December 6, 2010

The Best Two Years,

Yes i can honestly say in my heart that this has been the best two years of my life. I have learned more here then i could have ever hoped to have learned in my life and i know i will just continue to learn more and more. The greatest lesson i have learned has been within this my last area cocoa. I have learned what the meaning of love is and have seen how it really changes people. Sure i was always taught this before by my parents but as we all can relate with the real teaching comes through the experience just as a testimony is not gained on the knees praying for it but in the bearing of it.

Well just to recap you all on the wonderful week of miracles we have had we will start with Vernon Christine Ronny and Tanya. They are all very neat and have come a long ways. This week we've been working a lot with them and Ronny and Tanya will be getting baptized this Saturday and boy are we excited for them. It's really neat because of some of the circumstances that they have, they have really stregnthened my testimony of the gospel and how god is no respecter of persons. Ronny has beeen listening a lot to the Book of Mormon on tape and you can see him just filled with the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Just as Christ said to Peter upon this rock i shall build my church the rock of revelation. For the spirit has witnessed to Ronny and Tanya of the truth, and they really have a sincere desire to enter into the waters of baptism and become clean. How great to know that it is not the doctrine of the church that converts someone but the spirit of Christ. This gives me so much hope for any sincere seeker of the truth for they will know by the power of the Holy Ghost the truthfulness of these things.

Our other miracle this week was logan Fabien. Logan is ten years old and his mother has been inactive from church for several years but now has the desire to get active. She was the one who had called us and we had ran over to and told us she wanted her son taught. Well when we went over not just did she have a desire for her son to learn but he had a sincere desire to learn himself. Logan is amazing and came to church yesterday and will be baptized Janruary first which is the day we set with him. I've trully come to know that this is the work of the Lord and he's preparing people everywhere to accept his gospel especially at this Christmas time. How grateful i am to be his servant and to see all of the miracles i have seen, i considered myself so blessed.

Thankyou all for the support you have given me and my family for the last two years. This has all meant the world to me I know this is the work of the Lord. I know this is the lord's kingdom on the earth today restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know the Book of Mormon is true and i know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Christ the Savior of the world. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Forever Love Elder Judd

November 29, 2010

Dear Family,

Well this week has been a good one but we've been tried really hard and i'm afraid at some points we gave up a little but i guess that we have learned a lot Humility over the last week. We are trying to get ourselves refocused because we have a lot of people to work with. Just this week we set a baptism date for Ronnie Harville and we are so excited for him. He has been listening to the Book of Mormon on tape and one day he was like prophecying to us and you could really see how the spirit had come into his life. And then he started talking about all the ways the Lord had blessed him and it was just so great to see his enthusiasm. So we wasted no time in inviting him to follow the example of Christ and be baptized.

We also had another cool experience this week where we went to an appointment we had in Titusville and of course we had a no show, not to surprising. So we went to our back plans and started finding in the apartment complex and after about twenty minutes from across the parking lot we heard someone yell missionaries. So of course we immediately stopped what we were doing and ran over to Shanna. Shanna is a less active member who was seeking to get back into the church. We didn't have any records of her in the ward so we didn't even know about her. She told us also that she has a ten year old son who has questions and she would really like us to teach him. So crazy but i love it i love the way the lord works cause he works in mysterious ways. Well don't have too much more to write so till next week and my last email good bye.

Love Elder Judd

November 22, 2010

Mixed Emotions,

Yeah that's right all this week and transfer have been mixed emotions about coming home and staying focused. I won't lie it has been real tough. I love my mission so much and i have really met some great people out here that i will remember the rest of my life. Than i also know there are things that i need to do outside the mission now but i really don't want to.

Anyways away from the junk and into the goods. This week was tough for us and truly we had our dissapointments but we know the lord is sustaining us. We had 0 investigators at church this week which is very uncommon for us in this area. We have not had a Sunday where we have not had someone at church since i've been here but i guess this is the way the lord is humbling us and making us turn to him.

Well we sure are. Just this sunday on the other side of things Brother Bullock who just got baptized recieved the priesthood that was so great. He is also doing a very good job at being a member missionary, they have already been bringing some of their friends to church who we will be teachin here soon. We went over to his house this last week and the spirit that is there is just so great and his understanding has just began to soar.

My companion and myself have been working really hard, and know that we still have a lot of Room to improve. Hopefully i'll have a lot more to write next week but untill next time see ya.

Love Elder Judd

November 15, 2010

Hello everybody,

It seems so boring to title each email the very same so i try to switch it up every time. I don't even know why i felt like i should say that i just really feel like being random today i guess. Well we have had a good week with its ups and downs but when you are grateful for everything you are givin the ups always outweigh the downs adn that is the same case here.

Downs of the week:

Eduardo called us Thursday and told us he's had a mighty change of heart and he doesn't want to be baptized on Saturday. We believe it has something to do with his ex girlfriend Spring who's a less active member of the chruch.

We dropped Brother Seawright because he just doesn't have the desire at this time to know if the things we are teaching and the church are really true.

Finding people seemed so overwhelming and our nightly planning has been really tough in deciding what to do. Cause i can plan out a day easily with effective things to do but it just seemed extremely hard.

Ups of the week

Vernon Quit drinking and has been off alcohol for three full days now

Christine is really trying hard to quit herself and we also are figuring things out with her.

Brother Bullock was confirmed and brought Two of his friends who have been to church already to church again with him this week.

Brother Wiscombe a less active member came to church this week after not setting a foot in the building for a year and he brought his girlfriend who wants to learn more about the church and they asked us to come over this week.

Theresa Beaughs mom and dad have both been baptized in Louisianna

WE found eight new investigators this week

I really like my companion a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and any one who has served a mission before will completely know exactly what i'm talking about.

Well that's what is happening here in the beachs of Florida just a lot of fun. Vernon also has a baptismal date for this week so we'll see what happens the lord is really working miracles here it is so sweet.

Love Elder Judd

November 8, 2010

Hello Everyone,

How's everyone doing we are just having a wonderful time here in Cocoa. My new companion Elder Mangelson is so great, he's from Sandy Utah and he's just fresh out of the Mtc. You should have seen him here in Florida his first day. He was completely shell shocked, he's never been outside of Utah. However the next day he completely broke that shell and just jumped right into the work. He really is the best teacher that i have every been with and i'm very lucky to have him. He's very humble and sudmissive and is trying very hard to learn how to do the work so he'll be very teachable.

This week we've really got out to work and have done a good bit of tracting. And our weekly numbers show the work that we have put into it. This week for Eduardo was really hard and we appreciate the prayers that yall have prayed for him because there have been times when he has really needed it. This week he completely broke his tie to the less active which really needed to happen. I'm so glad that he had the stregnth to do that. His testimony is a testimony to me and shows how important the gospel is that he would give up such a relationship for it. I know he's happy with the descion he has made and we are extremely proud of him. At church on Sunday he really had just the biggest smile on his face and i know that he was really sincere. Later that evening we went to a members home and watched the testaments with him and really just enjoyed his company.

Well as for brother bullock we've got some bad news, he bailed right before his baptism on Sunday. That day he even came to church and callled him right before the baptism however i guess from what the members told he had talked to his parents that same day and they told him they would disown him if he joined. It's really sad to see but we can't do anything about their agency. Well if you fell for that one hahahahahahahahaha, brother bullock was baptized on Sunday and it was the greatest thing in the world. HEs such a champ and i'll post a couple of pictures to show him and the family they really are great.

Well we have also beeen teaching Theresa beaughs husband Joe and he came to chruch this Sunday. The Lord is really going to have to help us out there becasue he was really open up to us for whatever reason. But he really is a great guy and with all the miracles that the lord has done in this area getting joe to open up will be almost nothing. I guess just the faith we have in the lord is just been increased so much it's wonderful. Also good news for Thereasa her mother and father both were baptized this week, wow if that doesn't make me feel liked i accomplished something. Her brother also has a baptism date for the sixth of December.

Well last but deffinetly not least is Christine and Vernone Harville they are still coming along slowly but surely and we are really excited to work with them. WE are focusing on the small and simple things, just getting them to read and pray each day because we know that will help them build more faith especially in baptism. We are hoping to set a date with them for the 20th of November. I know they can do it i just pray they will go through with it and that they will keep their commitments because that will be the deciding factor in their lives. THey are great they are wonderful and i have really grown to love them.

love Elder Judd

November 1, 2010

Dear family,

Wow what a week. Well we had some great things happen this week and some saddening experiences to. Elder Jensen is being transferred this week and i will really miss him because we really did make such a great team. We taught very well together and complimented each other very well i will greatly miss him.

Eduardo's baptism has been moved back to this weekend. He's struggling a little bit with one of the commandments but we have a lot of faith in him and you could really see how much godly sorrow he had. We just visited one of our member families who bought him a quad but are planning on giving it to him at his baptism we are really so excited for him.

Now for the great news. Brother bullock set his own date this week for the seventh of november. Yes for those who are thinking about it that is this Sunday we are so excited for him. The only concerns he really has right now are his family they are really causing a lot of problems for him right now. He told us that he wasn't even going to tell them that he's getting baptized because of all of the crap that he's dealing with right now. We are really praying for him and for his family to soften their hearts so that this miracle can take place. Miranda his wife is so excited for him and has been waiting a very long time for this baptism.

Well that's the work i'll send a couple of pictures so you can see our halloween party. Check out our ties.

love Elder Judd

October 25, 2010

Well everyone,

How's it going, i would first like to thank you all for your prayers on our behalf the blessings have been flowing into this area and really has lifted us to another level. This week Wanda Derosa and Violet Harville both were baptized and it really was a great week. We also have Eduardo Sultan for this coming week and Vernon and his brother Ronnie Harville for the week after that so the work is really flowing now.

Cool experience to is that Brother bullock accepted the invitation to be baptized he just hasn't committed to the day yet but i don't have a doubt he will. It's either going to be the sixth of november or the twentyth of november, what a great birthday month you have to admit.

Well i'm exteremly tired because we went golfing today and just finished 18 holes so i really don't feel like writing a whole lot more.

love Elder Judd

October 18, 2010

Wow,

What a week probably the best spent week of my mission it seems as though each week just gets better and better. At church this week we had 11 investigators the most i've ever had. The lord is really working miracles here in this are. This week we followed up with brother Bullock and he's ready to take the lessons. On Sunday they even brought two of their non member friends to church with them and we taught them all during gospel principles.

We also had the Harvilles Christin, Vernon, violet, ronald, and Kathleen. This week we invited Ronald to be baptized and he accepted we are really excited for him.

We also had Eduardo who came last week also. Well when we went over there this week he was super prepared and when we invited him to be baptized he accepted immediately it was great. He knows it's all true and we are taking him on a temple tour Wednesday. The best part is that he is also activating three members along with joining himself which is exactly what this ward needs.

Brother Seawright also came with his family as usuall. His biggest concerns right now are being baptist he doesn't believe we put enough emphasis on the bible and too much on the Book of Mormon. But we are going over their with our mission president on Wednesday and i pray that he will have a change of heart. We did commit him to read in the bom and pray but i don't believe he is.

last but deffinetly not least is Joe Kennedy who is Theresa Beaughs husband, we taught him the first lesson this week and it went well but he didn't accept the invitation to baptism yet. He wants to read through the whole book of mormon first.

Wanda didn't make it but she was extremely sick but she will be getting baptized this sunday we are going to eat over there tonight it's going to be great.

We also had a less active who came with her daughter that we are trying to start teaching this week we'll see how it goes. Also another partmember family came to church that invited us to come over this week. I know right the lord is great and i know for a fact this is his work. I'm going to see more baptisms in my last area than i have seen my whole mission isn't that crazy.

Love Elder Judd

October 11, 2010

Hey everyone,

Wow the lord really has been blessing us so much. This week we set three more baptismal dates for october and the Lord is really coming through on his promised blessings, and it is so great to be a part of it and to at times speak for the lord. The spirit has really been strong with us and that has really been a blessing. Theresa made it to baptism and was confirmed on Sunday and now we are also working with her husband along his path. We really had the best Sunday I've ever had in my life and the spirit was so strong in all of our classes. That's why Joe is now wanting to learn more because of how powerful the spirit really was in priesthood and gospel principles. Right now if you were wondering we have four baptismal dates for October and we will be setting a baptismal date with Joe this week hopefully for the 30th of October.

I love my companion Elder Jensen he's really a blessing to have as a companion, and I love his spirit. Our obedience has gone up quite a bit, and we can really feel the effects of it. Well I'm done talking, but I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Love Elder Judd

October 5, 2010

Family,

It's been a great week for us here in Cocoa. Even through all of the hardship and trial we are pushing on with great hope and faith. We were very blessed to here from prophet seers and revelators in our days, and we really look forward to applying the principles we learned from these humble servants of god.

Well Good news Theresa Beaugh is gettting baptized this saturday. She's very excited in fact the last time we went over to her house we got on Mormon.org to find where the closest meeting house is to her mother. Well she's been talking a lot to her mother and her mother now wants to join the church and also her neice. She is such a great missionary, she has already invited several of her non member friends to come to her baptism. We have seriously been blessed to know this wonderful woman and i know god is going to work miracles through her. Just the other day we were eating inbetween sessions of conference when i saw her just watching people and when she saw a lady in need of help getting a drink she got up so quick and went to help her. She really does have a gift for helping those in need and she's going to be a great asset to the lord's kingdom.

This week we also took Wanda on a temple tour and it went very well. She's so excited for her baptism and can't wait to get to go into the temple and do the ordinances for her family who have passed on. It really is great to know her she has such a great spirit and i know she is a choice daughter of god, we really have been blessed just to know her god is good.

We also had a great time this week preparing pulled pork for the barbeque before priesthood session. Brother Bullock a non member was the one preparing it and he let us help him. We got to dry rub the pork and get it all ready to be smoked the next day. Well as brother bullock was driving us home he told us he was about to tell his wife he was going to take the lessons but he just didn't get a chance. He also told us he's a little worried about how it is going to effect his parents. He really does have a lot of love for them and wants them to know everything is still going to be the same between them. We committed him to pray that night at 1030 and we at this same time were down on our knees praying for him to recieve answers. WEll we haven't quite had the chance to follow up with him yet but I know that is went well i can't wait to hear what he has to say.

Life is great out here i love my mission i love life God is great and today is the greatest time for faith the power of god is at it's best. If we will turn to him he will work miracles in our lives. I love you all and thankyou for all of your support may god bless you all.

Love Elder Judd

September 28, 2010

Hey what up my family,

Oh boy.. so much to write, it can almost be a daunting task to write all the miracles down that I'm seeing it just really is too hard. Well here it goes first off i'll give you an update for Threasa and Wanda who both have baptismal dates. Threasa will be baptized on October the 9th, right now her biggest concern is that her husband is not on board and gives her a hard time about all of this. However this week we were able to give her a blessing and she said that he was going to come to her baptism. We are seriously praying that he can have a change of heart and desire to support her, and eventually we would love to start teaching him as well. We feel that he's really just being bombarded with all of this junk from people outside of the church and he's probably got a lot of questions. She went to the relief society conference and had a wonderful time. She just thought Thomas S. Monson was so funny and took so many notes she's really learning a lot and really inspires me to learn more too. Wanda is also doing great, we taught her last night at the Marsh's, one of the members in our ward. We had a great time eating dinner with her and then watching the restoration dvd. She really felt the spirit, and she knows what she's doing is right. She also has children who are not to excited about what she's doing, and that seem to be giving her a hard time about it.

Well as for one of the other miracles of the week, we were teaching Christine Vernon and Violet this week and they really loved it, especially Vernon. We are so excited to invite him and Violet to be baptized, they also brought his sister to churh with them this week and plan on bringing their Brother too. We are just recieving more and more referrals, and the lord is leading us to the elect. It's tons of fun.

Last miracle that I'm going to write about has brought a lot of happiness in my life. We've been visiting this part member family for a while now and been eating dinner in their home and really building a relationship with them. He's been coming to church for a very long time now and has had many missionaries try. Well, this week we were over for dinner, and my companion and I had a very strong goood feeling about him. That morming I said a prayer that his heart would change. Well, after the dinner and when we were walking out to the car, he stopped and asked about the lessons and said he's about ready to take them and he'd let us know.

This is the work of the lord, and he really just continues to work miracles as we ask for them, so I would ask all of you to pray for miracles in your life this week.

Love Elder Judd

September 20, 2010

Dear Family,

What a week so many blessings have just come out of no where. I know for sure this is the lords work and all i can do is qualify to be a tool in his hands to say what he would have me say. Go where he would have me go, and act as he would have me act. On Thursday I prayed for all of my investigators and asked the lord when he wanted them to be baptized. Well on Friday we had a temple tour with Christine Vernon Violet, and Theresa. Christine, to our dismay was a little drunk so the spirit didn't really have a chance to touch her heart that night but her husband Vernon did become a little more interested. At the end he was firing questions to Elder Jensen about the temple and wondering why he couldn't go all the way in. Well Also at the same time I was off with Thereasa talking to her. I shared Mosiah 18 with her to help her realize that she is prepared for baptism. She was touched by the spirit and began to tell me how i could read her like a book. Well after that we talked about why her baptism date was so far back and she said she was really worried about her husband because he's really not supportive right now. Well after listening to her concerns she started talking to me about how she knows she is ready. So I opened my planner and showed her what date I had written down. Well I have to let you know that i was thinking of two different dates oct. 9th and the 16th so I had wrote both of them down. Well while i was praying thursday night I felt like the 16th would give her a little extra time to prepare so I circled it. Then i asked her to pray about that date that I had shown her when she sarted to cry a little. She then asked me did you have oct 9th written down. I opened up my planner and said yes, she said I've dreamed about that date I know that's the date that i'm supposed to be baptized. I was just in awe, that was the lord completely i'm just very glad I was intune enough to talk to her about it.

Well if you think that that's enough you really don't understand the tender mercies of god. Because this week we had Wanda, a former investigator, text us and tell us she wanted to be baptized on oct 25th. She wanted to know what she needed to do. She works with a lot of Mormons and they have been helping her and teaching her and she is now ready. I know this is the lords work and it will continue on the lord has been so merciful to the Cocoa area and many souls are coming unto him. I would ask that yall would pray for Thereasa and Wanda's families that they will soften their hearts and not cause so much grief for them.

Thanks love Elder Judd

September 13, 2010

Hello family,

Well another week has come and gone and we are doing great, we really have been blessed here in Cocoa and we appreciate all of your prayers on our behalf. This week was great because we had six investigators come to church it was really neat. Oh by the way just so yall know Thereasa picked a date to be baptized on it's a ways away for November seventh but that's her birthday and she's really excited about it. She has been off smoking for a week now and alcohol we are so blessed to be able to work with her. Another great thing is that she absolutely enjoyed church and everyone came up to her and said hi and talked with her making her feel extremely welcome. She was a little worried about the tatoos on her neck and what some people might think of her but she found as she went to church that she was accepted for who she really is a child of god.

We also had Christine Vernon and Violet all come to church. Christine is doing great she's been off smoking and drinking for about a week and a half, we still have to talk to her about getting off of methodone so please pray that that will go well this friday after our temple tour with her. They are really doing great and we are looking forward to helping them make it into the waters of baptism. Cool thing is that next week they are going to bring his brother and sister to church with them so hopefully we will start teaching them to we are extremely excited about it all.

Finally we had Roxanne Smith come to church for the second time and she brought her daughter who we never knew she had. Well while we were talking to her we found out that her daughter is eight years old yeah. I almost choked on my lemonade when i heard that. We took her to a yound single adults fireside on sunday where Richard G. Scott talked about eternal marriage and she was just nodding her head the whole time she really enjoyed it.

Well that's all for now but we are exteremly excited right now and this Friday we are taking them all on a temple tour so it should be a very spiritual moment for them all.

Love Elder Judd

September 7, 2010

Dear family,

Sorry for the week i missed i was really to busy to even get to email, we decided that we were going to go to the space center i promise i'll send some pics next week. Well as for these last couple of weeks we really have been blessed and the people we are working with are making some huge steps. Christine has started on her journey of quitting smoking and drinking she has beeen off drinking for a week now which is great and she's still working on cigerettes. She's got a hold of a couple of butts and has been smoking them i really just shows how addicting they really are satan uses them a huge tool to degrade people and their self worth.

Well the other week we recieved a member referral on sunday and we stopped by two days later and found Therease ready adn prepared for the gospel we left her with a copy of the book of mormon and told her to read and pray. Well we stopped by two days later adn she read through all of the book of mormon the first night she had it. She said she really just couldn't put it down, she's been telling us how she feels her cup is now full. I know the lord is preparing people to recieve the message. And even with those you share the gospel with if they are not ready at least help them prepare for the second coming as the scriptures exhort us to do. Invite them to keep the commandments and read the scriptures they will really bless your life for it. I know this church is true i know god lives and speaks to us he really does answer prayers seek learning by faith.

love Always

Elder Judd

August 23, 2010

What up everyone,

The work is great out here, however this week we had a couple of set backs but despite all the set backs we also had a couple miracles.

As for the set back Frank Boydston who came to church last week went in to the hospitol on friday for a blood transfusion which due to technical difficulties had him there till late Saturday night. So as you can guess no Frank didn't show up for church on Sunday we were pretty sad.

Now at the same time we have an investigator named Christine who we gave a pre drop talk to and told her in order for us to continue to teach her she would have to show up for church on Sunday. Well i'm sorry to admit we were pretty faithless in fact we didn't even put her on the progress record, but sure enough she surprised us both and decided to show up yesterday to church it was really neat to see her smiling face it was great. We also had a member call us up yesterday and give us a sweet member referral. Well we called up the lady and she's just itching to hear the gospel. She would have already but her husband is athiest and she can't take the lessons there so we will be teaching her at a house she's being a care giver to. The lord is blessing us in many ways and the members here are great and we have a lot of love for all of them. yes they are crazy and so are most the people from Florida but that's really why i love them they each have so much personality and opinion.

Love Elder Judd

August 16, 2010

hey Everyone,

Well what can I say, this week truly has been one of many miracles. As you have heard i've been moved to Cocoa, and let me tell you it's a huge change. The city is so fast pace and it seems as though you are just go go go. Well Here in cocoa it's a lot different it's very slow. Just this week we were able to get a dinner with this partmember named Todd Bulloch, he has never had missionaries over for dinner before but something has really changed his heart. I mean the lord has really changed his heart and we are extremely excited to go over and get to know him. Elder Jensen my companion is from Las Vegas, he's the bomb dot com. We are tearing it up because he's got so much faith and is so humble and just willing to learn. His trainer was good but left him a lot of room for improvement in the small and simple things so we are really going to make some big changes and get this ward pumping. I'm so excited to be here so much is happening and the greatest part of it all is that i get to be a part of it i really fell selfish.

Love Elder Judd

August 9, 2010

Dear Family,

What an awesome week so great things are happening right now right when i get transferred we start getting blessed a lot ahha. Anyhow i guess i'll start be letting you all know that god has heard your prayers for Ken this week on a temple tour we invited him to be baptized while we were in the temple and he accepted. Thank you all very much next week I'll attach some pictures of us at the temple it was a lot of fun. Also mom while i was on the temple tour you won't believe who was there. Well this lady kept looking at me all wierd like she knew me or something and i was getting a little creeped out. She finally asked some of the sister missionaries who i was and came up to me and asked me if I was elder judd. I said yeah like who are you haha. She said i just met your family, i was like are you sure. Well it turns out yep you guessed it bishop Gillespies sister came on the same temple tour. Which i'm guessing by now you already heard that from the gillespies but it was really funny. She actually attends the church about a mile from our place but we don't meet at that building.

Well as for some other good news Katherine is doing well. She came to church again this week and really enjoyed it she said. She told us she likes coming which is really good news cause she hasn't liked the other churchs she's been to in the past so we are making progress with her it's just really slow.

Well now for the not so great but good change news is that i'm being transferred to cocoa. I'm being moved out to the coast and best part is that im being released to senior companion you don't even know how happy that makes me. My new companion is going to be elder Jensen who's only been out for three months which is perfect. I have really been blessed alot and i'm looking forward to the new area just a little nervous but it's what i need.

Love Elder Judd

August 2, 2010

Hey Family,

To be honest I really don't feel like emailing today, so you'll see how my email is going to be really short but I still love you all - trust me. This week has been tough but I've found a lot of help and strength. Our investigator Ken has really been kicking it in gear. He told us he first started coming for the social aspect, but now he's trying to separate the social and spiritual aspects, and we hope he'll be able to. Please keep him in your prayers.

Love Elder Judd

July 26, 2010

Dear Family,

What a week, this week has been really tough because of the new simplified cirriculum they have introduced, which is supposed to bring us back to PMG (Preach My Gospel). The problem is that this week we had a training that lasted three days long and only gave us so much time to work in our area. We really were not given that much time at all to work with our investigators or much time at all to find new people to teach. I know you all hate the short emails but I really don't have much to say. I guess one funny story I can tell you about. There was this girl who got baptized in our ward this Sunday. She was taught by Sister Periera and Sister Gervais, yes she is the one from springville, however this girl had a man from a ward up north come down to baptize her. Well I guess he decided for some reason that he would wear a colored shirt. Well in order to baptize her we had to find him a white shirt. So my bishop gave me a smaller one and I gave mine to him, it was really funny. The sacrifices you make for baptism ahha.

Love Elder Judd

mom the resort sounds fine.

July 19, 2010

Hey everyone,

This week has been a great week for us and also for our zone we have all been working very hard and are beginning to see the fruits of our labor. This week we stopped by Davids to see how he enjoyed church, to our dismay he didn't like it in fact he told us he would never be attending again. We tried to find out why and he said it was because we were putting the priesthood in front of Jesus Christ. We tried to help him but he was set that he would not be attending. However at least he did say he would be looking for a church to attend because he hasn't been going for a long while so at least something good came of it i hope.

Well lucky for us we have some other people that we are working with and this allowed us to focus more on them and really what they need. This week the sisters gave us a referral, his name is Ken Kamphoumy. He goes to UCF and has had no religious background at all but is very excited to learn more about the church and really desires to know god. Our first meeting with him was very neet and we got him to pray for us and we all knelt down and it was very neat. We also had a guy named josh and katherine who i told you about a couple of weeks ago they both came to church and really enjoyed it.

The work here is great and your prayers for help with these people to recognize the spirit in our teaching is greatly appreciated.

Love Elder Judd

July 12, 2010

Hey everyone,

Oh boy it still continues to get hotter and it hasn't rained really well for about a week. I know you all in St.George are probably like a week who is this kid. Seriously though it rains normally just about every day here in Florida and the rain really effects the heat. Anyhow no complaining cause i remember how mom said i was great at not complaining about the weather so i guess i need to chastise myself and do better. While i'm talking to you mom elder Larmore says he would like a letter. He also says you need to send your son a package i mean both of us? 100 dollar bills are always accepted. hahahahahahaha. Jk mom but seriously i'm due for a package love yah.

Missionary work is great here we are teaching three main individuals who are awesome. Still teaching Katherine who wasn't able to make it to church but will make it next week. David also came to church and our last one is josh who really just likes to hang out with us but we are getting better at teaching him. I love you all and sorry for the short email but my times up being a zone leader stinks too much responsibility.

Love Elder Judd

July 5, 2010

Dear Family,

Well just another week in the mission field has gone by, and once again, not much to tell you all about what's happening here. This week we have been stacked with meetings with the new mission president and all, he's a great guy President Hall and his wife is also amazing. We are really excited to work with him, and hopefully he'll be able to help grow to our full potential.

Well, as for the best stories of the week, I've got a couple. First of all you have to understand that working in the singles ward can be very challenging, because a lot of time we find a lot of people for the elders who cover the area in which we work. In fact, we only have three new investigators from this last week, but we actually found nine investigators if that gives you a sense of the how frustrating it can be some times.

Well now with all of that said this week we found this girl named Katherine who's going to full sail, which is a little unusual her being a girl and all. She's really cool, but has really been turned off to God, well actually just giving that higher power a name, mainly because she had been taught that god is a god of wrath and vengance. We helped her a little, but she still wouldn't committ to church, because she doesn't do well in a crowd. However in our weekly planning we chose some people to be her friend and while we were planning we both just thought of a recent convert named Stormi who also is a girl and goes to full sail. We both were like ok whatever and just continued planning. Well we just happened to have Stormi with us on the way home from church yesterday and we decided to stop by well you won't believe what happened. Holy cow, they hit it off like crazy. I mean crazy! I've never seen people warm up to each other so fast it was extremely ridiculous. They had so much in common, and this was some wierd stuff so I knew god was answering our prayers. Oh, by the way, the night before I was praying and letting Heavenly Father know that we had done everything we knew of and that we needed a miracle now to take place to help us with her. We knew she was extremely positive and ready so we wanted to do everything we could.

The lord has really been blessing me and I thank you for all of your prayers.

Love Elder Judd

June 28, 2010

Hello Everyone,

Well did you all miss me i know you did. I guess i'm just that kind of person that everyone seems to miss. Well a couple of things have been happening and we have been lucky enough to be a part of them. All three of our investigators that i talked about last week have fallen off the map. We have tried our hardest stopping by multiple times each day and never finding them home. They really are all great guys but the desire i guess is just not quite there if you know what i mean.

Better news though we were able to find a new person to bring to church this last week. His name is Alex. He's so sweet we just contacted him in an apartment complex while tracting. He just loved to point of having Christ over here in the Americas and immediately read the chapter in the book of mormon we left with him. He also really loved church and loved one of our recent converts who's going to full sail they really just hit it off, it was great for the both of them. We are going over on Tuesday and we'll be challenging him for baptism we are really just being blessed so much i love it.

Well for some other bad and good news our mission president is coming to the close of his mission and leaves for home tomorrow. So as of today my mission president is president Hall x vice president of BYUI, i'm really looking forward to working with him and getting to know him better. However it will be a little hard to get used to some new ideas which i'm sure he has but i'm sure his new ideas are exactly what the mission needs to lift it to higher heights. I really can't wait this will be a new experience and i'm sure it will be fun.

Love Edler Judd

June 21, 2010

Hey Everyone,

This week has been an extremely long week but a lot of fun at the same time. We have been blessed with three very positive member referrals this week. We were really getting tired of tracting and finding so so people. The three member referrals we were given have all recieved a baptismal date but only one was at church. Blessed Leandre, Jared, and Damian, the other two who were not at church were Jared and Damian but they had to see their fathers and stay the day with them so hopefully we will be banking on next week. We will be taking all of them to Fhe tonight so we'll see how it goes pray for them please.

Love Edler Judd

June 14, 2010

Dear Wonderful Family,

I know you all hate the short emails but i'm just so busy we have to fill out so much information for the zone it's just crazy and it makes you want to just burst. No it's not that bad but some days you just wish you could be a regular missionary but i guess this is the most regular missionary i'll ever be so i'm really going to enjoy it. Congratulations Jenny i wish the best for you.

To Mom Paul and aunt Kaye President Pratt says hi yep you guessed it Jim Pratt he is the stake president of the Orlando Stake and we met with him just yesterday he was giving me a lot of black mail so watch out aunt kaye. haha jk

Love you all Elder Judd

June 7, 2010

Dear Familia,
Thanks for all of your prayers and faith. This week has been one
full of challenges and crazy busy in fact so busy that I still have some
other things to do so this email is going to be very short. I love this
work and testify that God comforts us in our weaknesses.
love Elder Judd

June 1, 2010

Dear Family,

First of all i must apologize to you all who have sent me letters cause i am really falling behind but most of all i most apologize to you Brent but i promise i'll write you letter next week so you'll probably get it in about two weeks. Well you'll be glad to hear that i'm super busy right now, and the lord is trying me very hard especially with all of these wierd things that i'm having to deal with. I love you tonz Kami but some times sister missionaries can bring for quite a few problems.

But i do love this work and my companion and myself are trying hard to be born again each day right now and trying to follow the mission rules with exactness, however we have a very long ways to go, i really hate when i fall into bad habits. Well as for this week we had absolutely no people at church and that's why we have had a bit of a trial of our faith. We've had a very hard time getting a hold of our investigators and it seems as though everyone has such great concerns that they can't make it past it's really tough. But in the midst of all this chaos if that''s how you spell it we are working hard to find the elect because we know they are out there. We really are blessed and have been able to find a lot of new people to teach so hopefully we'll be able to find those who are ready to act.

Well i love you all and just so you know Brent your letter was perfect and exactly where i'm at and what i needed thanks.

Love Elder Judd

May 24, 2010

Hello Family,

How's everyone doing it sure sounds as though there is a lot going on back home with Kami coming home and Jenny preparing to enter the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. I feel a little sad that i can't be there for it but at the same time the joy that i am receiving here in doing to lord's work is definitely topping everything else right now ahhahaha.

Thanks Jenny for the invite to you temple sealing although i was contemplating if that was something nice you were trying to do or if it was some kind of sick joke because you knew i would not be able to attend. haha jk. Well this week i got a new companion elder Albuquerque he's the bomb and i love his face off. Yep Kami he's from Brazil Racifi and i'm going to start learning Portuguese from him, well probably not just enough like tutdo bem. haha. I literally had to ask him just barely to tell me how to spell it. Any how he's really a fire ball and i love it it's exactly what i needed because i was getting a little comfortable.

Well we just confirmed Schaine Howard on Sunday and we are working with some other cool people right now. First off we have Jay Marrieta is in school right now going to full sail doing film. We just contacted him outside after we had got done talking to a recent convert. He's way cool and even has an Lds friend in our ward who's been sharing bits and pieces about the church with him. We taught him on Saturday at the member's home and it went very well. He came to church yesterday and we will be teaching him again on Saturday we are way excited for him.

Tevin is the other investigator we are working with and he also attends full sail in fact most of our investigators do attend full sail. He's going into show business or what they call show pro here. He's from Virginia and his parents work in the cia, he's really cool and comes from a baptist background but he knows the book of Mormon is true. In fact when we challenged him for baptism he didn't accept because he said that he joined a church once and slowly found out that they didn't have the same beliefs. So he wants to make sure that he's willing to follow this and believes the same way. We are just praying for him because we know it will come down to him exercising faith because he will never know everything before he joins. He's coming to FHE tonight and we are going to have our members fellowship him and share their baptismal experiences with him. He says he loves it though when we come over and looks forward to our visits and it makes our visits so much more effective when they recognize the spirit.

Well not a whole lot else is going on but I'll hopefully have good news for you next week.

Love Elder Judd

May 17, 2010

Hey my family,

What a great week i have had full of it's fun and ups and downs. Any one reading this I'm sure can relate the downs were on my own part i got a little lazy at a couple of points and what made it worst was that i got really mad at myself because i know better. Anyways after i got over that i had the most amazing Sunday i have ever had in my whole life.

Sunday was great for many different reasons. First of all Schain our investigator who was getting baptized that day showed up. Second of all We were able to get Tevin, one of our investigators, to church. Third of all at church he received great fellowship that really made him feel so comfortable and he just kept telling us what a great experience he had. Fourth of all during sacrament meeting we have six brethren who bless and pass the sacrament and five out of the six had been baptized that year sweet. We have been so blessed it's truly amazing. Fifth was that Tevin played the piano in priesthood. It really is true that as soon as you go to the Mormon church you are put to work right away hahahaha. Sixth was the baptism right after church because Schaine just really had a hard time going all the way under and was baptized three times in order to get him fully emerged. Seventh was Dinner at the bishops house with all the recent converts and even a couple of investigators and the spirit was so strong, in fact we got to watch the prophet of the restoration with all of the them. Plus Bishops wife is a great cook and really we don't get a home cooked meal that often in the singles ward so we were loving it so much. That was the conclusion of my Sunday and the best Sunday of my life i will always remember the miracles I saw that day because truly that is what they are.

love Elder Judd

May 3, 2010

Dear Family,

Thanks for all of the support i really appreciate it, i can really feel the power of your prayers and the stregnth that I've recieved out here on my mission. WE've seen many miracles out here it's been great. Just this last weekend we had two investigators at church and we set baptismal dates with them both for this weekend and we are really excited for them both.

First off Schaine, he is a member referral who has been taught for a long time between two different sets of missionaries. Well we just called him up and asked if he was ready to listen again and he said he is. Well this week he came to church and we set a baptismal date with him for next weekend. We are trying to make sure that he is truly converted by the spirit and not because of his girlfriend but we do have plans to address the concerns.

The other one is a huge miracle similiar to Olivias experience. Alexandra from Peru just walked in on a Friday night while our singles ward was having a variety show, or talent show. On Sunday we set a date with her and now she is sweet, she even came to the CES fireside last night it really is working out perfectly and the lord is really blessing us and we are just having fun. The lords work is so much fun i love we just go around and challenge people all day and the spirit just makes us so happy the gospel really is happiness i love it.

Sometimes things can be a little overwhelming but as we turn to the atonement of Jesus christ we can find rest. I know this is true because i felt this relief that comes. I really love this work it's great.

Kami i feel so bad for you that stinks your going home or actually probably home now when reading this. I feel so blessed cause i still have eight months left, but you are done no more missionary work. However i know you have no regrets and that you were an amazing missionary thanks for everything.

love Elder Judd

April 26, 2010

Hey everyone,

Not a whole lot to talk about this week. But we did have the confirmation of Nate Jones and i was the one who got to confirm him it was really neat.

I love this work and know it is the work of the lord and he has his hand in all of it.

love Elder Judd

April 19, 2010

Dear family and friends,

I love Florida it's the best I really want to stay here forever and don't even want to go home at all sorry mom. Florida and the humidity have grown on me and i love love love it. The singles ward is bomb and the members are super sweet and we baptize like every week it really is a lot of fun. The best part is that heavenly father has given us so many blessings it's ridiculous. He's been such a help in our work and showing us miracle upon miracle in just this one week.

Good news Nate Jones just got baptized Sunday it was great and next week we will be baptizing Olivia Bell. Now Olivia Bell is probably one of the coolest self referrals ever. We were in president's interviews and she just walked in the church and wanted to learn more. So we gave her a church tour and immediately challenged her for baptism and she accepted for the twenty fifth of April. K now we told her that because she's making this decision the devil was going to try hard to keep her from attending church. We were right things came up left and right trying to hold her back but again and again the lord helped her as the both of us prayed for her and helped her overcome the concerns. The lord is amazing and a god of miracles and it definitely was a miracle that she made it to church. We are so excited to see her get baptized this Sunday it's going to be great.

That seriously is just one of the thousands of blessings we've recieved this week. Thank you for all your prayers i love you all.

Love Elder Judd

April 12, 2010

Dear family,

Oh my goodness i'm working now in the Young single adults ward holy cow. It's crazy and really tough, i have so many responsibilities that it really is impossible to have a normal day every day has a new excitement or something else stepping in our way. For example we got a phone call on Tuesday morning asking us to go and check on the sisters because one of the sisters being transferred took her phone with her and the others didn't call their district leader to let him know that they were in so we were asked to go check up on them. So we had to drive twenty miles just to get there to check on them and twenty minutes back it really is just crazy.

luckily the best part about this week was not that my companion had a constant migrane and i had to stay in going crazy inside but that even though he did we got our investigator to church and he'll be getting batized next weekend.

If you all can keep Nate Jones in your prayers we greatly appreciate it because he is the bomb we love him so much. We are pumped to see him get baptized. Tonight we are going with him to serve the homeless something he invited us to he really is the best. I love you all and thank you for your prayers thanks so much.

Love Elder Judd

April 5, 2010

Dear Beloved Family,

As you probably notice every time I write there's some type of theme in it. This week the theme is humility it really is my favorite nnnnnnnnnnoooooooooootttttttttt. I guess that's why i had it.

On Monday a member called me out completely shattered my pride to where i was very very angry with him holding it all within. But as i really began to think about it i recognized the promise that god gives that he will not give us commandments or challenges to big to face. So when i thought of that i turned to well what does the lord want me to learn from this. When i did i noticed that what he said was in answer to my prayers. I wanted to know what was holding me back and he showed me it was pride. I hope everyone will look at themselves and ask if you are letting pride hold you back. Word of advice let it go. The joy and love you experience is priceless god can then open you the windows of heaven and pour you out blessings. You can know his will just as Ronald Rasband.

Well I'm getting transferred to the Orlando area into the singles ward oh oh no. Well see how that goes.

Love Elder Judd

p.s. Thanks Kenneth Bennion for the email well said sorry i can't email you back

March 29, 2010

Hello Friends and family,

Another week has come and gone and it's going by fast. This week has been great for me and i've really been able to feeling the healing power of Christ atonement in me life.

I've always have been a pretty prideful person which i'm not really proud of. I know that Satan has used this against me alot too. But this week i was feeling as though I was all alone like i was engulfed in darkness. This was the worst I've ever felt in my life and it was very unpleasent. That pride within me has always made me feel as though more was expected of me and that i couldn't repent or maybe that i was to good to repent but whatever it was it held me back from completely humbling myself before the lord.

But everything else had failed me. Fear of god had failed me Duty to god had failed me, every last thing had failed me untill i found the love of god. Untill i completely humbled myself before the lord and asked for his forgiveness and help to overcome. Than i knew than i felt his love that love that never faileth. I testify to the world that god lives Jesus is the Christ his beloved son. I know that only through him can we overcome satan. I know this is his church and that his atonement is real. If you are reading this i would tell you to not kid yourself if you think you can do this alone you are sorely mistaken you could never do this alone. Call upon him and he will heal you. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Love Elder Judd

March 22, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week has come and gone and i seriously mean come and gone the weeks just seem to fly by now. In fact i just found out today from another missionary that I've been our for over fifteen months and for some reason i still don't believe it I think I'm still at about 14 months but who knows and who cares.

Any how the work is going great, however i wouldn't say that i was completely thrilled about the way i worked this week. I did work hard but there were a couple of times when I could have worked a little harder but now i know what i can work on and how i can overcome some the big problems i have so that might really lighten the load that i have.

Well even though i didn't have my best week ever the fruits were their Betsy Manncini her husband and two children all came to church this last Sunday. I almost jumped my feet off the ground when I saw them but i held it all inside except for the huge ridiculous smile on my face that i don't think anyone could have missed. We just found Betsy tracting which is really cool because i'm really not that good at tracting, I do it cuz i know the lord blesses me for it but like i said i'm not good at it. In fact i have not baptized anyone on my mission that i have found from tracting so hopefully this will be a first.

Well as for Florida it really is becoming Florida again or were here again at sweat season as it's commonly referred to. For anyone who is familiar with Florida you only have two seasons winter and SSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR.

seriously that's how long it is last year summer didn't end until after Halloween it was not fun but we still would find ways to enjoy it. Well i love my mission and i love you all and i hope that you all will have an amazingly blessed day, but it will only happen if you make it that way.

LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE ELDER JUDD

March 15, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Well it is still really nice in Florida but it's getting ever closer to sweat season, and you'll never quite understand what I'm talking about unless you have or you will have visited Florida. We got a lot of rain this last week with a couple of tornado warnings but don't worry we get them quite often and nothing really happens, it's sort of like when Florida gets a warning for snow of Las Vegas gets a warning for snow hahaha.

Well everything in Florida has been great and I must tell you of one of the tender mercies that happened to me this week. Well there are two families we have been trying to start teaching and finally were able to get them all together to teach them. The first family is the Badarnis AJ and Courtney, AJ is not a member but has a Muslim background. Courtney his wife is a less active member and they have been attending church for the last several weeks. However when they come they only come for Sacrament meeting and then they split. AJ has been taught before and is open to the church and that's really why he's been attending. Now the other family is also a very interesting situation. The Dewberrys, Angela and Justin, are both great people however Angela has been less active and Justin is excommunicated. They have one daughter who is three years old named Ava, and the Badarnis have three children all under the age of four.

part 2 THE LESSON. Well we set a dinner and lesson with them for this Thursday, and the dinner was great. The end.

jk but really the food was good. We had spaghetti which believe it or not i haven't had for a long time. Any how after the dinner we started the lesson only Justin was trying to be sly and get out of the lesson which he pretty much did. He acted like he needed to take care of the children. Well we started teaching Angela and the Badarnis and boy that's when is all broke loose ?'s galore and really random questions and things that really don't matter. For any of you who have been missionaries you have probably had one of these lessons before you know the ones you dread. Well it's a very good thing that i didn't know how it was going to be because otherwise i don't know if I'd have gone over just kidding but seriously!!!!!!

Any way we found out pretty quick that AJ and Courtney were not truly that interested. We told them that we really don't have all the answers but that they could ask god for themselves. Courtney replied and said i hate that answer, apparently she didn't want to ask god anything, that's why people don't know the church is true because they won't ask. Any how we found out really quick that the Badarnis were not interested and that our lesson was for Angela. Now Angela also had some tough questions to especially when we talked about Adam and Eve oh bad idea.

Now for the good part the reason we were over there and the tender mercy that took place. She started telling us about how she didn't feel she was receiving answers to her prayers and every since she was about sixteen she'd ask and never felt that she had received an answer. Well i promised her that is she would get down on her knees that night she would receive an answer and she would know. She was surprised a little when I said this and was like are you sure and kept saying I'll receive an answer tonight right. It was sweet we were also able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and how if it's true then the church is true. But the end of the lesson was the part that really got me and her. I felt prompted to let her know that I was here for her, that I had come to the Clermont Area for her, and we both started crying and she left the room for a couple of minutes. At that time it was really late and we were out later than we were supposed to be so we closed with a prayer and left. That night she read the book of Mormon for two hours.

Love Elder Judd

ps I called the next day; she got an answer

March 8, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

What a great week it has been for me and Elder Hunt and really what a faith builder. This week we had three people a church and church has been one of the tough things for us lately but i guess it all was just a trial of our faith.

Issaih and Isabella Rojas came to church they are nine and eleven years old and come with their grandparents usually. We are going to be teaching them this week and hopefully be challenging them for baptism, well actually challenging their mom to let them be baptized because they already want to be. We are just hoping that their mother will let them make that descion in their life.

AJ Badarni was the other person who came to church this last week, he is a partmember family and his wife is the member. She's been on and off active for pretty much her whole life but they've been coming a lot lately only to sacrement meeting though. He actually has a muslim background but he's not to tied down to it it was more just his father who was who has long since passed away. He'll be moving in about five months to Oregon where he got a job i'm so glad he did because it was an answer to his prayers.

As you can see we've really been blessed down here in Florida and i've seen many miracles in my life here. I know god lives and Jesus is the Christ the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

Love Elder Judd

p.s. We went to a Gladyss knight concert last night........... I mean fireside. No she didn't sing midnight train, but it was sweet the choir she sang with was so cool. Just think completely southern baptist black quoir and than you might be able to imagine it a little bit.

March 1, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
What a blessed week, however I must say it had some tough parts but the results were totally worth all of it.
I don't think I've ever had so many appointments cancel on me in my whole entire mission. Day after day we would get phone calls of people canceling their appointments and that can be hard. However we had a great hope that the lord was going to bless us so we just kept working harder.
By the way I got a new companion Elder Hunt from Lehi Utah just like Elder Mansfield. Elder Hunt is a good missionary and relaxed which I do enjoy because sometimes i can overwhelm myself with all of the things we have to do. Last night we were crazy busy trying to fill out our stake correlation reports and week ending reports and so it was a little crazy.
FINALLY Bridget Rojas came to church and when i say finally I don't mean it in a mad was but in a very grateful way. Finally after all the excuses I really think she sort of ran out of them hahaha. Just kidding, it was great though because it was fast and testimony meeting and the power of the testimonies was seriously almost overwhelming. Ilove It. Her daughter Isabella also came to church again for like the seventh time. We hope to be able to set a baptismal date with her soon here so she can get progressing towards that day.
Well on Sunday we had an amazing fireside on the life of jesus Christ that I headed up. It was a lot of fun to do and it gave us some more opportunity to get more involved with the members and get them all excited about missionary work. Well this last week we had three of our speakers President Darrington, Bishop Wilson, and Bishop Jackson all cancel on us oh boy that was fun. But the best part about it was that the backup speakers did amazing and probably even better than our original speakers that was a huge blessing.
I thank you all for your prayers I truly have seen the miracles of god out here and I will never forget how merciful he really is.
Love Elder Judd

February 22, 2010

Hey everyone,

Oh how blessed a nation and people we really are. Heavenly Father has given us all so much. He has given us the gospel which allows us to see what people can become instead of who they are at that time. I've seen too many people change and it stregnthens me so much each day to think about it.

The work is going well and we are finding a lot of new investigators. We are still having a hard time getting them to church but i think we'll be blessed shortly. This week Bridget was supposed to with her two children but they were a no show. But we'll be teaching them this week in the church giving them a church tours so hopefully all goes well.

We found this lady named Juana this week and i've really learned a lot from teaching her. She really is submissive meek and humble and she pays such great attention. She's always listening intently and the spirit is able to tesitify through us so much easier I love it. We are excited to teach her and it is such a great blesssing that we found her.

Well once again transfers have come around adn Elder Mansfield will be leaving me. My new companion is also from Lehi ut and his name is Elder Hunt. He only has three months left on his mission so we are going to make sure he finishes strong. I really love this work and the blessings it brings. I really love you all so much and thank you for all of the love and support you give me.

Love Elder Judd

ps. it's getting hot again uuugghh

February 15, 2010

Dear family and friends,

Oh what a week, they just keep going by so fast and before I know it another week is over and another p day has come. But I'm loving it and really getting lost in the work. Now it might sound normal but seriously you get lost lost lost in the work and sometimes you get so confused you don't know where your at. But then you get back to the basics and rerecognize your purpose and you're back on track.

Well we had a huge tender mercy this last week, well it was a tender mercy at least for me. We've been having a hard time getting people to chruch (Sound familiar to those who've served missions) and it was getting me down a little. So we've been having to really work on patience for our patience has been tried much lately. But on Tuesday we stopped by a members home whose son has a non member wife that we've been working with. Her name is Bridget Rojas and we really hadn't seen much progression from her because we had comitted her for church but she didn't come. Well that night we found out she works on sunday at two and said she'd only be able to make it for the first twenty minutes, so we challenged her to do that. She didn't once again but we found out later she had got sick and later that night we gave her a blessing of healing. Her blessing was inspired I know because the person giving the blessing blessed her with faith which she really needs. She will get baptized and we know she has felt god's presence a lot lately.

Well that's all for Orland Florida, except for a thank you to all my cousins for the cookies. Y'all are giving me sugar attacks.

haha

Love Elder Judd

February 8, 2010

Hey everyone,
First of all my email address changed it is now verle.judd@new.myldsmail.net we just switched programs so hopefully everyone currently emailing me will get this if not spread it haha.
Anyways the work here is going great accept for getting people to church we really had a hard time this week but next week we'll do better. This week we were blessed to set two dates with Pablo Serna and his wife Samantha Serna. We were teaching Pablo and his wife sat in on the lesson and really enjoyed it, in fact when we were trying to set another time to come see them for daily contact we were setting up a time when only he would be home because she was so busy. Than she said but i want to listen to the lessons too. We said we understand were just going to stop by. It really is nice when we have people who are so desirous to hear the words of eternal life that they'll give things up. For truly this is the law of sacrifice.
I love the mission and all the joy is brings and I know my heavenly father is happy with me because I'm happy.
love you all Elder Judd

February 1, 2010

Dear family and friends,
Im sorry about no email last week the computer i was working on really frustrated me and i lost the email. I hope you all still love me though and that you'll continue to pray for me and the work of the lord.
We've really had a couple of tough days in the last couple of weeks and at times the work can be hard and sometimes. However as we endure with faith i know we will be blessed. In fact we really have been blessed in the last couple of weeks with a couple of positive people to teach.
The First is Juan Serna he is hispanic and we just tracted into him the other day on his way out with his little daughter. He first started by saying I don't like or believe in organized religion. I was glad he said that because neither am I, we were able to answer some good questions that he had and set up a return apt. When we came back we taught him the restoration and the spirit was really strong. It was truly a lesson I would prefer we always had. haha. Anyhow the second and last one we have is a guy named Joe whom we just tracted into. He told us at the door that he was a baptist and after we taught him the restoration and asked him to read in the Book of Mormon and to ask god if it is true he said, " As a true believer i don't have much of a choice do i", I said no you dont haha.
Well the work is going well thanks for all the support and the prayers I have recieved. I love this work it truly is the Lord's and this is his church.
Love Elder Judd

January 11, 2010

To All who are interested,
Sorry I did not write an email this last week. I must first repent and ask for your forgiveness. However that doesn't mean I'm going to write some extremely long amazing incredible story, well maybe we'll see.
This week has been great, a week that you might enjoy accounting the zone leaders for. Our district did really well and our specific area was great. It all started with a change though. So you might think to yourself the people they've been humbled, or no the investigators whom he's working with they've had a change of heart, no maybe even they finally got someone to recognize how important the book of Mormon is and so they completely gave up coffee drinking and smoking. But once again I must say no. The only change that I'm speaking of is the change that took place on exchanges this week with the zone leaders.
Up until now I've been a great missionary but I haven't reached my full potential because I wasn't the challenging testifying missionary that I can be. Of course I would challenge people and I would testify, however not as often as I should. When we went on exchanges with the zone leaders we challenged everyone we talked to to baptism and confirmation. I feel so bad I didn't learn this principle so much earlier but I was not ready for it. This past week has been amazing my companion and myself came home repented and went out challenging and testifying to everyone we spoke with. We call it CTD Infinite, and from that you all are probably like what? Yes CTD Infinite, it means we will challenge and testify daily for baptism and church to some no everyone we talk to. Infinite baby, it's really been a great week this weekend Tiffany Rodriguez will get baptized and we've got some high potentials coming up.
Love Elder Judd
ps I really out do myself

January 25, 2010

Hello,
I hope you all aren't mad that I didn't email last week because I actually did. In fact it was a great email but the computer got the best of me and I lost the email in fact I think i erased it haha.
Well since you didn't get my email from last week you should all know that Tiffany Rodriguez got baptized that weekend. Her baptism was great and her biggest concern was wearing the jumpsuit and others looking at her with the jumpsuit on. However we helped her enough to do even though she still didn't like it much. The man who baptized her was a friend of her husbands who had actually baptized him. And when he showed up he was 20 minutes late and forgot to bring his recommend to perform an ordinance. Not only that but he had not even talked to his bishop. But our bishop helped out there and gave his bishop a call and we got the ok.
It's really just amazing how much satan really does work to hold our investigators back from the waters of baptism. I really just reaffirms my testimony of baptism and this work. I love you all and send my love.
Love Elder Judd

January 4, 2010

Hey family,
Sorry but I really don't feel like emailing a whole lot of stuff and then writing it in a letter all over again so you can just let everyone else know how i'm doing.
Love Elder Judd
p.s. if you want to send gospel cds I would love them