Hello to the best family ever!!!! I am glad everyone is doing well. I don't know when you guys will read this because half of you are in Nauvoo right now but i just want you guys to know how much i love this gospel. It truly does bless familes. You guys are such an example to me and i hope that everyone realizes how much of a blessing the gospel is.
Well this week was a pretty good week. The baptism went through as planned and it was a great service. Wow the spirit was so strong there. Both companionships baptized and it was so great to see how happy everyone was. With Jenny, her husband baptized her. It was so great. He was so excited to baptize his wife. It was funny because in the very first lesson we taught her he just like totally rebuked her and told her that he wants a temple marriage and nothing else. But it was such a good day. I love seeing people change their lives and how much happiness the gospel brings. It is amazing.
Well this week was Zone Conference as well. Wow!!!! President Moffat is so good. I can't imagine having a better mission president. He is so good at teaching us and you can really tell how much he loves doing what he does. The zone conference was on Chapter 2 of Preach My Gospel which is on Effective Study. It was so good. How zone conference works is at the first of it President Moffat usually talks about what he thinks the mission needs help with. He gives us things that we need to be more obedient on and that is the time when he really cracks down on things. Then he lets us know our numbers as a mission and how we are doing. Then usually the Assistants take over for a while and talk about the Action Points. Those are three things they give us to help us become more effective missionaries. They really do help us so much if we really work on them. It's amazing. Then usually after that we break up into our zones, because we have 3 zones that meet all at once, and the zone leaders talk about how we can apply the topic of zone conference in our everyday missionary work. After that we have lunch and then after lunch we usually have two talks that are given and they just randomly call on people so you have to be ready but then after that President Moffat gives a talk. It is amazing how he does it. He totally just broke down 3rd Nephi 11 and talked about how our duty as missionaries is to baptize and how the first thing Jesus Christ talked about when he visited the America's is teach about baptism. It was so good. I love zone conference. I always look forward to it. I love President Moffat so much. I am sad that i only get to have him for another year. He is going to be an apostle one day.
We are hoping to pick up three new baptismal dates this week. It should be a good week. I love this work.
I love you guys so much. I hope everything went well in Nauvoo and that you guys felt the spirit. This gospel blesses lives and our job is to help people realize that. I love this gospel with all my heart. There is nothing that i would rather be doing than being a missionary. It is going by too fast. I love it though and i love you guys. Thank you for all your support.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Letter - June 17, 2008
Hello there!!!! I am glad everyone is doing well. I can't believe i missed the U.S. Open!! I was getting excited just reading about it. I almost jumped out of my chair at the library. Tiger is so good. All he was doin was playin around with rocco. He knew all along he was going to win he just wanted to make it interesting. But we aren't golfing this week which makes me kinda sad but hopefully we will soon.
This saturday we have Jenny's baptism. I am so excited. She is so great and it has been so fun teaching her. She knows the church is true and she will be such a good member of the church. She has no idea what she is getting herself into and the blessings that she will enjoy because of it but once she does realize it, o man is it gonna be good. I am so excited for her. She is into tennis and golf and she goes to Wimbeldon every year and so we talk about that alot and so it has been so much fun teaching her. I can't wait for saturday and all the blessings she will get for becoming a member of this church.
Myra dropped us this week. We went to her house and we talked to her and she said it just wasn't for her. She read the book of mormon and prayed about it but she felt like she didn't get an answer. Me and Elder Brower tried to explain it to her and get her to try and feel the spirit and recognize it but we just couldn't get through to her. It was a little disappointing because she was really interested and i think her family just had to much power over her.
Earlier this week i had the chance to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. It was so great to go with them and learn from them. I learned so much from them and i had a great time. I went with Elder Christie. He is from scotland and he is an awesome missionary. I learned so many things and i picked up on some things that he did in teaching situations and i am trying to apply them into my efforts as a missionary. It was funny, when i was with him we went and knocked on this door. This black guy opened it and started yelling at us and telling us that we were a cult and he was asking what the latter day saints part of the title of our church was all about. He was a born again christian and we tried to explain those things to him and tried to talk to him but he was too busy yelling at us so we just kinda sat there and Elder Christie said a few things that made him more upset and then we just left. It was crazy. People are so blind sometimes. They don't realize how much of a blessing the church is in their life and they don't realize what it brings into your life as well as your family. But other than that this week wasn't really that exciting. We are working hard and trying to find people who need the gospel in their life. This work is the best work anyone could ever do. I wouldn't change it for the world. I love the blessing of missionary work. Most people think that being a missionary means you get a call letter signed by the prophet telling you to go somewhere in the world for two years. WRONG. Missionary work is a lifelong commitment. As long as we are on this earth we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have gained such a strong testimony of that while i have been out here. Do everything you can to help the missionaries back home. You guys do a great job and so keep it up. I love you guys.
Well we have zone conference this week and i cant wait for it. President Moffat is so good and i learn so much from him. I love him so much.
Elder Grover is driving all of us nuts. He is out of control and he is so annoying sometimes. All he does is walk around and follow us and he follows me most of the time. He honestly never shuts up. It really is testing our patience. He can't stand still and he can't go a sentence without saying the word fetch at least 2 or 3 times. It's pretty similar to the best two years. Except worse. But we are all trying to get along with him and even though he is annoying we still have fun and we still laugh about alot of things.
I love all you guys so much. This church is so true. I know it without a doubt in my mind. Everything just makes sense to me and i love sharing it with people. There are so many blessings that come from being a missionary that i can't even see and i love serving the Lord. The gospel truly does bless lives and there is no greater joy then seeing people change their lives and turn their lives more towards Jesus Christ. I love this gospel with all my heart. I can't wait for Nate Morgan to get here. He will have such a blast and he will love President Moffat. Tell him i love him and i will be waiting for him. The gospel of Jesus Christ really is the only true gospel on the earth today. I love it so much and i love all of you guys so much. I really do. You guys truly are the best.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
This saturday we have Jenny's baptism. I am so excited. She is so great and it has been so fun teaching her. She knows the church is true and she will be such a good member of the church. She has no idea what she is getting herself into and the blessings that she will enjoy because of it but once she does realize it, o man is it gonna be good. I am so excited for her. She is into tennis and golf and she goes to Wimbeldon every year and so we talk about that alot and so it has been so much fun teaching her. I can't wait for saturday and all the blessings she will get for becoming a member of this church.
Myra dropped us this week. We went to her house and we talked to her and she said it just wasn't for her. She read the book of mormon and prayed about it but she felt like she didn't get an answer. Me and Elder Brower tried to explain it to her and get her to try and feel the spirit and recognize it but we just couldn't get through to her. It was a little disappointing because she was really interested and i think her family just had to much power over her.
Earlier this week i had the chance to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. It was so great to go with them and learn from them. I learned so much from them and i had a great time. I went with Elder Christie. He is from scotland and he is an awesome missionary. I learned so many things and i picked up on some things that he did in teaching situations and i am trying to apply them into my efforts as a missionary. It was funny, when i was with him we went and knocked on this door. This black guy opened it and started yelling at us and telling us that we were a cult and he was asking what the latter day saints part of the title of our church was all about. He was a born again christian and we tried to explain those things to him and tried to talk to him but he was too busy yelling at us so we just kinda sat there and Elder Christie said a few things that made him more upset and then we just left. It was crazy. People are so blind sometimes. They don't realize how much of a blessing the church is in their life and they don't realize what it brings into your life as well as your family. But other than that this week wasn't really that exciting. We are working hard and trying to find people who need the gospel in their life. This work is the best work anyone could ever do. I wouldn't change it for the world. I love the blessing of missionary work. Most people think that being a missionary means you get a call letter signed by the prophet telling you to go somewhere in the world for two years. WRONG. Missionary work is a lifelong commitment. As long as we are on this earth we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have gained such a strong testimony of that while i have been out here. Do everything you can to help the missionaries back home. You guys do a great job and so keep it up. I love you guys.
Well we have zone conference this week and i cant wait for it. President Moffat is so good and i learn so much from him. I love him so much.
Elder Grover is driving all of us nuts. He is out of control and he is so annoying sometimes. All he does is walk around and follow us and he follows me most of the time. He honestly never shuts up. It really is testing our patience. He can't stand still and he can't go a sentence without saying the word fetch at least 2 or 3 times. It's pretty similar to the best two years. Except worse. But we are all trying to get along with him and even though he is annoying we still have fun and we still laugh about alot of things.
I love all you guys so much. This church is so true. I know it without a doubt in my mind. Everything just makes sense to me and i love sharing it with people. There are so many blessings that come from being a missionary that i can't even see and i love serving the Lord. The gospel truly does bless lives and there is no greater joy then seeing people change their lives and turn their lives more towards Jesus Christ. I love this gospel with all my heart. I can't wait for Nate Morgan to get here. He will have such a blast and he will love President Moffat. Tell him i love him and i will be waiting for him. The gospel of Jesus Christ really is the only true gospel on the earth today. I love it so much and i love all of you guys so much. I really do. You guys truly are the best.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Letter - June 10, 2008
Hello Family!!! Thanks for all the emails this week. They were great. I love hearing from everyone. You guys really are the best family in the world. I have grown to have such a greater appreciation for family since i have been out here. You really don't realize how much your family really does mean to you until you are really away from them for a long time.
Well today has been great so far. We went golfing this morning. 9 holes!! It was so great. It reminded me of back home. I shot a 43 so i was pretty happy about it. I had to use the rented clubs from the pro shop so they were hard to get used to. But i still loved it. I don't know if i ever told you but we are in a 4 man flat so all of us went golfing. I shot a 43, Elder Brower shot a 48, Elder Svendsen (from Norway) shot a 55, and Elder Grover (from Washington) shot a 69. It was pretty fun and Elder Grover said i was too serious during golf. I laughed and said that i was nowhere close to as serious as i am when i am home. It was pretty funny. But yeah we had Elder Quenzer in our flat but he finished his mission last week so he went home. He is from Idaho and he is a great guy. I really miss him. But we now have Elder Grover and he is a pain in the butt. He doesn't do his dishes, he doesn't clean up after himself at all, and he just doesn't seem to care. It is pretty frustrating. (Sorry mom you probably felt like that when i was home). But i think i am always stuck doing the dishes because he puts them in the sink and doesn't wash them and then they just keep piling up. But o well enough about that.
Well this week we have been doing alot of tracting. It has been pretty good weather and hasn't rained for a few days. I don't think it has rained for almost a week now. It is great. But we are still also teaching Jenny. The members wife. She is amazing. She has no concerns at all and i love teaching her. She knows the church is true and i dont think she can wait any longer to be baptized. I am so excited for her. She will be so much happier when she is baptized on the 21st. That is in a week and a half! Our last baptism seemed like it was yesterday. Time flies out here. The weeks seem like days. It is incredible. But other than Jenny we started teaching this lady named Myra. We tracted into her and she is pretty good. We taught her the plan of salvation yesterday and it was a really good lesson. You could feel the spirit and she was really interested in all of it. She told us that we really opened up her mind on things and that she is interested in learning more. Hopefully she will continue and she will be baptized.
One side note. We went to a members house this week for dinner and they are from the states and they cooked us steaks. Man were they good. They were so good and they were huge. I loved it. I was in heaven. But yes mom i am still eating a lot of peanut butter. My diet is pretty much peanut butter sandwiches, noodles, cereal with yogurt, and then macaroni and cheese that the american family gave me. That really is about all i eat.
But you asked about Elder Brower. He is a great companion. I love him so much and i know that we will be friends for our whole lives. I learn so much from him and he is just a great friend. We are both learning the mission together because he hasnt been out that long. He was just made a district leader so i am learning not only about the mission but also about being a leader as well. It is a great experience and i love him alot. But we are working hard. People think we are twins or brothers. Sometimes we tell them we are and we also tell them we are from canada when they say i don't want to listen to you ''bloody'' americans. Its pretty funny. We have a lot of fun together.
Well everything is good here in england. I love the mission and i love serving the lord. The gospel brings so much happiness into our lives and i love sharing it with people. I am continuing to work hard. I love serving the lord. There really is no greater work. It goes by so fast. I love you so much and i pray for you every day. Go celtics. I better hear about them winning the whole thing. I have been saying all year they are going to so they better. Also who went first in the nfl draft. Update me on that. Well i love you guys and i cant wait to hear from you next week. Tell cameron happy birthday for me and that i love him so much and miss him. I wrote him a letter so i hope he gets it. I love you guys and the church is true. It is so true. I love you!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well today has been great so far. We went golfing this morning. 9 holes!! It was so great. It reminded me of back home. I shot a 43 so i was pretty happy about it. I had to use the rented clubs from the pro shop so they were hard to get used to. But i still loved it. I don't know if i ever told you but we are in a 4 man flat so all of us went golfing. I shot a 43, Elder Brower shot a 48, Elder Svendsen (from Norway) shot a 55, and Elder Grover (from Washington) shot a 69. It was pretty fun and Elder Grover said i was too serious during golf. I laughed and said that i was nowhere close to as serious as i am when i am home. It was pretty funny. But yeah we had Elder Quenzer in our flat but he finished his mission last week so he went home. He is from Idaho and he is a great guy. I really miss him. But we now have Elder Grover and he is a pain in the butt. He doesn't do his dishes, he doesn't clean up after himself at all, and he just doesn't seem to care. It is pretty frustrating. (Sorry mom you probably felt like that when i was home). But i think i am always stuck doing the dishes because he puts them in the sink and doesn't wash them and then they just keep piling up. But o well enough about that.
Well this week we have been doing alot of tracting. It has been pretty good weather and hasn't rained for a few days. I don't think it has rained for almost a week now. It is great. But we are still also teaching Jenny. The members wife. She is amazing. She has no concerns at all and i love teaching her. She knows the church is true and i dont think she can wait any longer to be baptized. I am so excited for her. She will be so much happier when she is baptized on the 21st. That is in a week and a half! Our last baptism seemed like it was yesterday. Time flies out here. The weeks seem like days. It is incredible. But other than Jenny we started teaching this lady named Myra. We tracted into her and she is pretty good. We taught her the plan of salvation yesterday and it was a really good lesson. You could feel the spirit and she was really interested in all of it. She told us that we really opened up her mind on things and that she is interested in learning more. Hopefully she will continue and she will be baptized.
One side note. We went to a members house this week for dinner and they are from the states and they cooked us steaks. Man were they good. They were so good and they were huge. I loved it. I was in heaven. But yes mom i am still eating a lot of peanut butter. My diet is pretty much peanut butter sandwiches, noodles, cereal with yogurt, and then macaroni and cheese that the american family gave me. That really is about all i eat.
But you asked about Elder Brower. He is a great companion. I love him so much and i know that we will be friends for our whole lives. I learn so much from him and he is just a great friend. We are both learning the mission together because he hasnt been out that long. He was just made a district leader so i am learning not only about the mission but also about being a leader as well. It is a great experience and i love him alot. But we are working hard. People think we are twins or brothers. Sometimes we tell them we are and we also tell them we are from canada when they say i don't want to listen to you ''bloody'' americans. Its pretty funny. We have a lot of fun together.
Well everything is good here in england. I love the mission and i love serving the lord. The gospel brings so much happiness into our lives and i love sharing it with people. I am continuing to work hard. I love serving the lord. There really is no greater work. It goes by so fast. I love you so much and i pray for you every day. Go celtics. I better hear about them winning the whole thing. I have been saying all year they are going to so they better. Also who went first in the nfl draft. Update me on that. Well i love you guys and i cant wait to hear from you next week. Tell cameron happy birthday for me and that i love him so much and miss him. I wrote him a letter so i hope he gets it. I love you guys and the church is true. It is so true. I love you!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Letter - June 4, 2008
Hello Family!!! I am glad everyone is doing well. This week was transfers so p-day is today which is wednesday. So dont think i forgot to email you. But the weather is horrible. I cannot believe that one country can rain so much. I think it is the Lord cursing the English because they are so hard hearted and everyone is depressed and they don't care about their lives. haha. But it really does rain every day. Yesterday was terrible. It started raining on monday night at about 8:30 and it didn't stop until last night at about 10:30. And i am not talking about a little rain. Like a little drizzle. I am talking a full on storm. Pouring rain!! Absolutely pouring!! I don't think i have ever seen so much rain in my entire life. It is incredible.
Well as for this week in the mission. Last week on p-day it was great. We went to the golf course that is by our flat, that we just found out about, and we just went on the driving range. It was awesome. I was so happy to actually golf again. They only gave us a 6 iron though so it was kind of dumb but i was hitting the ball so well. It felt like i haven't lost it yet so i was so happy about that. Hopefully one of these next p-days we will get out and be able to play 9 holes. I would be in heaven if we did.
Also i can't remember if i told you but we are teaching one of the members wives. We had been teaching her with him in the room but last week we taught her just by herself and she opened up so much and just talked with us. She read the book of mormon and prayed about it and got an answer. It was an amazing lesson and the spirit was really strong. We commited her to baptism and she is getting baptized on the 21 of june. I am really excited about it. She was scared to come to church on sunday because it was fast and testimony meeting and she thought that everyone had to get up and bear their testimony. We explained that it was 100 percent voluntary and that made her more comfortable. She came and then during the meeting we were just sitting there and all of the sudden she got up. She went up and bore her testimony and thanked us for teaching her. It was amazing. I was so happy. We have found a couple more people to teach but they are not really set in stone. We have to work hard to keep getting people to teach. We tract alot everyday. On monday we tracted for 6 hours and it was a really long day. The people open up their doors and before we even have a chance to share a message with them the door is closed again so it is really hard but we keep going and trying to find people. Thats about all we have done this week.
But i am glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Missionary work is the hardest thing i have ever done but it is the most rewarding thing anyone could ever do. I love it. I want all you guys as a family to study the book of mormon and to study preach my gospel. Study it and learn from it both individually and as a family. It really will bless your life. I love each and everyone of you so much and i love hearing from you. Keep living the gospel. Pray every day and study the scriptures every day. Write down things you learn. That is the most helpful thing in your study. You will be amazed at what you learn. I love this gospel and i love being a missionary. Be safe. I love all you guys and please keep me updated on everything that you do. I love you!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well as for this week in the mission. Last week on p-day it was great. We went to the golf course that is by our flat, that we just found out about, and we just went on the driving range. It was awesome. I was so happy to actually golf again. They only gave us a 6 iron though so it was kind of dumb but i was hitting the ball so well. It felt like i haven't lost it yet so i was so happy about that. Hopefully one of these next p-days we will get out and be able to play 9 holes. I would be in heaven if we did.
Also i can't remember if i told you but we are teaching one of the members wives. We had been teaching her with him in the room but last week we taught her just by herself and she opened up so much and just talked with us. She read the book of mormon and prayed about it and got an answer. It was an amazing lesson and the spirit was really strong. We commited her to baptism and she is getting baptized on the 21 of june. I am really excited about it. She was scared to come to church on sunday because it was fast and testimony meeting and she thought that everyone had to get up and bear their testimony. We explained that it was 100 percent voluntary and that made her more comfortable. She came and then during the meeting we were just sitting there and all of the sudden she got up. She went up and bore her testimony and thanked us for teaching her. It was amazing. I was so happy. We have found a couple more people to teach but they are not really set in stone. We have to work hard to keep getting people to teach. We tract alot everyday. On monday we tracted for 6 hours and it was a really long day. The people open up their doors and before we even have a chance to share a message with them the door is closed again so it is really hard but we keep going and trying to find people. Thats about all we have done this week.
But i am glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Missionary work is the hardest thing i have ever done but it is the most rewarding thing anyone could ever do. I love it. I want all you guys as a family to study the book of mormon and to study preach my gospel. Study it and learn from it both individually and as a family. It really will bless your life. I love each and everyone of you so much and i love hearing from you. Keep living the gospel. Pray every day and study the scriptures every day. Write down things you learn. That is the most helpful thing in your study. You will be amazed at what you learn. I love this gospel and i love being a missionary. Be safe. I love all you guys and please keep me updated on everything that you do. I love you!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
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