Hey everyone!!! I hope everything is going ok with the basement. I am just glad i wasn't there because i would have started laughing right away and dad would not have been happy with me. I hope everything is ok though. I can't wait to see it when it is all finished.
Well of course the big news this week was Laurens baptism. It went through and it was so so good. She was really excited and nervous at the same time but she will be such a good member of the church. I can't tell you how happy i was for her and for Elder Bedford. It was his first baptism on his mission and so i was excited for him. I hope to be able to help him have more baptisms. Lauren really enjoyed the scriptures and she says thank you for them. The members don't get their name on their scriptures over here because there is no place that does it so i told her that she is one of the lucky ones. We are so blessed in good old Utah!!!!
I can't believe it is conference again. It comes around so fast. One of the great things about conference is that we are now allowed to take our suit jackets off and we are able to proselyte in just a white shirt. It is starting to get very hot and humid and so that is another blessing of conference. I can remember last April conference like it was yesterday. All of us were so tired and the only times during the day we were awake was to watch conference. All the other times we were all trying to adjust to the time change. I still fell asleep in almost every session though. I cant believe i only have one more out here in the mission field. I love conference. What a blessing to have a prophet on the earth. That gives me so much comfort to know. My guess for the new apostle is President Moffat but that probably won't happen. I am pullin for Neil Anderson though. We will just have to see what happens.
This week has been a little better. I have been troubled because we haven't had a lot of new people to teach or come to church. I know that the Lord will help us though. He is the leader of this great work. I see his hand in things every day. I feel so blessed to be in the service of our Lord. This gospel is true. I know it with all of my heart. I can't tell you how blessed we really are. I love you all and am so grateful for all you do.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Letter - March 25, 2009
Hello everyone!!! I am glad to hear about the temple being dedicated. I have learned to love the temple so much more since i have been out here. I have not been able to go in almost a year and i miss it more than anything. I love the temple. We aren't going on a temple trip this year as a mission and so i was pretty disappointed when i heard that. I really do love the temple and i am so happy to hear that we have another one so close to our home. By the way how is the Oquirrh Mountain Temple coming along? It that one finished as well?
Well this is a big week. We have Lauren's baptism on Saturday. She was interviewed on Saturday and she is very excited for it. She has asked me to baptize her so i will be doing that. I am really excited for her. We found out on Sunday that she smokes and her interview was the day before!! It was crazy. She had a really bad and stressful day on Saturday and so she slipped and smoked. It was the first time in about 2 years so we were really worried. We told her that we would have to take the cigarettes and so we did. It is always fun taking peoples cigarettes because they don't expect it and to see the look on their face is pretty humorous. That is what we do as missionaries though. But that is the big thing for this week. Just looking forward to the baptism and helping Lauren stay excited. She is really doing well. Thanks for all of your prayers. I got the package this morning and so i have the scriptures. Thank you.
Well i am staying in Lichfield with Elder Bedford for another transfer. We have a lot of work that still needs to be done and so i am looking forward to helping Elder Bedford out and finding more people to baptize. This next transfer is only a 5 week transfer and so we need to find people very quickly if we want to baptize them this transfer. We will do it though.
It has been very very very windy over here this last week. Very windy. We have almost been blown over because of the wind. It honestly hasn't stopped for the past like 5 days. We work through it though and make it a fun time.
Well this week is why i love missionary work so much. It is so amazing to see people enter the waters of baptism and to receive the amazing gift of the holy ghost. There is no better gift that we can have. The Holy Ghost will tell us everything that we need to know and do. I love this gospel with all of my heart. I wouldn't be the person i am today if it weren't for the gospel. I am so grateful that we have conference coming up and that we get to hear our prophet speak to us. What a great blessing it is to have a living prophet on the earth. I KNOW that this is the true church of God. I testify that this work is true. That Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon works miracles in the lives of people. I love this work and i am so grateful to be one of Gods chosen servants.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this is a big week. We have Lauren's baptism on Saturday. She was interviewed on Saturday and she is very excited for it. She has asked me to baptize her so i will be doing that. I am really excited for her. We found out on Sunday that she smokes and her interview was the day before!! It was crazy. She had a really bad and stressful day on Saturday and so she slipped and smoked. It was the first time in about 2 years so we were really worried. We told her that we would have to take the cigarettes and so we did. It is always fun taking peoples cigarettes because they don't expect it and to see the look on their face is pretty humorous. That is what we do as missionaries though. But that is the big thing for this week. Just looking forward to the baptism and helping Lauren stay excited. She is really doing well. Thanks for all of your prayers. I got the package this morning and so i have the scriptures. Thank you.
Well i am staying in Lichfield with Elder Bedford for another transfer. We have a lot of work that still needs to be done and so i am looking forward to helping Elder Bedford out and finding more people to baptize. This next transfer is only a 5 week transfer and so we need to find people very quickly if we want to baptize them this transfer. We will do it though.
It has been very very very windy over here this last week. Very windy. We have almost been blown over because of the wind. It honestly hasn't stopped for the past like 5 days. We work through it though and make it a fun time.
Well this week is why i love missionary work so much. It is so amazing to see people enter the waters of baptism and to receive the amazing gift of the holy ghost. There is no better gift that we can have. The Holy Ghost will tell us everything that we need to know and do. I love this gospel with all of my heart. I wouldn't be the person i am today if it weren't for the gospel. I am so grateful that we have conference coming up and that we get to hear our prophet speak to us. What a great blessing it is to have a living prophet on the earth. I KNOW that this is the true church of God. I testify that this work is true. That Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon works miracles in the lives of people. I love this work and i am so grateful to be one of Gods chosen servants.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Letter - March 17, 2009
Hey there how are you all doing? It sounds like you are doing great. I was happy to hear from you this week. I am happy to hear that Utah is in the tournament. Its about time we made it again. I am excited to see how they do. We need to buy tickets to it next year. We have the sweet 16 and the elite 8 at the Energy Solutions Arena next year. Hopefully i am home in time for that. It will be close.
Well this week was a pretty good week. It was very busy. We were running around a lot of different places. Lauren is doing extremely well and she is so excited for her baptism. Which reminds me. Mom will you go to the distribution center and buy a quad and put the name Lauren Taylor on it. We want to give that to her as a present for her baptism. Her baptism is next Saturday, the 28th, so please send it to me as quick as possible. I think she will really enjoy that and i will pay you back when i get home. Just write a note to remind me. But also with Lauren, we walk with her to church and this last sunday she told us something that was amazing. She said that she hadn't been taking prayer too seriously and that she was still finding it a bit awkward. But on Saturday night she said that she decided that she was going to pray and really mean it this time. She said that after she prayed she didn't feel anything but it was a couple minutes later that she felt this overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness. She said it was unlike anything else she had ever felt. It was so good to hear that and hear that she really is looking for answers to her prayers. I love it. I told her that when she received the Holy Ghost that she could have that as a constant feeling. All she said to that was Wow. It was an amazing experience for me. I felt so happy for her and for her little girl as well. They will really enjoy the church and they will be great members.
Robert was a different story this week. Last Tuesday night we had a teaching appointment with him and he came to the door and he told us that he didn't want to be baptized. We tried to resolve his concern and find out the real reason why he wouldn't be baptized. All he said was that he didn't want to commit to it. It was a bit disappointing and he said that he didn't want to have us teach him anymore. He has changed his attitude though and is willing to learn more about the church but he doesn't want to be baptized quite yet. We will work hard with him but please pray for him that he will have a desire to be baptized and that he will feel in his heart that the things that we are teaching him are true.
So on Saturday we had a ward activity for something called Red Nose Day. It is for a comic relief foundation and the whole country donated about 54 million pounds to it which is pretty good. But while we were at the chapel i was introduced to an older couple who is not from our ward but from our stake here. They are in the Wylde Green ward. But their names were Rudd. It was really cool to meet them. They said that there are quite a few Rudd's around. The husbands name is Alan and i didn't catch the wife's name. They said that a few years ago they went to Utah and were at Welfare Square and saw a book written by Glen L. Rudd. They bought it and they said that they wanted it to be signed so they went to the church office building and talked to grandpa and they said that he signed the book for them. It was pretty cool to have that experience. We don't know how we are related but there is some connection in there somewhere.
Well that is about all for this week. It has been a pretty good week. I love missionary work so much. The gospel really is an amazing thing and i would be lost without it. I love all of you so much and i am thankful for your love and support.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. Also next week is transfers so i will email on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Well this week was a pretty good week. It was very busy. We were running around a lot of different places. Lauren is doing extremely well and she is so excited for her baptism. Which reminds me. Mom will you go to the distribution center and buy a quad and put the name Lauren Taylor on it. We want to give that to her as a present for her baptism. Her baptism is next Saturday, the 28th, so please send it to me as quick as possible. I think she will really enjoy that and i will pay you back when i get home. Just write a note to remind me. But also with Lauren, we walk with her to church and this last sunday she told us something that was amazing. She said that she hadn't been taking prayer too seriously and that she was still finding it a bit awkward. But on Saturday night she said that she decided that she was going to pray and really mean it this time. She said that after she prayed she didn't feel anything but it was a couple minutes later that she felt this overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness. She said it was unlike anything else she had ever felt. It was so good to hear that and hear that she really is looking for answers to her prayers. I love it. I told her that when she received the Holy Ghost that she could have that as a constant feeling. All she said to that was Wow. It was an amazing experience for me. I felt so happy for her and for her little girl as well. They will really enjoy the church and they will be great members.
Robert was a different story this week. Last Tuesday night we had a teaching appointment with him and he came to the door and he told us that he didn't want to be baptized. We tried to resolve his concern and find out the real reason why he wouldn't be baptized. All he said was that he didn't want to commit to it. It was a bit disappointing and he said that he didn't want to have us teach him anymore. He has changed his attitude though and is willing to learn more about the church but he doesn't want to be baptized quite yet. We will work hard with him but please pray for him that he will have a desire to be baptized and that he will feel in his heart that the things that we are teaching him are true.
So on Saturday we had a ward activity for something called Red Nose Day. It is for a comic relief foundation and the whole country donated about 54 million pounds to it which is pretty good. But while we were at the chapel i was introduced to an older couple who is not from our ward but from our stake here. They are in the Wylde Green ward. But their names were Rudd. It was really cool to meet them. They said that there are quite a few Rudd's around. The husbands name is Alan and i didn't catch the wife's name. They said that a few years ago they went to Utah and were at Welfare Square and saw a book written by Glen L. Rudd. They bought it and they said that they wanted it to be signed so they went to the church office building and talked to grandpa and they said that he signed the book for them. It was pretty cool to have that experience. We don't know how we are related but there is some connection in there somewhere.
Well that is about all for this week. It has been a pretty good week. I love missionary work so much. The gospel really is an amazing thing and i would be lost without it. I love all of you so much and i am thankful for your love and support.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. Also next week is transfers so i will email on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Letter - March 10, 2009
Hey everyone i was glad to hear that the wedding went well. I will look forward to seeing all the pictures from it. I thought about all of you for a bit on Wednesday. I hope that it wasn't too lonely without me.
Well this week was a great week. We found a lot of new people to teach. We had a girl named Lauren come to church. She is a 20 year old single mother. Her daughter is black. She loved church and her daughter went to nusery and loved that as well. I stopped her on the street and invited her to church. She was planning on getting her little girl christened in a couple of months. She acutally lives in the same apartment complex that we do so that was very convienent. While she was at church we asked her to be baptized. She accepted. She will be baptized on the 28 of March. She seems really excited and we are teaching her tonight so please pray for her that she will know what she is doing is what God wants her to do.
Also we another man at church. His name is Robert. He is 69 years old and he is a Methodist. We went by him because previous missionaries (about a year ago) spoke with him for a bit. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read it. He did and he even prayed!! SOLID!! I was so excited. Well he came to church as well and he loved it. He even participated in the Elder's Quorum lesson a bit. It was awesome. Also during church we asked him to be baptized as well. He accepted too!! I was so happy. He will be baptized on the 28th of March as well. It was a great sunday. I was so happy. It made me even more happy when Elder Bedford told me that the numbers on Sunday were his best on his mission. I hope that we can have the continued success. I don't know why the Lord is blessing us so much right now but we just have to keep working hard so we live worthy of those many many blessings. Experiences like that just make your mission so worthwhile. We experienced great joy on Sunday.
Yesterday was pretty funny. We were tracting this street and we went and knocked on this door. This older guy came to the door and we asked him how he was doing and he just flipped out at us. He started swearin at us and telling us to get off his property. It was pretty funny. I laughed through the whole thing which didn't help our cause. I couldn't help it though. Wow i have too much fun out here. haha. I love it out here. I can't beleive i am halfway done. I don't want to be. I wish i could go back in time and do it all over again. I love the gospel and i am so grateful for my membership in this church. Jesus Christ lives!! I know he does. I testify of his power to prepare people to hear this beautiful message of the restoration. I don't know where i would be without it. I love all of you and i hope that everyone knows that. You are the greatest family in the world and you do so much for me. Thanks for everything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. more peanut butter eggs!!!!!!
Well this week was a great week. We found a lot of new people to teach. We had a girl named Lauren come to church. She is a 20 year old single mother. Her daughter is black. She loved church and her daughter went to nusery and loved that as well. I stopped her on the street and invited her to church. She was planning on getting her little girl christened in a couple of months. She acutally lives in the same apartment complex that we do so that was very convienent. While she was at church we asked her to be baptized. She accepted. She will be baptized on the 28 of March. She seems really excited and we are teaching her tonight so please pray for her that she will know what she is doing is what God wants her to do.
Also we another man at church. His name is Robert. He is 69 years old and he is a Methodist. We went by him because previous missionaries (about a year ago) spoke with him for a bit. We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read it. He did and he even prayed!! SOLID!! I was so excited. Well he came to church as well and he loved it. He even participated in the Elder's Quorum lesson a bit. It was awesome. Also during church we asked him to be baptized as well. He accepted too!! I was so happy. He will be baptized on the 28th of March as well. It was a great sunday. I was so happy. It made me even more happy when Elder Bedford told me that the numbers on Sunday were his best on his mission. I hope that we can have the continued success. I don't know why the Lord is blessing us so much right now but we just have to keep working hard so we live worthy of those many many blessings. Experiences like that just make your mission so worthwhile. We experienced great joy on Sunday.
Yesterday was pretty funny. We were tracting this street and we went and knocked on this door. This older guy came to the door and we asked him how he was doing and he just flipped out at us. He started swearin at us and telling us to get off his property. It was pretty funny. I laughed through the whole thing which didn't help our cause. I couldn't help it though. Wow i have too much fun out here. haha. I love it out here. I can't beleive i am halfway done. I don't want to be. I wish i could go back in time and do it all over again. I love the gospel and i am so grateful for my membership in this church. Jesus Christ lives!! I know he does. I testify of his power to prepare people to hear this beautiful message of the restoration. I don't know where i would be without it. I love all of you and i hope that everyone knows that. You are the greatest family in the world and you do so much for me. Thanks for everything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. more peanut butter eggs!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Letter - March 3, 2009
Hey everyone this week is the big week. After today i have to refer to Debbie Hansen instead of Debbie Rudd. I can't believe all my sisters are married. Debbie did Rick give you a blender? If so maybe i shouldn't refer to you as Debbie Hansen yet. Well i hope all goes well tomorrow. I love you Deb and you are a great sister to me. Just wait until about July to think about having kids cause then i won't miss it. That goes for you too Tiff and Julie.
Well this last week was a tough one. We continue to do a lot of tracting and we are working hard but it has been hard to get anyone interested. Sunday night i decided that we needed to go up to a place called Burntwood and work in that area. It hasn't been touched by missionaries for some time now and there is a lot of potential up there. So yesterday we made the half an hour bike ride up to Burntwood and worked up there. It was great. The people responded so much better than the people in Lichfield who constantly get swarmed by the missionaries. Lichfield is so small that if a missionary is here too long they can tract the whole thing a couple times. We found a few good people yesterday so i am really hoping that this week goes better.
My birthday was good. I had a lot of fun. We had Zone Conference that day and so that made my day. It was a great day and i found out that my district leader right now has the same birthday as me. He and i are great friends and we didn't even know until Zone Conference. But all the missionaries sung happy birthday to us so that was a lot of fun. President Moffat spoke to us at the end of Zone Conference and it was incredible. He will definately be an apostle one day. Look out for his calling as either Apostle or Seventy at the next General Conference. I am sure something will happen. He is an amazing man. He has helped me in a lot of ways.
Well i am happy that everything went well at the temple on Saturday. I was laughing so hard at the story of dad. I could barely stay in my chair. It was a good story. I am glad that you got there for the session though.
Well once again i hope that all goes well tomorrow with the wedding. I better be getting a picture of the car when it is decorated. Dan i trained you so you better do me proud. I love all of you and i hope that this week goes well for all of you. The church is so true and i am so privileged to be serving the Lord. I love missionary service. I love it with all my heart. There really is nothing better. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. Thank you for the birthday package. I loved the book.
Well this last week was a tough one. We continue to do a lot of tracting and we are working hard but it has been hard to get anyone interested. Sunday night i decided that we needed to go up to a place called Burntwood and work in that area. It hasn't been touched by missionaries for some time now and there is a lot of potential up there. So yesterday we made the half an hour bike ride up to Burntwood and worked up there. It was great. The people responded so much better than the people in Lichfield who constantly get swarmed by the missionaries. Lichfield is so small that if a missionary is here too long they can tract the whole thing a couple times. We found a few good people yesterday so i am really hoping that this week goes better.
My birthday was good. I had a lot of fun. We had Zone Conference that day and so that made my day. It was a great day and i found out that my district leader right now has the same birthday as me. He and i are great friends and we didn't even know until Zone Conference. But all the missionaries sung happy birthday to us so that was a lot of fun. President Moffat spoke to us at the end of Zone Conference and it was incredible. He will definately be an apostle one day. Look out for his calling as either Apostle or Seventy at the next General Conference. I am sure something will happen. He is an amazing man. He has helped me in a lot of ways.
Well i am happy that everything went well at the temple on Saturday. I was laughing so hard at the story of dad. I could barely stay in my chair. It was a good story. I am glad that you got there for the session though.
Well once again i hope that all goes well tomorrow with the wedding. I better be getting a picture of the car when it is decorated. Dan i trained you so you better do me proud. I love all of you and i hope that this week goes well for all of you. The church is so true and i am so privileged to be serving the Lord. I love missionary service. I love it with all my heart. There really is nothing better. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. Thank you for the birthday package. I loved the book.
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