Dear Family,

 

So the excitement of the transfer has sort of worn off and now the real hard work begins. We had some disappointments this week with some solid people who we thought were going to investigate the church. I've never had as many people give us their details and say we can come by but then flog us later. The whole district is facing this problem so we are finding ways to work harder and stay excited. We have a really young missionary in our district who's from Norway who's really gotten excited and is doing some good hard work and it's wearing off a bit on the district which is great. I have a few ideas to band the elders together to really push hard. Grimsby is a blessed area but it is a difficult one.

 

So on Sunday we went and bore our testimonies (the missionaries). I kind of rebuked the ward. The first Sunday was a stake conference and so there was multiple missionaries and multiple wards there but nobody really in any of the wards came and introduced themselves to us. Some of the excuses were they didn't know which ward we were over but it doesn't really matter. If you are a warm and friendly person and not embarrassed of who you are you would go up to everyone and say who you are. So I told the ward that I was a bit saddened because I know that they are better then that. I mean I can go and introduce myself to people which I was doing but it's sad when you say 'hello I'm Elder Dudgeon' and they just say hello and walk by. But I bore some powerful testimony after wards and I know that it hit several of the members because they did come up to me and introduce themselves. As well as our Bishop reached out to the other Grimsby 1 missionaries and asked if there was anything he could do for them. I really appreciated that. The wards here have what they call friendly rivalries but really those things can get in the way from working and growing together. So Sunday was good. we got some LA there but no investigators yet. We'll keep trying though.

 

It was good to hear that Devon and Whitney had a great weekend. I was really happy for both of them. It's neat to hear about Taylor coming home soon as well. Too bad he'll be going straight out to school. I would've loved to catch up with him again. Oh well though theres always more time and more people. Well I miss you all. Talk to you soon.

 

Cheerio

Elder Dudgeon

Hey family,

 

How goes it this week. Sounds like everyone is doing well. Getting ready for the holiday season I see. It sure is hear they have been putting out the big Christmas trees around the towns. Let me tell you about my first few days in Grimsby. It is so beautiful! We go running on the beach for morning exercise. It has been cold but not too cold. My companion, Elder Brown and I are planning on going even in the cold. It gets us going and awake in the morning. Elder Brown is so great. He's a great missionary. He's from Bountiful Utah. He really knows how to work hard and keeps me organized. I really can help him with getting out there a bit more and being constantly bold. We really Help each others strengths and weaknesses which is great! More about the area. It's quite small and it's split into 2 with the Grimsby 1 Elders. then we have a third team, Grimsby 2.1 who can go into both areas. They are white washing but they live with us. They are so fantastic. Both kind of young missionaries but hard workers and have a lot of faith and we all get along really well. We really excite one another. One is from Las Vegas and the other one is from Sweden.

 

This week we have a had a lot of finding. We found 3 people though since I came in and we scheduled 2 of them for baptism and are set on teaching them more this week. We aer hoping to have a couple baptism in the month of December. So let me tell you about of the people. Elder Brown had contacted this woman a week ago. She was leaving her house and walking away but shouted back her details and said we could come by. Well last  night we felt we needed to knock a certain street. So we go there and Elder Brown remembered that this woman said we could come by. He had scratched off in his planner because they had already tried by with no one in and she seemed not that solid. But since we felt impressed to go to the street we tried by again and got in. Her power was out because she needed a friend to come pay her money so she could get more. So we taught her by candle light the first lesson about the restoration. Then we invited her to be baptized. It was so neat that setting. She is very prepared too and is really nice.

 

We had stake conference this weekend here in the Hull stake. President and Sister Lindley spoke which was great. They talked a lot about missionary work of course. It was a record setting stake conference because we became the first stake in England to broadcast a stake conference to another building since the stake is big and so spread apart. So that was neat to be a part of.

 

Well I got to get going. I miss you all. Please don't worry about the Christmas presents as much I just need a little $$$ well £££ you know what I mean. Love you all.

 

Elder Dudgeon

Dear Folks at home,

 

We all got a number and mine got called down the line. I'm officially out of Keighley and I am heading to Grimsby 2. IT's right on the ocean. I am so excited. I am going to be in a 4 man flat too. It's in the Hull zone so it's a zone I've never been to before. It's going to be so great. Google the address and look at the map of it. It's so pretty. It may be cold but I am going to love it. I am going to be serving with Elder Brown who is from my group. That'll be fun. It's kind of a geeky guy but he is a lot of fun. As soon as he gets going he's great.

 

My new address is

 

Elder Blaine Dudgeon

39 Humber St.

Cleethorpes

DN35 8NN

UK

 

Keighley has been good but I really need something new after Elder Jestice and it will help me stay excited to the end. So besides an exciting transfer call I am doing ok. My mood is going up and down all the time. I think I'm just tired and stressed. I can see the end in sight so I try to sprint but some times I get discouraged. Most lately I am pushing hard as I can. think this move will help me continue. So all post and things need to go there. And by the way for Christmas I am not really bothered about much. You don't need to send me anything really. I am just in the process of sending things home and getting some family souvenirs and stuff (T-Shirts and ya). So if you want to send me anything, money would be the best thing.

 

Want to hear a funny story this week. So we were at a members house for tea and we were having some home made pizza. Well The crust was a little hard and while we're eating the member bit into his pizza and then we here a crack. I thought it was the pizza crust at first but he got a disgruntled look on his face, put his pizza down, and then reached in to his mouth and his front 3 teeth fell out. Well you should've seen my face. It was nasty. His bridge for his teeth broke. It was quite funny afterward but kind of gross.

 

Well My talk this week went well. I was one of 2 speakers. It was remembrance sunday here too (like veterans day) so I was souppose to keep something to that. Well the topic I got was living peaceable with one another so I talked about how wars are not good because they do not bring us peace. That fighting is something of the natural man. We do it as children, but that the higher law is to live peaceably with everyone. I talked how the greatest thing we can do to honour those who have fought and laid down their lives is to strive to live in peace with the opprtunities they provided for us. I tried to push that it is in honour of our covenants that we need to do these things and then how the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to how we do it. I also spoke about justice. How even if we are wronged and we seek justice we can still be wicked. It depends on the manner in which we seek that justice. If it is contentious then it is not good. The verse I kind of highlighted was in Romans 12:18 and the last verse in that chapter which talks about overcoming evil with good.

 

So that was a nice highlight for the week. Not much else is new. I am sending one parcel home right now. It just has some things that I don't want to carry around as much. But there are a couple of things in there for mom. (licorice and pontefract cakes) and dad has a couple of football team glasses and coasters. The rest just set aside for me. am going to be sending more things home for everyone don't worry.

 

Well I think that's it this week. I love you all

 

Elder Dudgeon

Hey,

 

It is good to hear from all of you this morning. It sounds like summer is winding down and the push to winter is almost here. Life is getting back into full swing with school starting up again and the last trips of summer coming to a close. I hope you enjoyed yours. Mine has been short, but my mind set is similar. Preparing for the the long push through fall and the lasts harvests of the winter before the inevitable end of my life begins haha. Alright nuff drama.

 

How goes it this week? Can't say much here. We have had some amazing and dramatic events take place but not all I can type because of the private information it contains. Just know that it has been a blessing this week to see some of the steps our investigators are making to repent and to come unto Christ.

 

Something I can talk about though is a wonderful family from the Czech Republic. We have been teaching them as best we can in our broken english. This past Sunday we went down to their home in the morning. Every single one of them was ready for church. We walked with them to the bus station and caught the bus up to the chapel right as the meeting started. As I sat next to them I could see the father feeling the Spirit with every hymn, every prayer, and every talk. Though not every word was understood, the feelings were there and (as he later described) felt peace and comfort and joy. He described how his heart went out to the sister who spoke in the meeting. As her voice choked, explaining how she felt about the gospel and how she had been blessed, he could feel it to and wanted to cry with her. His children got a bit bored but loved the singing in the sacrament meeting. NExt week they will come to all the meetings and I can't wait for them to enjoy primary.

 

This week has been tough with Elder Jestice. It's really quite frustrating. Just continue to pray for me.

 

I got to go but thanks everyone again for help and support.

 

Love ELder Dudgeon

 

PS I HAVE GOTTEN POST IN A LONG TIME. except for dads package (YAY!). BUT I AM STARVING FOR SOME POST. TELL PEOPLE TO WRITE ME. FAMILY, RELATIVES, FRIENDS, ANYBODY.

 

Much love

Dear family,

 

Hey thanks for the emails this week. It was a rough one until yesterday. We had a mission tour with Elder Donaldson of the area presidency here. He used to be in the mtc presidency when I was there so I know him quite a bit. It was really good and I will tell you about it a little later. But that's the reason why I am emailing today.

 

 It was a rough week with Elder Jestice. (yes myranda you are right). Anyways it was a rough week because we didn't find any new investigators as a district till Sunday. We found one here in keighly. I was trying to work with Elder Jestice and the other teams with how we can improve and they all just get back to me and say that they can't think of anything. They all just kind of threw on me. Great. I came up with some ideas and a plan for Elder Jestice and I and gave it to the Zone leaders. They weren't sure about but I held firm and confident with it. I think it's just from how I explain things them. I am not the best or they don't understand me. Well all the things I mentioned were talked about at the meeting yesterday. Elder Donaldson spoke about all of them and how we can use them. It was pretty neat. During the meeting I also got to go up there and help him with his instruction. I don't normally volunteer but I wanted to be a good example for the district.

 

Afterwards President Lindley talked to Elder Jestice and I separately. He told me everything he had said to Elder Jestice and what he wanted me to do to help him. It made me feel a lot better after him talking to me and the trust he said he has in me. It was just a good time to talk to him. That he sees that I'm working hard and trying my best.

 

Well I don't remember any stories to talk about this week. not too much happened. A missionary came back to Keighley with his parents. It was really neat to see him again because I have served around him before and with him on exchanges. He's from Holland and has been home for a few months. It was neat to see the effect that a mission has on someone, but its hard to see sometimes until they get home.

 

Oh here's a story. So I street contacted this guy a couple weeks ago who said we could come by. He gave us a false mobile number and when we went by no one was in. This week though I was thinking about it and just felt that we really had to go by and see if he was in. Well turns out that he doesn't even live there but a nice lady did. We started talking to her and she let us share the message with here and we are going to see her this week. It's funny how that works.

 

I wish I was home for all the memorials and things like that for 9/11. No one was even talking about it over here. One guy on saturday even made a joke about it when we knocked into him. (He then found out that we were Americans and apologized). It's kind of sad. The only thing that really appeared was mention of the Brits that died in the attacks. People make more fuss about the London bombings here still. Which is sad as well but this is something that effected a lot more people. It was a bit frustrating but it's how it is.

 

WEll I am doing really good this week. I hope everyone is enjoying the end of Summer. Mine is very cold and wet and windy. YA English SUMMER!

 

Cheerio

Elder Dudgeon

Dear Family,

 

So sorry about that ast week. I am still really tired and stressed. I have a lot to deal in my little district. I can't believe how difficult it gets sometimes. I got a bit depressed this last week, but I just kept plugging along and it's gotten better. I think it's because Elder Jestice is not the most obedient missionary so it's difficult. Like when a day is rough and nothing goes right and you haven't done all you can to be obedient you start to question yourself. When you are obedient though, even if they day goes wrong, you still have that to fall back upon to feel good about. So I have really strived for that this last half of the week and it's gotten way better.

 

We are teaching a few more people now. We have a Czech family we are teaching. It's a bit difficult with the language barrier but we get by it by comparing material and using google translator. I haven't used that in a long time on my mission but they've updated it a lot now and it's been a real help. Plus with the church constantly trying to update their website helps a lot. They were met to come to church yesterday but the father was sick. We have a few more people we hope to progress to baptism by Conference weekend or the week after. It should be good. Keighley is a great place and has some blessed people in it.

 

A funny part from this week. We got some lunch after a meeting on Saturday. We were going to take it back to our flat to eat and so we could drop off our stuff. Well we got on the wrong bus that took us farther away from our house. It would've looped back and brought us close but Elder Jestice had to start eating his lunch on the bus. The driver got mad because he could smell it and told him no eating on the bus and kicked us off. There are no signs that say you can't, but Elder Jestice wasn't the nicest to the guy. So we get kicked off the bus as far away from the flat that it could've left us. We then had to walk back to our flat cutting across some trails though the parks and woods. I had to stop every 20 paces for Elder Jestice because he has ingrown toenails that he hasn't fixed for like 3 months so his feet hurt when he walks. So ya it was a long day. Not much came out of the day either but I was obedient as I could've been all that day so I slept easy. That was nice.

 

Well Thanks family for your support. I hope this fall is good for everyone. It's my last fall of my mission. TIme keeps creeping up and that scares me. I don't need any reminders mom! ;) anyways. Love you all.

 

Elder Dudgeon

Dear Family,

 

Hey I am sending some pictures. We had transfer calls last night. Elder Cumming is moving to Leeds 2 so he is still in the zone which is good. I am staying in Keighly and am getting Elder Jestice. I don't know much about him at all. His been out a bit longer then Elder CUmming but not over a year yet. It is really strange because this next transfer is the start of my last 4. I was just thinking about it and it hit me last night. It was weird and kind of scary.

 

Things have been good this week. The Skipton Elders really stepped up and excelled and reach their goal for the week. We did pretty good too. It was great because my ne leader didn't come down on me. And when we reported in the goals and plans and actions on Sunday it went super smooth. It was quite strange and opposite of the week before. It's how it goes sometimes.

 

I'm excited to get a new companion. Elder Jestice and I will probably be together for the next 2 transfer. So far for my mission it has followed the pattern of being with my compainon for 1 transfer then 2, then 1, then 2, then 1, then 2, then 1, then 2, then 1. So ya it'll be interesting to see what happens. I hear Elder Jestice is American so that'll be good. No more racist scotsman. I'm also getting another missionary from my group going to be serving in Skipton. So that'll be neat. I am just sad I won't be able to go to transfer meeting and see the sisters I came out with leave. Oh well. That's what email is for.

 

Well I can't think of much to write this week. Thanks for all the support. It's nice to hear that you think I am growing because for me it's hard to see. It's probably more gradual then anything. but ya.

 

I love you all

Elder Dudgeon

 

The pictures are one of me with a samurai sword. That was funny,

 

Then 2 are from the baptism. Me elder CUmming, Colin and his sister who introduced the chruch to him.

PS: I can't believe I forgot this. Colin who just got baptized has been on Dialasis for a long time. he's already had one kidney transplant. It takes a lot out of him and he has some really hard days. He's just been waiting for a kidney. Well we got a call on Tuesday moirning from sister Dean saying that Colin got a call from the hospital to come in straight away, they got a kidney for him. It was so good. So He has gone in for the transplant and just recovering in the hospital. So great!

 

The last picture is one of me and a recent convert named Michael. Michael is an artist and does a ot of landscape paintings. I asked him if he could do a tree of life painting for me. He did and signed it and gave it to me. It's like my favorite gift I've gotten my mission so far.

 

that it. bye