We woke up in the morning and said,
"That's weird. I wonder if they forgot to call us." We called the Zone
 leaders and asked what was going on. They said, "one of the sisters is your
new district leader. President is trying a new idea before the influx of
missionaries start coming in. Please support him in this decision." We were
a little confused because neither of us had heard of that happening. Later
on yesterday we found out the truth. The zone leaders were yanking our
chains and actually President's new idea is to have them be zone leaders
AND our district leader's. Weird, eh? We have started to teach Elay Edris
and his 4 children. It is a part member family that we have been trying to
schedule appointments for awhile now. Elay is amazing! He is a refugee from
Sudan. Yes, the Sudan that is in Africa. He was telling us stories of him
going on hunts with his tribe. They would go and hunt gazelles,
wildebeests, etc. The tribe would surround the animals in large circle and
trap them in. Apparently they do not kill lions, they leave them alone.
Sometimes when walking back to his tribal camp there would be lions in the
middle of the road. I asked about cheetahs and if they were really as fast
as we have all been taught from our childhood. He said YES and they run
away the very moment that they see a human. The four children are ready for
baptism. Elay is going to take a little bit of time. Elay's mother-in-law
told us that he watched general conference with his wife, Rachael and he
was excited about the announcement of the Tucson Temple. He doesn't even
know what a temple is but he was still excited. He told Rachael, "Can I go
to the temple?" Rachael replied "Sure, I will take you to the open house."
Elay then said, "No. Can I GO there?" Rachael told him "First you have to
be baptized and a member of the church in order to go." Elay's final reply
was, "I want to take you there." Elay has been prepared to hear the Gospel.
Next transfer, the incoming missionaries are going to go from about 13 to a
little over 30 missionaries! The field is white!
Love,
Elder Urry
LiveStrong
John 14:26-27
Family:

 Real cool story. We were meeting with a recent convert and she asked us to
give her a blessing for her back. She asked me to seal the anointing and
give the blessing. During the blessing I had the impression to say
something like this, "You will be instrumental in bringing many people into
the church." I brushed the impression of at first because I thought that
was too direct and was afraid to make such a direct promise. The impression
came again so I said it. It is the first time that I have felt like I was
acting as the mouthpiece of God while giving a blessing and I know that it
will come to pass. Bryant would be happy to hear these two stories. Last
week while we were role-playing at Zone Meeting I was partnered up with a
spanish missionary. She was a greenie and asked if she could speak in
Spanish. I agreed and we carried on. I did not understand it all but I got
the point that she was getting across. Saturday we were out tracting and a
family drove up next to us and said, "Hey! You guys are missionaries
right?" we replied in the affirmative and then they asked where the nearest
church was. They had researched where the nearest buildings were but wanted
to make sure. They then asked if there was a spanish ward that they could
go to. We again replied in the affirmative but not knowing the time they
have church we got their phone number and would call and let them know when
we found out. I called the spanish sisters and had to leave a message. I
left it in spanish telling them we had a referral for them. They called
back and both complimented me on how good my spanish was. Hermano mayor,
hablo espanol muy bien. jajaja. Thanks again for "The Inevitable Apostasy"!
I have started to read it and it is an amazing book. It is going to come in
handy real soon. Because we were told that Elay knows the Bible very well
and will understand a lot better because he is about a 6th grader in
english if we explain the need for the priesthood, prophets and the
apostasy using the Bible. I am so happy to be staying in Picture Rocks for
another 5 weeks! I was tempted to (but didnt) pay $10 to get Yoda's voice
on my G.P.S. just so I could hear him say, "Take you to your destination I will".
>

Tucson--#17

Hey Everyone!

We got five new investigators this week! We were finally able to meet with a part-member family who has four unbaptized kids. They are completely stoked to meet with us and have been going to church (the kids at least) pretty consistently for the last couple months. With yesterday being fast sunday, I fasted that Elder Wynn and I would be able to see the fruits of our labors as we work hard. We had barely gotten to church when we got a phone call from a ward member whom we had given her 3 copies of The Book of Mormon to hand out. She mentioned that she was bringing her neighbor to church. His name is Marco Moreno and by talking with him we found out that his mom is a member in Hermasillo, Mexico. He just stayed for sacrament meeting but mentioned that he would like us to come over sometime this week. Hard work, fasting and prayer pays off! Clark is giving me an unnecessary headache! He keeps going to Three Points which he admits is not somewhere he needs to go. We had to drop his baptismal date because he has not been to church yet. Debbie kept cancelling every appointment that we had with her. So we decided to just show up at her place. We talked for a little bit and she keeps reiterrating "Well...I know God would not have kept me through 5 deaths unless there was a reason. I know that God has placed you guys in my path. I just need to find out why." Those are words that missionaries love to hear! God wants all of His children to hear the beautiful message of the Plan of Salvation and why knowing where we came from, why we are here will help us understand where we will go after this life. She bought a planner so we have a set in stone appointment with her on Tuesday which according to her she will not cancel for anything. Today we are going to have a long day. A ward member is a chiropractor and invites us to come to his work for a free experience (I dont know that you would call it). We then are going to go play football, soccer, basketball, and dodgeball. We met with the youth at mutual and showed the mormon message "Invite All To Come Unto Christ" and emphasized the importance of giving an invitation to a church activity. The youth are a missionary powder keg about to blow. There is a lot in store for this next week!

Con amor,

Elder Urry

LiveStrong

1 Peter 4:6