"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

"they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his"

Hey family!

I love the Shadow Hills ward! These people are so great. The desert is warm, and there is a lot of sun and sand. Indio is awesome. There are many gated communities with nice homes. Everybody has beautiful homes. We also cover a small Indian Reservation in the corner of our area. Also, we drive a truck.

My new companion, Elder Fife, is awesome. He is near the end of his mission, but he has only been in the Redlands mission for a few months because he was one of the missionaries who was taken out of Ukraine because of the danger there. So, he speaks fluent Russian. 

Shadow Hills is a new ward, just made 2 months ago. Our Bishop is incredible. the members are excited to do work and reach out to friends. I am just excited and grateful to be here. This week we have been working to get to know the members because we're both new to the area. 

I have already seen miracles.

On Friday, we met Sam. He was baptized in Kentucky years ago, but lost contact with the church. He lives part time out here, part time out there. He started meeting with missionaries again a few months ago, but he just recently told them that he was already a member. He was afraid that missionaries wouldn't meet with him if they knew that. He's a funny guy. He is solid, and we'll be meeting with him more this week.

Saturday morning during personal study I had a feeling to study about Family History. I didn't know why. But I followed the impression. 

Then in the afternoon, we met Israel and Inri, while they were sitting in their garage. They are brothers, and they're neighbors of a member family that wasn't home. They were funny and gave us water. While talking with them, we learned they are from Mexico. I told them my grandparents were from Mexico too, and Israel said that the 2 places were very close. The Spirit reminded me about the things I studied about that morning. We talked about Family History. Inri looked at me funny and was like:

Do you think we are primos?

Not remembering what 'primos' meant, I thought for a second that I had somehow offended them. It was funny. They said we could come back to share more. 

That's all I have time for. I know that my Redeemer lives!

Love,

Elder Judd