Dear Family,

 

Hey so good to hear from all of you this week. It's been a tough week. A bit of a struggle really but we will continue. We just got some devestating news that the 2.1 is closing down and they are splitting up the Elders. It's because of the missionaries going home before Christmas. So I've had to deal with 2 complaining missionaries this weekend. Not too fun. I was a also a bit frustrated because I liked having the larger district and and a 4 man flat now it gets smaller and just me and Elder Brown. I'm alright with it but I felt it helped me stretch myself further. But After praying about it and contemplating it a lot I realize that it's been a real answer to my prayers. One of the things I wanted when moving to Grimsby was to start learning all the lessons I needed to and that I could before I go home. I think these 4 weeks with these Elders has provided me with more opporunities to learn and now with them leaving I have even more to learn. So the Lord is just blessing me with more opportunities.

 

As I said though this week was rough. It was a bit slow but this week will sure keep u busy with taking over the potentials and investigators 2.1 had. Including the lady we found on exchange. They got back in contact with her because she didn't hold her next appintment but it turned out that her husband had a heart attack. She also has another friend in the hospital who's really sick. She is such a wonderful lady and has probably been at the hospital nonstop with everything. I hope we get to keep teaching her though and help them feel the peace and comfort of the gospel.

 

Elder Brown and I are going to be taking some pictures today and doing a bit of souvenir shopping. So i hope to find some things for everyone and send some nice pictures next week.

 

Well I got to keep this short so we can get the 2.1 elders over to the train station with all their luggage. It's a lot of stuff. I love you all though and send my love and Christmas wishes.

 

Elder DUDGEON

Dear Family,

 

It's been an ok week. We have had some hard times this week around the zone. We are having a hard time getting people to come to church which is not good. This last week though Grimsby 2.1 and us found 9 new investigators. Some of them are really good. Some will drop by the wayside pretty quick I feel if they haven't already but it's just neat to see how many people are here and willing to listen in this area. I went on exchange this week with one of the 2.1 elders. We knocked into a woman who was kind of standoffish at first but as I was persistent with her she said out of nowhere that we could come in out of the cold. (which was great because like 10 minutes later it started down pouring.) Well we hear how she lost her faith in God because of her old church and how the leaders of it treated her and her husband, She just had a lot of questions too which weren't answered. It was scary at first because the way she was describing her church sounded a lot like ours like word of wisdom qualities and law of chastity. Well. it wasn't our church though just another strange christian church. It sounded like the kept her from helping others because she wasn't a full member of their church nor apart of it's leadership. Well she was very prepared for the message of the restoration and the gospel in it's fullness. It's amazing to see how it can bless some one just to start receiving true answers and understanding the things God has told us to do. She prayed at the end which was amazing and she thanked God for sending us to help her renew her faith. The other elders are left to teach her this week and see how things progress.

 

Today I have to leave it short though. We are just getting back to grimsby at 5:00pm because we had a inter zone P-day. We played american football against the Sheffield zone and we whooped them. I scored the first touch down. One of the receivers tried to catch the ball under pressure and it just bounced off of him and into my hands and I was able to run it pass a couple defenders to the end zone. We then played a game of football and beat them there. I keep playing goalie and everyone asks if I played in high school or college. Nope. I just got a sense of what I am doing. So that was fun today to see a lot fo people. It was good to get out of the way because it took a lot of planning and things to get it done and so I am really tired. Oh well I move on.

 

I hope you are all doing well. I miss you. I hope things go well this winter with Myranda wrapping up school and Sarah too. I'm praying for both of you. I hope mom and devin start feeling better. And mom enjoys not being a disabled orangutan any more. Love you all

 

Elder dudgeon

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