"do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy"

Dear family,

Many miracles this week. I love serving with Elder Gunter. He has such great optimism and faith and testimony.

On Thursday a member brought us to Five Guys for dinner. Just as we left and were heading to the parking lot, a young man came out after us and stopped us. His family had been eating at a nearby table. He asked:

Are you Mormons?

Yes. 

Who do Mormons believe Jesus Christ to be?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Is Jesus God?

He is God the Son.

Is Jesus the same being as the Father?

God the Father and Jesus Christ are 2 separate beings.

Then, without hesitation, Elder Gunter told them (the boy and his family) Joseph Smith's experience of seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I felt the power of the Holy Ghost as he spoke and as I added my testimony. The boy asked other questions too. The thoughtfulness of his questions impressed me. He and his family wanted to learn more. It was an unexpected miracle.

Other great things happened too, but that's all I have time for. 

I love you all!

Elder Judd

"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

"he hath heard my cry"

My family,

GREAT things are happening here. Here's a few:

We had dinner with an awesome family on Wednesday. One of the sons, Derek, just got home from his mission last week. He invited his friend, Jose, to church and the dinner. Jose is awesome. We talked and found out his family is from the same place in Mexico where my family came from. We talked about family history and I am convinced that we have to be cousins. 

On Thursday night, we had an appointment with a family that used to meet with the missionaries. We went, but nobody was home. we started to drive away and drove a few streets away. But then we felt to park, make some phone calls, and then knock again at the family. We followed the feeling. When we knocked again, the family was there. they had just returned from a school activity. They were super nice and want to meet with us again. I know that the Holy Ghost is real.

We did service for an older lady who didn't want anything to do with the church. It softened her heart, and now she's going to feed us for dinner this month.

I know that our Father in Heaven loves us! I know that Jesus lives!

Love,

Elder Judd

"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

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good"

Talofa lava family!

This was a great week. We saw a lot of miracles this week. 

First off, there's this guy named Joe. Some people call him "Big Joe." He's big and Caucasian and just a really nice man. He is married to a Samoan woman. He has had a lot of connections with Mormons throughout his life, and he always talks about how much respect he has for missionaries.

Well, we started teaching the gospel to Joe a few weeks ago, and on Wednesday we had another lesson with him. He had read the pamphlet we had given him, which is about the Plan of Happiness.

There was just a change in Joe. He was really excited to talk about what he read and kept asking us questions like:

Are you guys making this up? Or is this just something you share as like a sales pitch to bring people in to the church? 

He told us he thought the plan was too good to be true. He said:

When I read this, it made sense. It gave me hope--that even a guy like me has purpose or can do great things. Like I am somebody.

He went on to explain things like the Fall and the Atonement and Judgement just made sense to him. He said he felt like he had a new light. And he said he wished someone had shared this with him many years ago.

I can't put the whole visit into words, but it was one of the happiest moments of my mission. The Holy Ghost touched Joe's heart. I know the Holy Ghost is real.

We also saw this guys name Charles. we met Charles a few weeks ago. He is the son of a referral we were given. We have been over to his house a few times to try and get in contact with Charles' dad, but we just keep running into Charles. He has told us he doesn't believe in God or prayer. But we were able to convince to try out a chapter of the Book of Mormon. And we're scheduled to see him this week to see how he liked Alma 32.

In other news, Henrietta will be baptized this Saturday! We're so excited because we love Henrietta and her whole family. it will be a great week.

Family, I am really grateful for you. and I know Heavenly Father is there. And I know that He appeared with the Savior and spoke to Joseph Smith. And I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet. And there is so much power that can come into our lives if we read the Book of Mormon. It's all true.

Alofa atu! :)

Elder Judd