"Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him"

Dear Family,

This has been a great week. This will be a short letter.

Transfers are this Wednesday. Elder Raff is leaving to the desert. We're sad because we had a lot of fun serving together. Elder Raff is an incredible missionary. But this is going to be another excellent transfer. My new companion will be Elder Gunter.

On Tuesday we saw Job again. We seriously love to teach him. We pray that our simpleness and the plainness of the Book of Mormon touch his heart. He has so much faith.

Thursday was my birthday. It was excellent. Stan's girlfriend's stepfather took us out to lunch at Del Taco and gave me a brand-new KJV Bible Concordance. I won't be able to use it until I'm home, but I love it. Some of our favorite members took us to Macaroni Grill for dinner. 

We also had an excellent lesson with a man I'll call Dylan. He's been taught everything multiple times in the past, but we started teaching him a couple weeks ago. We felt to start reading the Book of Mormon with him from the beginning. We feel changes are happening in his heart, because he was more engaged and asked good questions about the Book of Mormon--like:

Who are the Nephites?

What time period is the Book of Mormon?

What's the difference between the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses?

On Saturday we helped with the local Mormon Helping Hands service project. We helped replace old wood with new wood in bleachers at some baseball fields. 

Then, I had the privilege to head back to 29 Palms to see the baptism of a good friend of mine. They had a great musical number and the baptismal service was very well put together.

I have a mix of emotions about beginning the final transfer of my mission. The most prominent feeling is a desire to serve the Lord with ALL my heart, might, mind, and strength. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I love this work. It's all true.

Love,

Elder Judd

Cookies & Cream ice cream from Elder Teichert and Elder Hall at the end of the day, after they heard me say in the morning that I had dreamed the night before that I had eaten cookies n' cream ice cream and woken up to realize it was just a dream.

Me and a great young man in the ward

Elder Seright, our friend, and me

"I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear."

Dear family, 

Many great things happened this week, as usual! The Lord led us to more great, new people. There are so many people in the world who need the gospel.

On Thursday we had zone conferences in Palm Springs. We learned a lot about the great blessings we can promise to people when we invite them to act in faith.

Right after the conference we had to stop at a gas station in Desert Hot Springs. While we were there we saw a man sitting near the entrance to the gas station parking lot, and we had a strong impression to go talk to him. I honestly had no idea what we were going to say, but we felt that God would help us. 

He was young, bearded, and shoe-less, with holes in the toes of his socks. we talked with him and learned that he had recently lost all that he had through a crooked business deal which led to depression and addiction. He said that he doesn't really know what to do with his life anymore. 

We testified of God's infinite love and of His plan of happiness.  He had no way to be contacted again, but we left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation. He said that he felt this might be what he needs to get himself out of the hole that he's in. 

I felt a great love for him and for God as we left. Missionary work is so fun! there is no greater joy!

We also started teaching a guy I'll call Greg. Elder Duffin and I contacted Greg on one of our very first days in 29 Palms. He said we could come back, and so we have attempted to catch him again for the past several months, whenever we were in the area. We honestly didn't think much would come of Greg, because he didn't show too many signs of interest. WELL, last week we stopped by and invited him to our friend's baptism. Little did we know Greg's niece was baptized a few years ago! And her mom is Greg's sister! And she is best friends with a member family that we love! And that great family has been trying to help that whole family receive the gospel for forever! And we had no idea.

But Heavenly Father did.

So we started teaching Greg and he is excellent. And he quietly told us:

I feel like there's something here for me.

There is something here for Greg. There is something here for all of us. 

The gospel is true!

I love you very much,

Elder Judd

"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

"we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually"

Dear family,

It's the beginning of a new transfer today, and I'm staying in 29 Palms! But, Elder Duffin will be leaving. We're sad about that. I really enjoyed the time I had to serve with him. But I'm excited for the future. I'll be training a new missionary again and I'll meet him this Wednesday.

On Saturday, we went to the baptism of a woman that the other Elders have been teaching. It was a great baptismal service, and we had worked hard to encourage everyone to come. And several of our friends came! Jim and Rory and a woman I'll call Kate. Jim really enjoyed it and told us he felt something strong during the baptism ordinance. He also said:  Whoa! That was quick! (referring to the ordinance itself)  And He told us that he's excited for his baptism in about a month.

Rory is doing really well too. We taught him on Wednesday about the Plan of Salvation, but really it was more of a review. He understand the doctrine so well, it's really fun to teach him. But here's a miracle: Early in the lesson, I felt the nudge of a small voice inside me to share Alma 32:27-28. We hadn't planned on sharing that at all, but we only made it to about the 2nd line of verse 28 when Rory stopped us, saying:

No way, I know this. My lady friend was reading this to me [over Skype] last night.

He went on to explain the rest of the chapter in his own words and said how he felt he knew he needed to be looking more through a lens of faith more than logic. 

We also taught Jim about tithing and he fed us Fish and chips.

Many more miracles happened, but I don't have time for them all.

Love,

Elder Judd

"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

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."

Merry Christmas, family!

It's been a good week. And we're going to the temple tomorrow so our preparation day is shorter today, so this will be a shorter letter.

We're teaching a man named John, whose wife is a member. he is awesome. He has been meeting with missionaries on and off for about 2 years. he understands everything well, and he believes it. But he has several things he still wants to do before making such a sacred covenant with God in baptism. And as we taught about prayer this week he told us that he doesn't think he's ever felt the Holy Ghost before and he doesn't feel like someone is listening to his prayers. But I know that his prayers are heard and answered!

We also helped organize care packages for the homeless at a church of another faith this week. It was fun!

We taught Ti and her boyfriend Neil this week for the first time. They are so great. Neil loved having us over and told us that he felt really good with us there. We're excited to teach them more.

The branch had a christmas party on friday and Neil and Ti came! Lots of food. 

Christmas is this week! We will be caroling and offering to share the Christmas story in Luke to everyone! Every should watch He is the Gift! watch and watch again and share and share again!

The branch President had asked me to read the christmas story from the bible in Samoan for the christmas program yesterday. I was nervous because there were lots of big samoan words. But I practiced and prayed and really felt heavenly father help me to do my best.

I love you all!

Elder Judd

"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

"then cometh the time that ... he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still"

Talofa family,

On Friday, Elder Urry came to the Samoan wards with me for an exchange. I've always wanted to work with Elder Urry because people have mixed our names up several times and we've been told we look alike. He is a really solid teacher and a great missionary. It was an awesome day.

We taught Lea that night. I don't think I've written about Lea. But she is so solid. a family that I love invited her to meet with us. She had her son, Jordan, commit to be baptized in our first lesson with them. They are preparing to be baptized in September. But we taught them about Faith and Repentance. Lea understands doctrine so well. She always asks thoughtful questions and she has so much to desire to live right. 

On Thursday we had Zone conference and it was awesome as always. President Van Cott had invited us to invite recent converts to the conference to share their testimonies and conversion stories.

We invited James, who was baptized last September. We weren't sure if we should invite him at first, because he isn't that fond of speaking to large groups of people. But something told us we should invite him. He accepted the invitation. Then at the conference as he spoke, I felt an assurance that Heavenly Father wanted James there. 

Then on Sunday, James bore his testimony in sacrament meeting! He spoke about how he has felt the Spirit guide him recently. He said that when we first invited him to the conference, he wanted to tell us that he was busy or something and couldn't make it to the conference, but a little feeling pulled him to accept the invitation. He told the congregation that we do not need to fear, but rather trust the Lord. 

These words from President Monson pressed on my mind: 

Doubt yielded to faith. 

When we have the faith to do what is right, and to do good, and to do what God wants, He helps us.

On Saturday Siniva and her sister, Paris, were baptized. Her dad and several other brothers from the ward sang a Samoan hymn at the baptism, and the Spirit was strong.

Also, our pianist wasn't able to make it to the service. So I played. And I prayed. hard. Because I am really rusty. But it went well. Heavenly Father helped a lot.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that Jesus Christ is alive today and leading the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. God is our Father and knows us by name. He loves us. 

I love you all! :)

Elder Judd

"cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God"

Talofa lava lo'u aiga!

On Monday we started teaching Alex and Brandon, the teenage sons of Ola and Maria. The whole family has been coming to church for several weeks. They are awesome. They have us for dinner every other Friday, and will have us over again for the 4th of July. 

Alex and Brandon are solid. After teaching them about prophets and the Savior and how Joseph Smith's prayer was answered, Alex said that he felt he and his family were like Joseph Smith. They have been going to many churches for many years. Now he wants to know which is the true church. He said:

I feel good knowing that I can pray to know for myself and get an answer.

Alex is older and makes sure they read the Book of Mormon together everyday. They are awesome! I wish I could explain all the awesome things they've said and done, but it's enough to say that their faith in the Savior is sincere.

Henrietta was baptized on Saturday! She was nervous but excited all week. Her family sang a musical number, and it was a great program. 

I was talking with a member this week and he told me about his own conversion story. He said that his baptism wasn't the point that he felt a change of heart. He had met with missionaries for several years and he remembered a night when he met with new Elders who were just placed in the ward. They asked him why he hadn't been baptized throughout the long time he had met with the missionaries. He had never been asked that question. he realized it was because he had never prayed to know that it's true. He was invited to pray right then. the invitation propelled truth into his heart, the Spirit worked in him, and before even beginning the prayer, he looked up and said he wanted to be baptized. he's one of my favorite people.

It amazes me to see how the Lord prepares people to receive His gospel. He knows us by name! He knows our heart!

We were referred to a woman named Koleka a few weeks ago. When we met her, she didn't have time to meet, but we were able to give her a Samoan copy of Book of Mormon at her doorstep and invite her to read. We met with her this week and learned she is only here for a few months. She has frequent treatments at the hospital and is lonely because she has little company and speaks little English.

To our surprise, she started reading the Book of Mormon! She told us that normally, back home, she probably wouldn't make the effort to read it. But with her current situation, she reads during her treatments and also during the day with all the time she has. She enjoys our company, especially in being able to speak in her own language. And she likes what she reads. 

I do not believe she is where she is by chance. Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives.

The Spirit taught me that this is true as two faithful sisters from one of our wards sang a duet in our Stake Conference this weekend. The Savior said:

My sheep hear my voice,

And I know them,

And they follow me.

Alofa atu,

Elder Judd

Pictures:

The Julander family.

Henrietta at her baptism.