Letter - July 14, 2009

Hey there thanks for the email. It was great to hear from you and i am always happy and relieved when i hear that everyone is doing well. I am so glad that you were able to meet the Moffats. They are truly amazing. I love them so much. They have changed my life forever. I miss them very much but i know that i will see them again and be able to share all of our experiences together. What Elder Ballard said is true. President and Sister Moffat truly did know how to motivate us. All of the missionaries knew what was expected of them and we are the happiest group of missionaries in the church. I don't know if i ever told you this but i know their grandson. He was in the super sport program at Dimple Dell and i found out that he was their grandson a few weeks before i left. I always talked to Sister Moffat about him and so it was great to already have a connection with them. I love the Moffats.

Well still on the topic of mission presidents, i finally was able to meet President and Sister Ogden. They are great. The interview was great and we just got to know each other a little more. President Ogden is really excited and he seems to already know what he is doing. It was interesting to find out that he grew up in Florida. He moved all around Florida and he joined the church down there in about 1961 or 1962. I told him that Grandpa was a mission president down there but he was baptized before his time. It was pretty interesting. I love President and Sister Ogden and i am not worried about the mission at all. The England Birmingham Mission is the best mission in the world and the Lord is watching out for us and blessing us more than we deserve.

Other than that we have had a pretty good week. We continue to teach Mark. He is doing great and he is looking forward to his baptism on the 1st of August. I am so excited for it but the only thing is that i might not be here for it. We will see though.

Here is a little story for you. Yesterday we were out finding and we were both in short sleeve shirts and it was a beautiful day. No clouds in the sky to begin the day. Hotter than Africa. After lunch we went out and it was still nice and still hot but there were a few clouds in the sky. Then all of the sudden this big huge gray blanket of clouds comes over the entire sky and the heavens start to open. Neither of us have rain jackets or anything. Luckily we were talking to this lady and she let us stay under her overhang until it stopped raining. As soon as it stopped raining we took off towards the church and as we were running to the church the rain picked up again and we were getting a little wet. We got to the church and went inside and about two minutes after we got in it was back to blue skies. We left the church and walked up and saw a less active and as soon as we stopped talking to her the sky was gray again and it started to rain. Except it rained even harder. It was pouring rain. Keep in mind we have no waterproof stuff at all. Just white shirts and ties. We just started running and got under a tree. That only did us good for about 5 minutes and so we ran to another tree. Same story. Then we got to another tree which treated us well. It kept us out of the rain until it stopped. Moral of the story. Always bring your rain jacket and your waterproof trousers with you. I was pretty wet. But it was fun.

Well that was all the excitement for this week. I am glad that everyone is doing well. I hope to hear from all of you next week. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Sorry about the envelope Dad. I didn't want it to rip open so i just taped it all up. I guess it worked.

I love this work that i am doing. I love this gospel. It is the only way to true happiness. We talk to people every day that their beliefs are so close to ours but they are just missing a few things. I know that this is the Lords Kingdom on the earth. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he is the only way back to our Father in Heaven. I testify of the power of the Atonement. Apply it in your life. As we do we are more happy. We are more obedient. We strive to do His will instead of ours. And as on Preach My Gospel pg 2 says. " As our understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ increases, our desire to share the gospel will increase." I love my Savior. He has helped me through the good times and the hard times. Joseph Smith is a true prophet. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah. I love the Book of Mormon and all that it contains. It does contain the fulness of the gospel. I love all of you and i am so blessed to be in the service of our God.

Love Elder Sam Rudd