"my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me"

Dear family,

I love serving in Loma Linda again. Sometimes throughout the day, I re-realize that I'm here again and I get really excited and it is just really fun. We've already seen many miracles.

On Wednesday, just after I moved in from 29 Palms, we went to see a woman that came to church on Sunday who hasn't been coming regularly for a long long time. A man answered the door. He welcomed us in, sat us down, and immediately began telling us his religious background. He told us he is now really interested in learning everything about Mormons, and he has questions, and just wants to listen to what we teach. I'll call him Stan. We LOVE Stan. Stan was the boyfriend of the woman, and he also came to church. He had already started reading the Book of Mormon, and we started teaching him the next night.

Here's one cool experience with Stan: For the past while, Stan has been trying to rebuild his standing with God. On Thursday he said that while he was in the Del Taco drive-thru he broke down and cried in his heart:

God, I'm just not sure if I can hear you. I'm not sure if I can hear you.

That night, we started teaching him. Stan told us that some of the first things we said seemed to bring an overwhelming feeling of peace as if God were speaking directly to him:

You can hear me. I am right here. You can hear me.

On Saturday, we had prayerfully planned to visit a certain man at a certain time. We parked down the hill so we could walk and talk with people. Just across the street from where we parked, another man had parked, and was picking small fruit from a tree. We called out to ask what kind of fruit it was. We began talking with him and introduced ourselves and he said knowingly: I already know you.

Then, I remembered him. It was Lee! A man that Elder Buers and I taught only once. Soon after, we lost contact with him. He said that he's moved since then and has been working in other parts of California. And he said that he was actually just thinking about us last week and that he only came in town that day to look for a new home. 

God is aware of us. I know He is. Even when we feel small, or weak, or neglected, or unloved, or unimportant--we matter to Him. He will never forget us. He is in the details of our lives!

I love the gospel. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I am so excited for General Conference. Everyone, watch it. 

Love,

Elder Judd

Pictures: With friends in Loma Linda

"What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?"

Dear family,

It's transfer week, and I'm leaving. I'm filled with a mix of emotions. I love 29 Palms so much. I love the people here. I am so grateful that my Father in Heaven has sent me here to learn and to serve Him. I am sad to leave.

But on the other hand, I am very excited for where I am going. Loma Linda! Back to Loma Linda! The place where I began my service as a missionary. And I'll be with the great Elder Raff, whom I love, and whom I served around when he began his mission in the Rialto area. This just feels like a great opportunity to redeem myself of the missionary work I did when I really didn't know much about missionary work. I just want to give everything I have in the remaining time I have as a missionary. So, I'm excited. 

Well, here's more from 29 Palms:

Our friend Paul hasn't chewed tobacco all week! We are so happy!

This week we taught a young man man I'll call Chris. Chris's member friend invited him to meet with us, and he accepted. He is from the Philippines. In a lesson with Chris this week, we taught about prayer. Chris told us that it has been a while since he has really prayed. And he has been struggling with things that he knows Heavenly Father wouldn't want him to do. As he spoke, some tears came:

I don't feel worthy to pray. ... I feel bad that I haven't been speaking with Heavenly Father.

Earlier in the week, we also started teaching a man I'll call Noah. For the last several years, Noah has turned against worshiping Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. Difficult circumstances have led him to feel an anger towards them. But we knelt in prayer at the end of the lesson. Noah prayed. It was simple. And after about 2 sentences, he paused. He was finding it hard to speak. We waited. He continued briefly and ended the prayer. Now with tears in his eyes, Noah looked to us and said:

Every time I do that, I know that I'm doing things that I shouldn't be doing, and it makes me want to cry. I know I need to do that more.

There is power in prayer. I know there is. I know that Heavenly Father listens to our prayers--no matter who we are, no matter where we are, no matter where we might have been, no matter if we feel like He loves us or not. He listens to us. He loves us. I know He does. 

Oh, how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary,
Don't forget to pray.

I love you all,

Elder Judd

Pictures: Me with friends

"he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them"

 Dear family,

Our good friend was baptized on Saturday! We made invitations and invited everyone. It made it extra fun to talk with everyone. 

We taught Sam again and he came to the baptism. He is really excited for his own baptism. He told us during a lesson, kind of out of nowhere:

One month from Saturday, I'm gonna be baptized!

And then after the baptism on Saturday we asked how he felt, and he smiled and said:

Filled. 

I love it! That was how I felt too. And I know the Holy Ghost was there. 

On Tuesday we had Zone Meeting, and there too I left feeling filled. We focused on helping people attend baptismal services and sacrament meeting, and teaching members the doctrine simply to find the people who are prepared to be taught.

Then last night we taught Jim again. He is doing really well, and we've taught him most everything, and he feels really prepared for baptism. He comes to church every week, and usually he is full of energy and light. But he missed church on Sunday and he seemed a little down last night. We soon learned that his newborn grandson, just born on Saturday, passed away early Sunday morning. I felt a pain for him in my heart. 

We noticed that he had a heaviness with him, and a small voice told us to offer a Priesthood blessing. he accepted. I just felt a love for him. And he prayed at the end, sincerely, and thanked Heavenly Father for taking a pressure off of him.

I know that God cares about us. 

Jesus said:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Love,

Elder Judd

Elder Seright and our porch view

Another friend of ours and me

Elder Soelberg and me

At the baptism

"no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father"

Dear family,

This week was great. 

We started teaching a young guy that I'll call Sam. He is awesome. He was taught by the sister missionaries who were here before us, but we lost contact with him as we came into the area. But we met him last Monday. He does tattoos for his friends. He's a real cool guy.

And Sam actually just came into the library a moment ago and he's using the computer next to us. Funny!

On Tuesday we helped a woman clean her back yard.  We brought a young couple with us that just moved into the ward. It was fun to talk with her while we picked up items that she wanted to take to the dump. 

On Saturday we exchanged and I worked with Elder Tingey, my old companion and now my zone leader.  It was really fun to work with him again. 

We taught Jim, who we've been teaching for a few weeks. He is awesome. We met him one Sunday when he walked in before sacrament meeting asking some members:

How do I go about getting baptized?

The members direct him to us. Jim is originally from the east coast.  His mom was a convert to the church many years ago, so he grew up with some knowledge of the gospel. But his mother passed away a few years ago and her dying wish was that Jim and his siblings would join the church. He has been embracing the gospel. we love Jim!

We had interviews with President Van Cott on Thursday. I left feeling inspired and filled with goodness and joy, as usual. I love President Van Cott, and I love my mission. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. These are really happy days. 

Alofa atu,

Elder Judd

29 Palms church building

Joshua Trees

Picture in the church. We love the Marines!

Me, Elder Duffin, Elder Seright, and Elder Howard

"he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father"

Hey Family,

This has been a great week. On the days leading up to Christmas we went to many families and presented a "Live Christmas Card" in which we caroled and read the nativity story from Luke 2 and sang some more. It was great fun. And some friends later told us that the father of one family we went to "cried like a baby" after we left. 

On Tuesday we went to Redlands to serve in the temple. The last time I went to the temple was in February, so I was really happy for the opportunity. And while I was there, there were some missionaries from the Riverside mission just getting to the temple. One of them was Elder Haslem, whom I knew in the MTC. It was really cool to see him, after being split to different missions.

On Christmas eve we taught a man who struggles with schizophrenia and bipolarity and hyperactivity and other mental and physical challenges. Last week we gave him a priesthood blessing to strengthen him. When we saw him this week, he said:

I used to hear voices telling me to 'do this' or 'do that'. It's strange, but I haven't heard any voices since you guys gave me that blessing.

The priesthood power and authority is true! It's been restored!

On Christmas we had brunch with a great family in the ward. They fed us waffles and fancy scrambled eggs and bacon. Before we left we shared the Nativity Bible video. 

On Saturday we went to Highland for a mission conference. It was refreshing. I love reverently gathering as missionaries for a conference because I always come away edified and inspired with direction specific for my needs. And it was nice to see missionaries I love that I haven't seen in a long time.

I love you all! The gospel is true! It's going to be a GREAT year!

Elder Judd

"If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

Hello family,

Many miracles this week. Heavenly Father is so good to us.

Tuesday night we went to the town tree-lighting at city hall and sang Christmas hymns with the ward and branch. I love christmas and all the people here! 

Wedesday, went on an exchange with Elder Seright on the other side of 29 Palms. We were going along with our plans. But we both felt that we weren't where we needed to be. We stopped. Prayed. Adjusted and started again, but still felt off. Stopped again. Prayed more inside. A name, Andre, kept standing out to Elder Seright as he flipped through his planner. We went to Andre. He was home and outside, and his friend Faasavali was too. One thing led to another and we ended up teaching the Restoration and they want to learn more.

Thursday we had zone meeting and it was great. We were trained more about planning. I love planning! I have learned so much about planning on my mission that I hope to use throughout my life. GREAT meeting.

Sunday we went to the Christmas devotional. But just after we sat down and the choir was singing, it didn't feel right. It felt like we needed to be somewhere else. So we left. We didn't know where to go. But we prayed and then went to a potential that came to mind. He wasn't home, but we met a less active young man who lived next door. We had a great, brief visit and set a return appointment to teach his family. Then, the feeling was satisfied and we went back to the devotional to catch the closing prayer by President Durrant. Lots of Joy.

Love you all!

Elder Judd

"God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles"

Happy Thanksgiving, Family!

GREAT week. 

On Monday night some of our plans fell through, and long story, but we were biking and a taxi pulled over beside us. The driver asked if we were missionaries. Then he asked if we could meet with him this week. Found out he's a member of the church and has a lot of struggles and hasn't been to church in a while. God places us right where he wants us!

District meeting on Tuesday. It's funny because our district is just the 4 of us in 29 Palms, and we live together. But we still have district meeting at the church, because we are dignified. and we all love 29 Palms. It's a great district.

Thursday morning we went to Desert Hot Springs and helped feed the homeless at a nice church of another Christian faith. We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Panzarella and Tavai family. Just one dinner this year, and it was great. We also dropped off thank-you notes to families in the ward during the day.

Really Cool miracle on Wednesday. We were biking down a main road and passed an Auto Zone parking lot. We saw a man and woman fixing an Astro van. We had almost passed them, but something urged to us to pull over quickly and offer to help. We started to talk with the woman and she recognized us as being from the Mormon church. I had a hunch she was Samoan. She talked a lot and we listened and asked questions and she said she used to meet with missionaries about a year ago and was baptized in Samoa as a child. (Sadly, she speaks very little Samoan) Her name was Ti. She wanted to meet with us. Her name was really familiar to me.
I thought a lot about it, and at night I looked for an old letter from my good friend Sister Morris, serving in Reno, Nevada. I found the letter, and it confirmed that Ti was meeting with Sister Morris and her companion in Nevada, but then moved to somewhere in California.  Little did we know it was 29 Palms! There are no coincidences! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has been merciful enough to send me to the desert to 29 Palms and help me and my companion have the faith to open our mouths about His gospel! I love this place! And I know that God is mindful of me. And I know that God is mindful of you! None of us is lost to him. 

Jesus said:

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he cometh home, he calleth his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

Everyone should watch He is the Gift. Do it! Share it. It's great. You're great. You'll love it. 

#ShareTheGift

Love,

Elder Judd 

"O how you ought to thank your Heavenly King!"

Talofa Family,

My last few days in Indio were good. On Monday we met with Joe again. He really liked church and liked what he read about Joseph Smith in the Restoration pamphlet we gave him. He said:

When I read about the light that Joseph saw when he prayed, I thought about when I first opened the door the night you guys came.  You both just had a bright light with you that I could feel when you came in.

I felt a peace when Joe talked about that. Joe is just really great. 

So you know, I love Twentynine Palms. It's kind of a small town out in the middle of the desert, the far top right corner of the mission. Our boundaries go out to Arizona and the Las Vegas mission. And we cover the small town, Amboy, which the town in the movie Cars was based on. There's a marine base in 29 Palms, which is the main reason why people come live out here. And it's much colder than any area I've been in so far, mostly because we're getting into winter. It will probably snow, people say.

And my new companion is Elder Duffin. He is a really quick thinker and really sincere, and I am really excited to work with him. I feel like we're going to see a lot of miracles together and do good work.

We are working hard to meet everyone the Sister missionaries who were here were working with.  I love serving with Samoan people again.  Great things are going to happen here.

Love,

Elder Judd

"Make us thy true under-shepherds; Give us a love that is deep"

Dear Family,

Transfers are this week and I'm leaving. I'll be moving to 29 Palms, on the other side of the desert, and I'll be serving in an English ward and a Samoan branch. And I'll find out this week who my new companion will be. He will be a brand new missionary, so I'm excited! And honestly surprised. I didn't expect to be leaving at all. But I know that the Lord is in charge and knows all things and I am excited to see what great things He has prepared for me. Obviously, He wants me to learn something from Samoan people. 

This week was great. We were blessed to meet Joe, who seemed to come out of nowhere.

Joe was raised Jewish, but had Mormon roommates in college and really likes Mitt Romney. He recently moved into the area. He had a guy, Chris, come to his home to notarize something and Chris is Mormon and reminded Joe a lot of Mitt Romney. They got to talking and Chris invited Joe to meet with missionaries. So we came. And Joe is awesome. The first time we met him he said he had already stopped drinking coffee 2 days earlier because he read online that Mormons don't do that. And he came to church the next morning, 30 minutes early. 

We didn't see Collin all week, but we left a tie hanging from the handle of his front door with a note saying we hoped to see him at church. He didn't have any ties. But then he came to church the next morning, wearing the tie! It was a great little miracle.

We haven't seen Andrew 2 in a long while, and we are praying that he is doing all right. Please pray for him.

We met with Frank and Jane again and they are doing so well. Frank told us that when he was in Utah a few weeks ago he met up with an old friend he hadn't seen in years. He told his friend he had been coming back to church. His friend then gave him a lot of opposition about the church. But after a moment Frank responded:

You know what, I know the Mormon church is good because there is an empty void in my heart that is being filled with love and peace and joy.

As he told us this, I felt that his words were true. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know it. And I know that God Loves us and that every person can know these things for himself.

I love you all!

Elder Judd

pictures:

Me and Frank and Jane

Me and Elders' quorum president

"even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you"

Dear family,

Happy Halloween! This week was busy and great. 

We met with Collin again, and he's doing well. He didn't come to church last week because he was sick. but he came this week! And he seemed to really like it. At fast and testimony meeting yesterday there were many young kids who came up to bear their testimonies. They were simple and sincere. And in sunday school we were talking about baptism, and Collin commented:

I liked that kid in sacrament: "Baptism is for a second chance." Bam! That's it.

It was funny and true. Collin is just funny. He has so much goodness in him. 

On Halloween we had to be in our apartments by 6 PM, so we had our weekly planning session for the rest of the night. And a really sweet sister in the ward made us a dessert she said she always makes for the missionaries. Brain! Very realistic and funny. (see below)

We're teaching a couple who are members of the church working to become active and eventually sealed in the temple. It's the same people we met in the far corner of our area a few weeks ago when we felt to go to that area. They are so great. They were gone last week because they took a trip to SLC to visit family they hadn't seen in a long time. They loved the tours on Temple square and recently began reading the Book of Mormon and listened to the audio version as the drove.  I'll call them Jane and Frank.

This week they told us about how they felt in SLC and at church last week. Jane told us that during one video at Temple square, she felt a big "whew" feeling of peace. She didn't know how to describe it fully, but she knew it was good and that it felt good. She felt at peace with everything. Everything was going to be okay.

Frank had a similar experience while in priesthood class at church. While he sat and listened in class, he felt the most powerful and good feeling that he had ever felt in his life. He does many things that make him happy, and been in places where he has felt fellowship and love, but nothing like this. 

I know that the feelings that Jane and Frank felt are from the Holy Ghost, which come to any humble seeker of truth. God speaks to us and comforts us by the Holy Ghost.

We also had interviews with President Van Cott this week. It was great, as always. He gave me direction that I know is inspired of God. Missions go by so fast. I only have 7 months left here. I want to use the time I have to the very fullest.

Love,

Elder Judd

"I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded"

Dear Family,

This week was incredible. Many mighty miracles. 

On Monday we had planned to be in an area we rarely go to. It takes a good drive to get there, but we had felt to be there. We went to the 3 member families that live there (we didn't know any of them). 

The first had a big gate that was locked, so we couldn't meet them.

The second had moved away about 14 years ago.

Then we went to the third. It was now dark, and their lights were out, and we almost didn't stop to meet them. But something told to go anyway. The wife heard us coming, called for her husband and invited us in. We talked, and learned that they had not been to church in a long while. They told us of some difficulties they have been having in their lives. The husband paused for a while, and told us that he felt that our visit was God giving them an answer. 

We set an appointment for them to meet the Bishop the next day. Their visit went great, they want to come back to church, and they accepted the invitation to meet with missionaries. Miracle!

On Wednesday we went to see this guy Jose (I've talked about a lot of Jose's, but this is a new one). He was busy, but we were able to schedule a return appointment with him. 

But while we were in Jose's area, we had a feeling to go see Collin. Collin came to church with a member family about a month ago, and we made an appointment to teach him, but it didn't work out and we lost contact with him. 

But we stopped by, Collin was home, and he let us in. We taught a little, set a return appointment, and it went great. The spirit was so strong, and I felt like Heavenly Father helped me to be able to focus on Collin and what he needs. He commit to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. And then we asked:

Collin, when you come to know that the Book of Mormon is true, will you be baptized by someone who holds this priesthood?

He responded:

Yes. Definitely. I'm ready to go. We could do it next week. We could do it tonight. I'm ready!

Collin is funny. We set a date as a goal for him to be baptized, and our member friends have told us that he's really excited.

On Thursday we met Andrew2 for the first time this week and he is awesome. He is so prepared and wants the gospel in his life. He had already started reading the Book of Mormon before we even met him and he really likes it. And Andrew2 watched conference! Live!

The priests in the ward went together to Salt Lake City, UT to watch General Conference, and they invited him to come along. We are so excited to see how Andrew2 liked it. 

Last night we went to our appointment with Jose with our fearless ward mission leader, Bro. Verduzco. Turned out Jose intended for the appointment to be at 8:00am, not 8:00pm. We rescheduled. But as we were leaving, we saw a home with a moving truck outside. Some men were working to unload it. We offered to help. They only spoke spanish. They declined. But Bro. Verduzco speaks spanish. So he kept talking with them. While they spoke, Elder Fife and I just went ahead and started to help them unload. We tucked in our ties. We finished within the hour. And when they were done, we found out that one of the men had come to church before and recognized Bro. Verduzco. He allowed us to send spanish missionaries to his home.

Conference was great! Listen to the Holy Ghost, and go and do what it says. 

God will not lead us astray. I know He will not.

Love,

Elder Judd

Pictures:

My watch has been through a lot.

"for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them"

Hey family!

This week is transfer week and I'm staying! I love Indio!

On Wednesday, we did more service at the food kitchen and it was great again. We cleaned tables, unloaded breads, peeled potatoes, and put away dishes. 

We are really looking for more service opportunities. So, on Friday, we borrowed our Ward Mission Leader's lawn mower, went to the Indian Reservation, and went door-to-door offering lawn service for free. It was warm and fun. 

We also helped a man clear away many many books from his bookshelf. Many were cookbooks of his late wife. We're going back this week to finish the job, but for now we have stacks of cookbooks in our apartment until we can take them to a donation center somewhere.

So we learned this week that a young man in the ward named Andrew 1, has a friend, Andrew 2, who has been coming to seminary with him. Andrew 2 had asked about seminary and asked if he could come.

On Tuesday, we learned that the door we knocked on last week--when we met Enrique--was the home of Andrew 2!

It is a miracle! And I could not stop smiling after we found out. There is a God and He is our Father and He knows every one of His children and He knows exactly what needs to be done to help them--His children--us. He loves us! He wants us to become happy and strong!

I'm so excited for General Conference too. Everyone should come listen to a prophets voice!

We also had the opportunity to see Meet the Mormons as an early showing. It will be in theaters on October 10th. It is great! everyone should see it. It is a great family movie. and funny. Go see it and invite everyone!

Love,

Elder Judd

pictures:

elder allred, me, and elder weaver - the district, minus elder fife

the desert

"why not speak of the atonement of Christ"

Dear Family,

Great week!

We met with Marty again this week. He is doing awesome. He just finished the Book of Mormon and reads it every day. He was praying for strength to talk with coworkers about the gospel this week. Then people at work started asking questions about what he believes, and he shared pamphlets with them. Marty is great!

We served at a food kitchen on Wednesday. We help clean and peal and chop carrots and potatoes. I tried to speak spanish with a fellow worker, but only Samoan phrases kept coming to mind. 

Cool miracle: On Tuesday our plans fell through and we prayed to know where to go. We saw the name of a member whose current status is unknown. We went to the house, found out he had moved. We met Enrique and talked with him. He was nice, but not really interested. But then he was like:

Oh, actually, my son might be interested. He has been thinking a lot about this kind of stuff lately.

Enrique said we could come back and meet his son, Andrew, later. I know that the Lord is preparing people to learn about His gospel!

Trust the Lord! He trusts you!

Love,

Elder Judd

pictures:

Palm Desert zone

Elder Fife and me

"if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted?"

My family,

These are some of the happiest days of my life. 

I forgot to write about this last week, but last Saturday Lea was baptized back in Rialto. In our mission, we have permission to go to baptismal services of people we were privileged to teach. We just have to find a member ride and arrange for another member to stay and work with our companion. But, Rialto is about 1.5 hours away, which meant it was going to be about 5-6 hour trip, total. I really wanted to be there, but after praying about it all, I felt I should continue working in Indio. Hopefully soon I will be able to write a letter to Lea and Jordan congratulating them.

I don't know if I have already mentioned this, but we did service a while ago for an older lady, Pat, who hasn't been to church in years and didn't want any contact from the church. Her daughter, Barbara, who is very active in the gospel and the church, just moved in and had asked help moving things. We believe the experience softened her heart. 

Pat and Barbara had us for dinner this week and we brought another brother from the ward, who was great company for them. Barbara talks about her mission in Canada when Elder Ballard was her mission president. She is amazing. She listens to Preach My Gospel on audio every day (which I didn't even know existed). She is awesome. 

On Friday there was a ward dessert social. We were asked to be the judges of the desserts. They had a get-to-know-the-members jeopardy game. It was a fun time.

This morning we went to seminary. One of the teachers asked for our help in teaching about the Holy Ghost and missionary work. The youth of the church are awesome. It made me think about Andrew, because I was in the Junior's class. 

Cool story: we were out trying to meet a less active family. They had moved, but the current resident referred us to a family she thought was Mormon. We pulled up to the house and before we even got out of the truck this man came up to Elder Fife's window, slapped his hands on the door, and said: 

Which cult are you from?

He told him that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The man, Dave, said that he knew our church well. Dave went on to share claims and research and attacks about how our beliefs were false. We shared our testimony of how the boy Joseph Smith had seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and how we knew that the Book of Mormon and all these things are true by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Dave brought up more claims against our faith and asked to see our bible. While he searched for a scripture that he knew would prove us wrong, we talked with him, and listened. We learned that Dave had a sincere desire to believe in the Savior. He eventually stopped bringing up claims, we shook hands and went on our way. and the Spirit was there. I felt love for Dave. And although I felt nervous at first when he approached us, I prayed for help, and I felt help come.

God is our Father! Jesus is the Savior! This work is true! 

Elder Judd

picture: driving with Elder Fife

"could we have supposed when we started ... that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?"

Malo le soifua!

It is transfer week. And I am leaving Samoa. And I am going to the desert.

I can't express everything that is on my mind and in my heart. These people have a home in my heart. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and the experiences He has given me.

I will be going to the Shadow Hills ward, and I think it is in Indio. But I don't know for sure, and I don't know how to spell my new companion's name because I learned it over the phone. Elder Faif. I hope this is the way it's spelled because "Faife'au tala'i" means "missionary". Elder Holcomb is leaving too, and both Samoan wards will now be covered by a pair of Sisters. 

Anyway, this week was great. Many, many miracles.

We started teaching Emo and Su. They just moved in from Alaska and they are living with Emo's aunt and uncle, who are members. We actually met Emo on her 21st birthday, so we brought her cookies the next day. Su is Emo's boyfriend. They are awesome and came to church on Sunday.

Also, a long time ago we met a guy named Joe (We've taught a lot of Joe's). This is Joe P. He has daughters that live in McKinney. Joe said we could come back, and we did, and tried many times, but could never catch him. We ended up meeting his wife, his neice, and his son over time, but they all said to come back later. But we finally caught Joe again this week. He is an older man. He invited us in and we mostly tried to get to know Joe. We learned that his wife passed away 3 months ago. He misses her very much. He loves his family and the Lord. We invited him to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and set a return appointment. Really, it was a small experience. But I am so excited for Joe because I know the Book of Mormon can change his life. 

We also met with Lea and Jordan again. Lea insists that she be baptized in our ward, and then she will attend the English ward in Redlands. She is awesome. She quit drinking coffee before we even taught that God has commanded us not to drink coffee.

We also brought a young man named Keli out with us to teach Lea and Jordan and he spoke sincerely about how keeping the Sabbath Day Holy has blessed his family. He said this and I could feel it was true: 

God will bless the other six days when we keep His day holy.

On Saturday there was the monthly Samoa temple day, where the Temple service is offered in Samoan. Like always, we met up with the ward at the Temple after they had finished serving in the temple and they went out with us to visit people. I love these people.

I am really excited to serve in the Shadow Hills ward. I am excited for the future. I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ!

Faith is always pointed toward the future!

Alofa atu,

Elder Judd

pictures: 

a bunch of people that I love. more description later.

Matapula family

Sai and Amy and their boys

"they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ"

Hey Family,

Every Wednesday night we have a ward missionary work night, and this week I went to see Uilisone. Uilisone is one of my favorite people. In the past, he would occasionally answer, only to speak to us through the screen door. but his heart has softened, and we were able to come inside and share a message. We talked about prayer. we asked him if he believed God listened to his prayers.

I was surprised by how sincerely he responded. He spoke about how he's prayed for his family to be provided for, and how he's relied on prayer when his family has struggled--like when he has had children pass away, or when he cannot find work. He does believe God is mindful of him.

Lea and Jordan are doing awesome. They live in Redlands, so we usually help them to find a ride for church. But right before church on Sunday,  Lea called us and told us that they were going to bike to a Redlands ward. As soon as we finished talking with her, we contacted the Assistants to the President to contact the missionaries in that ward so those missionaries would be looking for Lea and Jordan. We also prayed that they would have a good experience and that the members in Redlands would warmly welcome them and notice them. 

After church, we got a surprise call from the missionaries in Redlands. Lea and Jordan had an awesome experience. Many members noticed Lea and Jordan and smiled and greeted them. one family even invited them for dinner that day. They also had a great discussion in Sunday school.

They will probably begin meeting with the Redlands missionaries this week. It is awesome because we have been praying for a way to get them in contact with the ward out there. they will benefit so much more from a ward that speaks their language. Last week after church, Lea told us she needed Rosetta Stone. They are funny.

During Sacrament meeting yesterday, a family that I love sang a children's hymn. It was a mother and her 3 grown sons and some little cousins. The father of this family passed away years ago. The words of the song are simple and true, and I could feel it clearly as they sang.

For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I've learned this truth:
A family is forever.

I love you, family!

Elder Judd

Me and Elder Thompson, a really funny missionary that was in my zone last transfer.

Pictures from the doctor trip in the Desert.

Did you know the original Cozy Cone is in my area? The Wigwam Motel.