Hello there!!!! Thank you for the emails. They mean alot. I love hearing about everything that is going on. It makes me feel good to know that everyone is happy and safe. I love you all.
Well this week was a pretty good week. We had a baptism on Saturday. Her name was Jennifer Ferrell and she is 10 years old. She didn't get baptized when she was 8 but she comes to church every week and rarely ever misses. Since she was over the age of 9 she counted as a convert baptism. It was a great service. Also Trisha was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. President Moffat came teaching with us to her house and sorted the past concern out and now all she needed to do was give up smoking. She was doing great until yesterday. We call her at 7 in the morning every morning to make sure she doesn't smoke and then multiple times throughout the day. We talked to her at about 5 30 and then again at about 7 30 and when i talked to her at 7 30 she told me that she had smoked a couple hours ago. I was devestated. My heart just dropped and felt like it shattered into a million pieces. I told her that was not good and she said she knew. It really just broke my heart when she told me that she smoked. I honestly have not cared about an investigator as much as Trisha. She is a great lady. Me and Elder Wear both feel that way. We are going to teach her tonight with our new ward mission leader, (who reminds me exactly like Mark Hulet. It's scary. But he is exactly like him ), and we are just going to be bold with her and help her through it. It is so hard to see people not keep commitments that are so important. I want Trisha to be baptized so much because i know that it will bless her life so much. It will bless her family. I never thought that i could love people as much as i do out here. I really do care about all of our investigators. It is still hard to love everyone that i talk to because we meet some real winners and some real jerks but i pray for that help every time i pray. Also this week Rosemary, blanket lady, walked into church again. She is out of control. We didn't really understand what happened but we did not expect it at all. She walked in and then we asked her to be baptized on October 11th. She accepted and we stressed that it has to be different this time and that she needs to hold her appointments. Hopefully she will understand. We also found a guy named Lee and set a date with him on the 11th as well. Also BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!! WE FOUND ELVIS!!!!!!! HE IS STILL ALIVE!!!! DONT WORRY!!!!! THE KING IS BACK IN THE BUILDING!!!! Hahaha we found this guy yesterday who thinks that he is Elvis. He goes and does shows and immitates Elvis. He played a cd of him singing which was actually pretty good but he told us that one day he will make it big. He told us that he is the next best singer next to Elvis. It was pretty funny. I was laughing and also worried because this guy was nuts. That is our interesting story for yesterday. This week should be a good week. I am excited about General Conference but i'm not at the same time. That means that i only have 18 months left. Time absolutely flies out here. I remember Elder Nordquist told me that he had 9 months left when he got here and now he only has 3. It seems like yesterday that i was sitting in the MTC watching General Conference and watching our brand new prophet wiggle his ears. It is amazing how time goes.
WHAT IS UP WITH UTAH???? DISCIPLINE KYLE, DISCIPLINE. Why are we having so many penalties? I don't get it. You are right it is a good thing i am 10,000 miles away. Kyle would definately be hearing from me. That is great though that we are ranked again. I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i think that i have gotten everything you have sent me. I haven't gotten the package yet that you sent last week but im sure i will get it soon. I haven't sent that package home that i was going to a few weeks ago but i am today. Thats about it for this week. I am loving every minute of my service. I love it so much. Alma 29:9 sums it up. I love the gospel. It brings so much happiness into peoples lives. I think i took it for granted back home but i realize now more than ever how important it is. The gospel truly is the only way to true happiness. I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior and our redeemer. I love him more than ever. Joseph Smith truly is a prophet and he did look up and see through the trees Our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the Prophet Joseph. I know that Thomas S. Monson leads this church today. He is an inspired man. I love him. This gospel is so true and i love it with all my heart. I love all of you and i am so greatful for your love and support. You don't know how much it helps me and how much it means to me. I love you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. i cut my own hair and we don't have too many dinner appointments. I am still starving but you know that even if i eat i am still hungry. Send me some jif peanut butter. They have jars that say peanut butter over here but it ain't no peanut butter.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Letter - September 16, 2008
Hello how is everyone? I hope all is well there. It sounds like everyone is doing well and having fun. We just had our mission football (soccer) in coventry and it was pretty fun. We won two games and lost two. We should have won all of them but we just werent making our shots. It was a little disappointing but it was fun to be with all the missionaries. I scored a couple goals and people said i was one of the fastest kids there. I am going to be sore tomorrow though. I saw Elder Nordquist, Elder Landgren, and Elder Morgan. We got a picture together so you will get that sometime. So we have had a fun day.
Well this week was a good week. We had Zone Conference which was amazing and i learned so much from it. President Moffat is so inspired and i love learning from him. He puts things so simple and he truly cares about each and every missionary. The Zone Conference was on Chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel and i had to give a talk at it. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and finishing it before the end of the year. As we read it we are looking for all the references to the spirit. It is amazing to read the Book of Mormon. I love it with all of my heart. I know that it is true. I encourage all of you to read from the Book of Mormon daily. It makes your day so much better. Also during the week i think it was Friday, it absolutely poured. All day long it rained. It poured and poured and poured. Streets were flooding and it was not very good at all. I was so wet. I think it was the worst storm of my mission. We finally went back for dinner and i took everything out of my backpack and i took my scriptures out and they were absolutely drenched. They are not in working condition right now lets just say that. I would love it if you guys sent me a new set. I still have my small set so it will work but i pretty much need new scriptures ASAP!!!!! I don't care what color or style but i would prefer the medium sized set. I just need new ones. Also that night we were going to talk to a lady that we had spoken to earlier but we got to the house and no one was there. As we were walking away a guy was walking by and saw us and went inside and got a Book of Mormon. We taught him and he was a little drunk but i shared Helaman 5:12 with him and told him that if he gets his life in order and in line with God that satan would have no power over him. As soon as i said that he started to get tears in his eyes and we set up a return appointment. It was just amazing to see how the spirit works. I love it so much. I love missionary work. It is the best thing that we could ever do. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Thank you for the sports update. I need to have a talk with Kyle and tell him that he better get his team disciplined or else nothing good will happen. What is up with all the stupid penalties this year? Well i still love the Utes and i cheer for them every saturday. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still haven't gotten a lot of mail so if anyone back in Utah loves me i would love to hear from them. I am happy that you are enjoying From Cumorahs Hill. I wish i could do it again. I loved doing it. Well that is it for this week. I am having a great time out here. I am so happy and i love every minute of every day. Missionary work is the greatest. I love all of you guys and i hope that this week is a good week for all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this week was a good week. We had Zone Conference which was amazing and i learned so much from it. President Moffat is so inspired and i love learning from him. He puts things so simple and he truly cares about each and every missionary. The Zone Conference was on Chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel and i had to give a talk at it. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and finishing it before the end of the year. As we read it we are looking for all the references to the spirit. It is amazing to read the Book of Mormon. I love it with all of my heart. I know that it is true. I encourage all of you to read from the Book of Mormon daily. It makes your day so much better. Also during the week i think it was Friday, it absolutely poured. All day long it rained. It poured and poured and poured. Streets were flooding and it was not very good at all. I was so wet. I think it was the worst storm of my mission. We finally went back for dinner and i took everything out of my backpack and i took my scriptures out and they were absolutely drenched. They are not in working condition right now lets just say that. I would love it if you guys sent me a new set. I still have my small set so it will work but i pretty much need new scriptures ASAP!!!!! I don't care what color or style but i would prefer the medium sized set. I just need new ones. Also that night we were going to talk to a lady that we had spoken to earlier but we got to the house and no one was there. As we were walking away a guy was walking by and saw us and went inside and got a Book of Mormon. We taught him and he was a little drunk but i shared Helaman 5:12 with him and told him that if he gets his life in order and in line with God that satan would have no power over him. As soon as i said that he started to get tears in his eyes and we set up a return appointment. It was just amazing to see how the spirit works. I love it so much. I love missionary work. It is the best thing that we could ever do. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Thank you for the sports update. I need to have a talk with Kyle and tell him that he better get his team disciplined or else nothing good will happen. What is up with all the stupid penalties this year? Well i still love the Utes and i cheer for them every saturday. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still haven't gotten a lot of mail so if anyone back in Utah loves me i would love to hear from them. I am happy that you are enjoying From Cumorahs Hill. I wish i could do it again. I loved doing it. Well that is it for this week. I am having a great time out here. I am so happy and i love every minute of every day. Missionary work is the greatest. I love all of you guys and i hope that this week is a good week for all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Letter - September 9, 2008
Hey family how is everyone? I was glad to hear from all of you this week. I don't have a lot of time on the computer today so this may not be very long so i apologize for that.
Well this week has been just an ordinary week. Not a whole lot of exciting things. We have Zone Conference on Thursday in Birmingham so i am excited about that. Trisha is making a lot of progress. She didn't come to church on sunday because her son didn't want to go and she doesn't like to leave him home alone so she didn't come but she is getting alot better and we are planning on setting a baptismal date with her again. I am confident all will go well. We still haven't made contact with Rosemary and it is pretty frustrating so we have decided not to go by her unless we are in the area or see her on the street. We will get her back though. We found a few more people yesterday that seem pretty good so this week is looking good. I am excited for it.
We worked with the Zone Leaders this week and it was really good because i learned a lot of new things. They helped us realize some things and we have really worked hard at doing the things that they asked us to do.
The computers here are messed up so hopefully we can get on to another computer and email. But we only got like 20 minutes so this one is really short. I love being a missionary. It has been a tough week and a real faith trying week but i know that the Lord will help us and we will see success. The greatest joys in my life so far have been on this mission. There is nothing greater. I love this gospel. I love all of you and i want to thank you for all of your support. It means a lot to me. I love you and i look forward to hearing from you again.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well this week has been just an ordinary week. Not a whole lot of exciting things. We have Zone Conference on Thursday in Birmingham so i am excited about that. Trisha is making a lot of progress. She didn't come to church on sunday because her son didn't want to go and she doesn't like to leave him home alone so she didn't come but she is getting alot better and we are planning on setting a baptismal date with her again. I am confident all will go well. We still haven't made contact with Rosemary and it is pretty frustrating so we have decided not to go by her unless we are in the area or see her on the street. We will get her back though. We found a few more people yesterday that seem pretty good so this week is looking good. I am excited for it.
We worked with the Zone Leaders this week and it was really good because i learned a lot of new things. They helped us realize some things and we have really worked hard at doing the things that they asked us to do.
The computers here are messed up so hopefully we can get on to another computer and email. But we only got like 20 minutes so this one is really short. I love being a missionary. It has been a tough week and a real faith trying week but i know that the Lord will help us and we will see success. The greatest joys in my life so far have been on this mission. There is nothing greater. I love this gospel. I love all of you and i want to thank you for all of your support. It means a lot to me. I love you and i look forward to hearing from you again.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Letter - September 2, 2008
Hey family how are you doing? It was good to hear from you again as always and it sounds like all of you are doing well. It always makes me feel better when i know that you guys are safe, healthy, and having fun.
Well first things first...We were tracting on Sunday and all of the sudden i look at my watch and it said the 31st and i was like wait its already August. Football probably started this weekend. Wow time flies. It seems like it just got over. Did Asiata start or did Mack? Did Mack play and if so how did he do? Did he pick up right where he left off from? Well anyways make sure that they don't fly over to Hawaii again to celebrate and leave the practice squad to play against UNLV. They better get fired up. Are we ranked at all? Was Michigan ranked? Well i love it!! GO UTES!!!!!!!! (I will have to tell President Moffat about that one. He is a HUGE Utah fan!!!) Keep me updated on all sports.
Well on Sunday we went and heard L. Tom Perry speak in Birmingham. It was awesome!! He is so powerful. When he was just speaking normally he was just like he is in General Conference. But wow when he bore testimony he raised his voice a little and the spirit just filled the room. It was so amazing to see and hear an apostle of the Lord bear testimony of the reality of the Gospel. He is on a tour of Europe and some of the missions as well. He brought Elder Rasband with him as well and so he spoke. It was a great meeting. I loved it so much. After the meeting i went up on the stand and shook hands with Elder Rasband and told him that he had come to stake conference a couple years ago. He asked me which stake and he said that is a great great stake and he said to tell dad hi. After that Elder Perry was making his way out of the chapel and i caught him and put my arm around him and said to him Elder Perry i enjoyed your talk. It was great. Then he said are you related to the "famous Rudd" and i said yes he is my Grandpa and he said wonderful. Then he had to leave. But it was amazing to talk to an Apostle and shake his hand. The spirit just glows off of him and he is one amazing man.
Well this week was full of interesting things. Trisha was supposed to be getting interviewed for baptism on Saturday so we went and taught her on friday and reviewed the questions with her. I asked her a question and a concern came up. It was not a good one. We had to call President Moffat about it and things just didn't go to well. Our district leader came and did the interview as usual on Saturday and when it came to that question she flipped out and we told her that she had to meet with President Moffat before she could be baptized. Everything went downhill from there and she didn't want to come to church anymore and she just went crazy. So Trisha's baptism for this Saturday had to be pushed because of it. We had to go back Sunday and pretty much build our relationship back up with her. That didn't go too well. She didn't talk alot but when she did she yelled and yelled at us. We went by last night and it was alot better. She was talking to us and laughing with us so we think she has felt the spirit pretty strong and hopefully something has changed. It was pretty intense. Rosemary aka blanket lady is wierd. I don't think she realizes she needs to be taught and give things up before she is baptized. We have tried to make contact with her but no luck. Hopefully we will today. I really hope she gets baptized because it will be a great blessing in her life. Well thats about all for this week. It has been a somewhat disappointing week but the work moves on and we will try to resolve some concerns. It is great. I love it. This work is inspired of God and we have to be in tune with the spirit 100% or else its not effective. I have learned so much since i have been out here and i continue to learn and grow each day. I have learned so much about myself and just how important the gospel really is. It is amazing what missions do for people. Best time of my life. No doubt about it. I hope i am making you guys, our ward, our stake, but most importantly the Lord proud. I am working hard and working on improving every day. There is nothing greater. I love you guys and i do miss you but i love being on the Lords errand. I will forever be in debt to him. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today. I know that the Apostles are real and that they along with the prophet are the most powerful men on the earth. It is so comforting to know that. I love to see the gospel change lives. It is the greatest joy ever. I love you. The church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well first things first...We were tracting on Sunday and all of the sudden i look at my watch and it said the 31st and i was like wait its already August. Football probably started this weekend. Wow time flies. It seems like it just got over. Did Asiata start or did Mack? Did Mack play and if so how did he do? Did he pick up right where he left off from? Well anyways make sure that they don't fly over to Hawaii again to celebrate and leave the practice squad to play against UNLV. They better get fired up. Are we ranked at all? Was Michigan ranked? Well i love it!! GO UTES!!!!!!!! (I will have to tell President Moffat about that one. He is a HUGE Utah fan!!!) Keep me updated on all sports.
Well on Sunday we went and heard L. Tom Perry speak in Birmingham. It was awesome!! He is so powerful. When he was just speaking normally he was just like he is in General Conference. But wow when he bore testimony he raised his voice a little and the spirit just filled the room. It was so amazing to see and hear an apostle of the Lord bear testimony of the reality of the Gospel. He is on a tour of Europe and some of the missions as well. He brought Elder Rasband with him as well and so he spoke. It was a great meeting. I loved it so much. After the meeting i went up on the stand and shook hands with Elder Rasband and told him that he had come to stake conference a couple years ago. He asked me which stake and he said that is a great great stake and he said to tell dad hi. After that Elder Perry was making his way out of the chapel and i caught him and put my arm around him and said to him Elder Perry i enjoyed your talk. It was great. Then he said are you related to the "famous Rudd" and i said yes he is my Grandpa and he said wonderful. Then he had to leave. But it was amazing to talk to an Apostle and shake his hand. The spirit just glows off of him and he is one amazing man.
Well this week was full of interesting things. Trisha was supposed to be getting interviewed for baptism on Saturday so we went and taught her on friday and reviewed the questions with her. I asked her a question and a concern came up. It was not a good one. We had to call President Moffat about it and things just didn't go to well. Our district leader came and did the interview as usual on Saturday and when it came to that question she flipped out and we told her that she had to meet with President Moffat before she could be baptized. Everything went downhill from there and she didn't want to come to church anymore and she just went crazy. So Trisha's baptism for this Saturday had to be pushed because of it. We had to go back Sunday and pretty much build our relationship back up with her. That didn't go too well. She didn't talk alot but when she did she yelled and yelled at us. We went by last night and it was alot better. She was talking to us and laughing with us so we think she has felt the spirit pretty strong and hopefully something has changed. It was pretty intense. Rosemary aka blanket lady is wierd. I don't think she realizes she needs to be taught and give things up before she is baptized. We have tried to make contact with her but no luck. Hopefully we will today. I really hope she gets baptized because it will be a great blessing in her life. Well thats about all for this week. It has been a somewhat disappointing week but the work moves on and we will try to resolve some concerns. It is great. I love it. This work is inspired of God and we have to be in tune with the spirit 100% or else its not effective. I have learned so much since i have been out here and i continue to learn and grow each day. I have learned so much about myself and just how important the gospel really is. It is amazing what missions do for people. Best time of my life. No doubt about it. I hope i am making you guys, our ward, our stake, but most importantly the Lord proud. I am working hard and working on improving every day. There is nothing greater. I love you guys and i do miss you but i love being on the Lords errand. I will forever be in debt to him. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today. I know that the Apostles are real and that they along with the prophet are the most powerful men on the earth. It is so comforting to know that. I love to see the gospel change lives. It is the greatest joy ever. I love you. The church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
