Hello how is everyone doing??? I didn't hear from a lot of you this week so i hope to hear from you next week. The weeks have flown by. I can't believe it is December next week. That is crazy. Time is really flying by. I love being out here though.
GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW I was so happy to hear that they beat that team down south. We went to a members house for dinner on Sunday and i couldn't stand not knowing how the game went so i had her look up the score on the computer. You can send me the paper. When i found out the score i jumped up and just screamed. I was so happy. I just knew that i was going to miss a good season. We better go to a good BCS game and play a good team. I hope its not another Pittsburgh game. That was pathetic. No matter who we play though we will still kick some butt. I can't believe that lousy team came out and interrupted our senior night. How disrespectful. It was probably Bronco's idea in the first place. Also i guess Austin Collie didn't pray enough this year. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best team in the country!!!!
Well this week was a pretty good week. We have had a few little miracles happen. As you know we have been teaching Jordan and he hasn't been able to come to church yet. Well he came to church this past week and had a blast. He absolutely loved it. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said all of it. He just was walking around with a huge smile on his face. What excitement for just being 10 years old. Well the requirement for being baptized is they have to come to church twice before they are baptized and the week before their baptism. Well his baptism is scheduled for the 6th of December now and we didn't think that it was going to happen because his parents are divorced and he goes to his dad's every other weekend and this next weekend he is with his dad. I was just praying that something would happen and we went over to his house last night just to say hi and see how he was doing. While we were over there his mom told us that he wasnt going to his dad's this weekend because he wanted to come to church. I was so happy!! I couldn't stop smiling. The Lord really had blessed us. We have been working really hard to get him to church and be able to be baptized. His dad is not supportive of the church at all and so he won't take him to church while he is with him. The Lord really does work in so many ways. I love this work and this Gospel. Please keep Jordan in your prayers. He will be baptized on the 6th of December.
Also another little miracle happened at church this week. You will like this one Jeff. So we had been struggling to get people to church the past few weeks. I had been praying and praying for us to be able to get someone to church. Well we walked into church on Sunday and there was this oriental kid sitting there in Priesthood Opening Exercises. We found out that he was a non member from Korea. He is over here for school. He was trying to find the Protestant Church and he recognized the style of the building and so he walked into ours. During Sunday School i tried to teach him the Restoration. It was very tough but i could tell he understood what the spirit was teaching. That really was a miracle and blessing from the Lord. I love this work and this gospel. This work is truly an amazing work. I love it with all my heart. There really is nothing i would rather be doing. This Gospel is real!!!!
Well with Thanksgiving coming up i just want to thank all of you for your support. I cannot believe it has been a year since we were guessing where i was going. It is exactly a year today that i turned my papers in. Time really has flown by. I am so greatful for this gospel in my life. I am thankful for my family. I love you guys and i hope you have a great week.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. i got the package with the beanies and peanut butter. I love it. It is freezing cold now and the wind does not stop blowing. I don't think i have ever been so cold.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Letter - November 19, 2008
Hey how is it going over in Utah? It sounds like everything is great and that everyone is happy. Everything is just great over here and I love every minute of serving the Lord.
Well i found out that i am not getting transferred. I am staying in Rugby with Elder Wright. I am excited to be in Rugby still. I will be here 6 months at the end of this transfer. I love it and i love all the people that i serve around. Big things are going to be happening in Rugby this transfer. I am really excited about this time of the year. What better time to share a message about our Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone is focused on him and hopefully that will make people more open to the message of the restoration of the true Gospel. I am looking forward to it very very much.
I have worn a red tie every single day this week and i told President Moffat that he should make the whole mission wear a red tie on Saturday and when the Utes win he should make all the missionaries wear red to Zone Conference. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget about your number 1 fan over in England.
Well blanket lady showed up to church again this past week. I had no idea and then when we were walking into sunday school our ward mission leader pointed her out to me and there she was walking around with a blanket on her head. She is crazy. I always feel like i need to set up a return appointment with her because if i didn't then i would be rejecting her of our message. I always ask to come see her again and i just hope that she will be in. We have an appointment with her tonight so i really hope that we can teach her. I just love sharing the message of the Gospel with people. There is nothing better.
Well this last week I was able to go out tracting with Elder Nordquist. What a great missionary!!! He is such a good example for me. I love it whenever i see him because i always learn so much from him. He is a great example to the mission and i am proud to say he is from the best stake, city, and high school in the world. Only if he were in the Sego Lily Ward he would be part of the best of everything. I hope that i can have the influence on people the way he has done throughout his mission. I will miss him very much when he leaves in 6 weeks.
Well other than that it was kind of a slow moving week. No one really new that we picked up. I continue to enjoy every minute of serving the Lord. It really has been the best experience of my life. It is going by very quickly but i am working hard at being the best that i can be. I feel like i have a very specific plan for me to fulfil while i am out here. The Gospel really is so so great. I love it with all of my heart. I have learned the importance of prayer while out here. I cannot tell you how many times i pray throughout the day but it is almost always constant. I love the Lord. I love this work and i am so grateful to be out here doing it.
I am very proud of you Dan. Good job on getting your Eagle. That is a great accomplishment and it has brought a lot of satisfaction into my life. Keep being the person you are. You are an incredible young man. I love you.
I love you all. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. You have no idea how much it helps. Thank you for being the examples you are to me. I am so grateful for all of you. I love you and hope everything goes well.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well i found out that i am not getting transferred. I am staying in Rugby with Elder Wright. I am excited to be in Rugby still. I will be here 6 months at the end of this transfer. I love it and i love all the people that i serve around. Big things are going to be happening in Rugby this transfer. I am really excited about this time of the year. What better time to share a message about our Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone is focused on him and hopefully that will make people more open to the message of the restoration of the true Gospel. I am looking forward to it very very much.
I have worn a red tie every single day this week and i told President Moffat that he should make the whole mission wear a red tie on Saturday and when the Utes win he should make all the missionaries wear red to Zone Conference. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget about your number 1 fan over in England.
Well blanket lady showed up to church again this past week. I had no idea and then when we were walking into sunday school our ward mission leader pointed her out to me and there she was walking around with a blanket on her head. She is crazy. I always feel like i need to set up a return appointment with her because if i didn't then i would be rejecting her of our message. I always ask to come see her again and i just hope that she will be in. We have an appointment with her tonight so i really hope that we can teach her. I just love sharing the message of the Gospel with people. There is nothing better.
Well this last week I was able to go out tracting with Elder Nordquist. What a great missionary!!! He is such a good example for me. I love it whenever i see him because i always learn so much from him. He is a great example to the mission and i am proud to say he is from the best stake, city, and high school in the world. Only if he were in the Sego Lily Ward he would be part of the best of everything. I hope that i can have the influence on people the way he has done throughout his mission. I will miss him very much when he leaves in 6 weeks.
Well other than that it was kind of a slow moving week. No one really new that we picked up. I continue to enjoy every minute of serving the Lord. It really has been the best experience of my life. It is going by very quickly but i am working hard at being the best that i can be. I feel like i have a very specific plan for me to fulfil while i am out here. The Gospel really is so so great. I love it with all of my heart. I have learned the importance of prayer while out here. I cannot tell you how many times i pray throughout the day but it is almost always constant. I love the Lord. I love this work and i am so grateful to be out here doing it.
I am very proud of you Dan. Good job on getting your Eagle. That is a great accomplishment and it has brought a lot of satisfaction into my life. Keep being the person you are. You are an incredible young man. I love you.
I love you all. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. You have no idea how much it helps. Thank you for being the examples you are to me. I am so grateful for all of you. I love you and hope everything goes well.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Letter - November 11, 2008
Hey whats goin on? I am doing just great over here. I have a few scary but interesting stories from this past week so stay tuned. But first i have to say that i was up out of my chair reading about the Utah game. HOLY COW!!!!!! I cant believe it!!! I probably would have had a heart attack if i would have been there. WOW!!!! I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well onto my scary but interesting story. So on thursday night we were tracting. It was going pretty good and we knocked on this one lady's door and she opened the door and said she doesn't answer the door after dark. (It gets dark at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon now) But we were done with that door and we walked up on to the sidewalk. As we were doing so these kids were passing and they yelled something at us. We sarcastically said yeah and then they got up in our face and told us to give them all of our money. We weren't sure if we heard them right but we said what and then they demanded the money again. They hit us across the face a couple times and then asked for money again. They then proceeded to threaten us with a knife. One of the kids came over to me and i reached in my pocket and pulled out 8 pounds and gave it to them. They still thought we had more so they just kept hitting us and yelling at us. This whole time something was telling me not to fight back so i didn't. We could have killed the guys if we would have fought back but we decided it wasn't worth it. So the exchange went back and forth and in the end it just resulted in them getting 8 pounds. We weren't hurt so you don't have to worry about it. I am doing fine and me and Elder Wright laugh about it every night before we go to bed. We spent all day Friday in the Police Station filling out police reports. It was crazy. Everything is ok now and so we are back to doing the Lords work. It was definately a journal entry moment.
We also had interviews this week and they went pretty well. I was so happy to talk to President Moffat. He is such a great example and we all love him very much. I learn so much from him every time i talk to him.
Leysa is doing well. We haven't taught her too much because of her health but she is still loving learning about the church. She is very busy but excited to learn. Jordan is doing well. He has a baptismal date scheduled for the 6th of December so we are helping him with that. We have a new lady named Joan who is very solid and she is so excited to come to church with us this sunday. I am so excited about this work and what this area is about to become. I love it so much!!!
Well before i forget i better mention that transfers is next week so no email on tuesday. I don't know if i will be transferred or what will be going on but i will be emailing on either Wednesday or Thursday next week.
Well i have to get going because we have a busy day ahead of us. I love serving the Lord. I say that every email but i absolutely love it. It is so great. The change that the gospel brings into peoples lives is amazing. I will tell you that there is nothing else like it. There really isn't. I love it with all of my heart. My testimony has been strengthened so much. I know that the Savior lives. I know that this church is the one and only true church on the face of this earth. I love it dearly. I wish i could be a full time missionary for the rest of my life!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well onto my scary but interesting story. So on thursday night we were tracting. It was going pretty good and we knocked on this one lady's door and she opened the door and said she doesn't answer the door after dark. (It gets dark at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon now) But we were done with that door and we walked up on to the sidewalk. As we were doing so these kids were passing and they yelled something at us. We sarcastically said yeah and then they got up in our face and told us to give them all of our money. We weren't sure if we heard them right but we said what and then they demanded the money again. They hit us across the face a couple times and then asked for money again. They then proceeded to threaten us with a knife. One of the kids came over to me and i reached in my pocket and pulled out 8 pounds and gave it to them. They still thought we had more so they just kept hitting us and yelling at us. This whole time something was telling me not to fight back so i didn't. We could have killed the guys if we would have fought back but we decided it wasn't worth it. So the exchange went back and forth and in the end it just resulted in them getting 8 pounds. We weren't hurt so you don't have to worry about it. I am doing fine and me and Elder Wright laugh about it every night before we go to bed. We spent all day Friday in the Police Station filling out police reports. It was crazy. Everything is ok now and so we are back to doing the Lords work. It was definately a journal entry moment.
We also had interviews this week and they went pretty well. I was so happy to talk to President Moffat. He is such a great example and we all love him very much. I learn so much from him every time i talk to him.
Leysa is doing well. We haven't taught her too much because of her health but she is still loving learning about the church. She is very busy but excited to learn. Jordan is doing well. He has a baptismal date scheduled for the 6th of December so we are helping him with that. We have a new lady named Joan who is very solid and she is so excited to come to church with us this sunday. I am so excited about this work and what this area is about to become. I love it so much!!!
Well before i forget i better mention that transfers is next week so no email on tuesday. I don't know if i will be transferred or what will be going on but i will be emailing on either Wednesday or Thursday next week.
Well i have to get going because we have a busy day ahead of us. I love serving the Lord. I say that every email but i absolutely love it. It is so great. The change that the gospel brings into peoples lives is amazing. I will tell you that there is nothing else like it. There really isn't. I love it with all of my heart. My testimony has been strengthened so much. I know that the Savior lives. I know that this church is the one and only true church on the face of this earth. I love it dearly. I wish i could be a full time missionary for the rest of my life!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Letter - November 4, 2008
Hello!!!!!!!! I feel like i start my emails the same every single week. If you have any new ideas feel free to contact me via email or via the mail. I could always use some good ideas. I am glad though that all is going well. I absolutely love you guys.
Well tomorrow we have interviews in Coventry. I am excited about it because as i have mentioned before i love learning from the leaders. Especially President Moffat. He doesn't have very much longer. It will be sad to see him leave. But the work this week has gone pretty well. We were tracting on Wednesday last week and we had a Dinner Appointment that night. Before the dinner appointment we went tracting for a little bit and we went on this street and we started knocking. It wasn't looking good. We got doors slammed in our face and then on about the 5th door this lady opened up. Her name was Leysa. (Lisa) She looked very tired but she talked to us. I started teaching her. I taught her about the Restoration and she accepted it very well. She asked a lot of questions and she said that every thing that we had said was in line with what she believed. She proceeded to tell me that she hadn't been going to church because she felt like she hadn't found the right one but that she felt like this one was the right one. It was incredible. I have never felt the spirit so strongly. I loved it. The Lord truly does prepare people. He really does. He is watching over us and looking out for us. With his help we are able to do anything. My testimony was strengthened so much from that. How great is this work!!! That was this weeks big story.
Well i sure hope Utah pulls out of that game and realizes that they need to play very well on Thursday. I hope Kyle gets them fired up. We can do it. I have confidence. We just need to play hard and keep scoring. Me and Elder Wright are having fun debating between who will get the BCS bid. Utah or Boise St. It has been fun to see the season unfold and hear about it.
I am glad Halloween was good for all of you. I missed going trick or treating with Cameron and Katie. I was thinking about how the soup was. I was wondering if mom said that she wasn't going to make it like she does every year and then ends up making it anyway. I hope everyone doesn't get too sick from all the candy that they got.
Well thank you for all of your support. I can't believe it has been 7 months. I felt like yesterday i was saying it was 6 months. Wow time is flying by. I was reading the ward newsletter you sent me a few months ago and i was reading all of the letters from the missionaries in our ward and everyone seems so much more mature and that they are growing so much. I feel like i am the same person. I feel like i am the same lazy smart alec kid i was when i left. I hope i do change and i hope that all of you still love me. My mission has changed my life. It is so amazing to see the gospel work. I know with all my heart that this is the Lords church. I know that it is the only true and living church on the face of this earth. I am so greatful for the things that i have been taught and the things that i have been able to learn. Being a missionary has changed my life for ever. I love being out here serving the Lord. Even though it has gone by fast i still look back and see what i have learned in just this short amount of time. This is a great work we are on and i love all of you. I am so grateful for all of the love and support from the great state of Utah. I feel your prayers and i am grateful for them. This gospel is so true. I love it with all of my heart.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. Happy brithday Dan!!!
Well tomorrow we have interviews in Coventry. I am excited about it because as i have mentioned before i love learning from the leaders. Especially President Moffat. He doesn't have very much longer. It will be sad to see him leave. But the work this week has gone pretty well. We were tracting on Wednesday last week and we had a Dinner Appointment that night. Before the dinner appointment we went tracting for a little bit and we went on this street and we started knocking. It wasn't looking good. We got doors slammed in our face and then on about the 5th door this lady opened up. Her name was Leysa. (Lisa) She looked very tired but she talked to us. I started teaching her. I taught her about the Restoration and she accepted it very well. She asked a lot of questions and she said that every thing that we had said was in line with what she believed. She proceeded to tell me that she hadn't been going to church because she felt like she hadn't found the right one but that she felt like this one was the right one. It was incredible. I have never felt the spirit so strongly. I loved it. The Lord truly does prepare people. He really does. He is watching over us and looking out for us. With his help we are able to do anything. My testimony was strengthened so much from that. How great is this work!!! That was this weeks big story.
Well i sure hope Utah pulls out of that game and realizes that they need to play very well on Thursday. I hope Kyle gets them fired up. We can do it. I have confidence. We just need to play hard and keep scoring. Me and Elder Wright are having fun debating between who will get the BCS bid. Utah or Boise St. It has been fun to see the season unfold and hear about it.
I am glad Halloween was good for all of you. I missed going trick or treating with Cameron and Katie. I was thinking about how the soup was. I was wondering if mom said that she wasn't going to make it like she does every year and then ends up making it anyway. I hope everyone doesn't get too sick from all the candy that they got.
Well thank you for all of your support. I can't believe it has been 7 months. I felt like yesterday i was saying it was 6 months. Wow time is flying by. I was reading the ward newsletter you sent me a few months ago and i was reading all of the letters from the missionaries in our ward and everyone seems so much more mature and that they are growing so much. I feel like i am the same person. I feel like i am the same lazy smart alec kid i was when i left. I hope i do change and i hope that all of you still love me. My mission has changed my life. It is so amazing to see the gospel work. I know with all my heart that this is the Lords church. I know that it is the only true and living church on the face of this earth. I am so greatful for the things that i have been taught and the things that i have been able to learn. Being a missionary has changed my life for ever. I love being out here serving the Lord. Even though it has gone by fast i still look back and see what i have learned in just this short amount of time. This is a great work we are on and i love all of you. I am so grateful for all of the love and support from the great state of Utah. I feel your prayers and i am grateful for them. This gospel is so true. I love it with all of my heart.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. Happy brithday Dan!!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Letter - October 28, 2008
Well hello there!!! It was fabulous hearing from you this week. Once again it always gives me great comfort to know everyone is doing good. I love all of you.
Well this past week we had Zone Conference. It was a great conference and i learned a whole lot. We talked about chapter 11 in Preach My Gospel and did a few role plays and it helped me out a lot. President Moffat talked to us at the end and he was amazing as usual. He really stressed the importance of obedience. He is very worried that since the mission is doing so well that the missionaries are getting prideful and aren't being as obedient as they should be. He got his point across very clearly and i am positive everyone got the message. He also talked about the spirit and how we can lose the spirit, how we get the spirit, and how we keep the spirit. It was a very very good talk. I love hearing from him because he teaches us so simply and so clearly. He reminds me alot of dad and how dad goes about things. It is great. I love Zone Conference.
Well this week has been a pretty good week. We continue to work with jordan and his mom. She is just not wanting to come back to church. It is really frustrating but we are working with her and i have total confidence in the Lord that we will get her back to church. We have found a lot of new people that seem pretty good. The ward has just made a huge emphasis on missionary work and the bishop here is starting to do a lot for us and so i think that the work will take off from here. I love the work. It is so great. So last week we were knocking this door and this girl answered the door. Elder Wright started talking and got as far as saying who we are and then she started laughing almost uncontrollably. We had no idea what was going on but she just walked to the back of her house and was back there for almost 2 minutes. Me and Elder Wright didn't know what to do so we just stood there and waited. Finally some older guy walks out and talks to us and even though he wasnt interested he still was nice and talked to us. It was a very funny experience and we laugh about it almost every day. Well other than that we are still looking for more people to teach. The people here are very hard hearted and it is difficult to get them to listen to us but we are asking the Lord for help and we are being blessed.
I am so happy to hear about From Cumorahs Hill. I knew that it would be great. I am proud of you Dan for doing it. I wish i could have been there to see you in it but know that you are making me proud.
It is getting very cold here. The wind just blows like crazy. My face is very cold all the time. Especially riding my bike.
Well Utah better bring their A game this week. We have a target on us. Everyone will try and ruin our season so Kyle better get them prepared. I can't believe we are having such a good season. Keep it up. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well that is it for this week. All is going well. I am very happy. I love doing the Lords work. I am so greatful to be on his errand. I don't even know if it has really hit me that i am here. It is crazy. Things just happen so fast. I can't believe that Christmas is less than 2 months away. Time just flies by. Well i love this work. I love this gospel. True happiness is found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is amazing to see the impact it has on peoples lives. Missionary work is the best thing in the world. I love it. Thank you for all of your love and support. You guys are the best.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this past week we had Zone Conference. It was a great conference and i learned a whole lot. We talked about chapter 11 in Preach My Gospel and did a few role plays and it helped me out a lot. President Moffat talked to us at the end and he was amazing as usual. He really stressed the importance of obedience. He is very worried that since the mission is doing so well that the missionaries are getting prideful and aren't being as obedient as they should be. He got his point across very clearly and i am positive everyone got the message. He also talked about the spirit and how we can lose the spirit, how we get the spirit, and how we keep the spirit. It was a very very good talk. I love hearing from him because he teaches us so simply and so clearly. He reminds me alot of dad and how dad goes about things. It is great. I love Zone Conference.
Well this week has been a pretty good week. We continue to work with jordan and his mom. She is just not wanting to come back to church. It is really frustrating but we are working with her and i have total confidence in the Lord that we will get her back to church. We have found a lot of new people that seem pretty good. The ward has just made a huge emphasis on missionary work and the bishop here is starting to do a lot for us and so i think that the work will take off from here. I love the work. It is so great. So last week we were knocking this door and this girl answered the door. Elder Wright started talking and got as far as saying who we are and then she started laughing almost uncontrollably. We had no idea what was going on but she just walked to the back of her house and was back there for almost 2 minutes. Me and Elder Wright didn't know what to do so we just stood there and waited. Finally some older guy walks out and talks to us and even though he wasnt interested he still was nice and talked to us. It was a very funny experience and we laugh about it almost every day. Well other than that we are still looking for more people to teach. The people here are very hard hearted and it is difficult to get them to listen to us but we are asking the Lord for help and we are being blessed.
I am so happy to hear about From Cumorahs Hill. I knew that it would be great. I am proud of you Dan for doing it. I wish i could have been there to see you in it but know that you are making me proud.
It is getting very cold here. The wind just blows like crazy. My face is very cold all the time. Especially riding my bike.
Well Utah better bring their A game this week. We have a target on us. Everyone will try and ruin our season so Kyle better get them prepared. I can't believe we are having such a good season. Keep it up. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well that is it for this week. All is going well. I am very happy. I love doing the Lords work. I am so greatful to be on his errand. I don't even know if it has really hit me that i am here. It is crazy. Things just happen so fast. I can't believe that Christmas is less than 2 months away. Time just flies by. Well i love this work. I love this gospel. True happiness is found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is amazing to see the impact it has on peoples lives. Missionary work is the best thing in the world. I love it. Thank you for all of your love and support. You guys are the best.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Letter - October 21, 2008
Well hello family!!!! It was so good to hear from alot of you this week. It always makes me happy to hear from you. It gives me great comfort to know that you are all safe. I love all of you.
Well first things first... Best news of all the emails was.... yeah you guessed it. That team down south lost!!!!!!!!!!!! Now all the missionary fans won't have anything to say. That is always good. You would think a mission would change their thoughts and they would not be such a pain but they still are. I am happy to hear about Utah though and how well they are playing!!! GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So this week we have been pretty busy. It has been another slow moving week but we found a few people that have the potential to be pretty good. I can't remember if i told you last week or not but we are teaching a 9 year old boy named Jordan. His mom is less active but is very supportive of him getting baptized. We have taught him a couple times during the week and it has been great. We are trying to set a baptismal date with him on the 15th of November but he will be at his dad's house that weekend and so it is a little tough but we will do it. He just loves to learn and is so excited to read the Book of Mormon reader. He loves Nephi and i love teaching him. This work is great and we continue to find people to teach but they just don't seem to like to keep commitments. It is very devastating when people don't keep their commitments they have said they would. Now i know how frustrated people were with me when i was home. I have learned a great lesson on that and this wild adventure i am on right now has helped me learn alot about myself and just what kind of person i am. We did about 6 hours of tracting yesterday. It was a very long and tiring day. Not a lot of people spoke to us but we got a few people to listen to us and we have a couple people that seem interested. I just absolutely love this work. It is the greatest work in the world. I have been so blessed.
We have Zone Conference tomorrow. I am so excited for it. I always love Zone Conference because i get to learn and associate with all the other Elders. President Moffat is an amazing teacher and an amazing Mission President. I love him so much. He is such an example to me. I also love Zone Conference because we get to learn from the A.P'S as well. Elder Nordquist is an amazing missionary. I look up to him so much. He is a great example to all the missionaries in the mission. I don't want him to leave. I always try to pick up on some things that he does and apply them in my missionary work. We have become great friends and i love him.
Well England is still England. It still rains alot and it gets dark at about 6 o clock at night now. It is crazy. It is starting to get cold here and the wind blows like crazy. It just cuts through you. You can't really get warm. It is great though because we get to go out and do the Lord's work. The English people are out of control. They are so lazy. All they do is they go to work from 10 to 5 and then come home and go to the pub and get drunk. It is unbelievable. What Sister Harris' friend said is right. People are depressed over here. It makes it a little harder to do missionary work but i love the challenge. I still don't really know what i am doing but i learn something new each day. I love this work so much.
I am looking forward to hearing about From Cumorahs Hill. It has a lot to live up to from last time. Dan i am so proud of you for doing it and having a solo. Know that i am cheering for you even though i am a long way away. I love you bud.
I hope you had a good birthday Katie!!!!! I can't believe you are 2 years old now!!! I miss you and i love you so much. Keep being a good girl and don't forget your FAVORITE uncle over in England. I hope mom and grandma didn't spoil you too much. I hope to get pictures of you soon along with Cameron. Cameron i am so proud of you for going to pre school. You are such a good boy and keep loving school. You are a smart kid. I love you bud. Don't forget about me.
Well that is about it for this week. I love this gospel and i love all of you guys. You are the best family ever. I know that this work is ture and i am so greatful for this time in my life. It is amazing and the Lord truly does work miracles. The Church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well first things first... Best news of all the emails was.... yeah you guessed it. That team down south lost!!!!!!!!!!!! Now all the missionary fans won't have anything to say. That is always good. You would think a mission would change their thoughts and they would not be such a pain but they still are. I am happy to hear about Utah though and how well they are playing!!! GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So this week we have been pretty busy. It has been another slow moving week but we found a few people that have the potential to be pretty good. I can't remember if i told you last week or not but we are teaching a 9 year old boy named Jordan. His mom is less active but is very supportive of him getting baptized. We have taught him a couple times during the week and it has been great. We are trying to set a baptismal date with him on the 15th of November but he will be at his dad's house that weekend and so it is a little tough but we will do it. He just loves to learn and is so excited to read the Book of Mormon reader. He loves Nephi and i love teaching him. This work is great and we continue to find people to teach but they just don't seem to like to keep commitments. It is very devastating when people don't keep their commitments they have said they would. Now i know how frustrated people were with me when i was home. I have learned a great lesson on that and this wild adventure i am on right now has helped me learn alot about myself and just what kind of person i am. We did about 6 hours of tracting yesterday. It was a very long and tiring day. Not a lot of people spoke to us but we got a few people to listen to us and we have a couple people that seem interested. I just absolutely love this work. It is the greatest work in the world. I have been so blessed.
We have Zone Conference tomorrow. I am so excited for it. I always love Zone Conference because i get to learn and associate with all the other Elders. President Moffat is an amazing teacher and an amazing Mission President. I love him so much. He is such an example to me. I also love Zone Conference because we get to learn from the A.P'S as well. Elder Nordquist is an amazing missionary. I look up to him so much. He is a great example to all the missionaries in the mission. I don't want him to leave. I always try to pick up on some things that he does and apply them in my missionary work. We have become great friends and i love him.
Well England is still England. It still rains alot and it gets dark at about 6 o clock at night now. It is crazy. It is starting to get cold here and the wind blows like crazy. It just cuts through you. You can't really get warm. It is great though because we get to go out and do the Lord's work. The English people are out of control. They are so lazy. All they do is they go to work from 10 to 5 and then come home and go to the pub and get drunk. It is unbelievable. What Sister Harris' friend said is right. People are depressed over here. It makes it a little harder to do missionary work but i love the challenge. I still don't really know what i am doing but i learn something new each day. I love this work so much.
I am looking forward to hearing about From Cumorahs Hill. It has a lot to live up to from last time. Dan i am so proud of you for doing it and having a solo. Know that i am cheering for you even though i am a long way away. I love you bud.
I hope you had a good birthday Katie!!!!! I can't believe you are 2 years old now!!! I miss you and i love you so much. Keep being a good girl and don't forget your FAVORITE uncle over in England. I hope mom and grandma didn't spoil you too much. I hope to get pictures of you soon along with Cameron. Cameron i am so proud of you for going to pre school. You are such a good boy and keep loving school. You are a smart kid. I love you bud. Don't forget about me.
Well that is about it for this week. I love this gospel and i love all of you guys. You are the best family ever. I know that this work is ture and i am so greatful for this time in my life. It is amazing and the Lord truly does work miracles. The Church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Letter - October 14, 2008
Hey family it was great to hear from you again. I love hearing from you guys. You are the greatest family in the world. I am doing great over here. I love it so much. So much. I can't put it into words.
Well first things first. TRISHA WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. I was so excited. I really think it was the best day of my mission. It was so great to see how excited she was. When she came out of that water I'll tell you what, this incredible feeling of joy came to my heart. It was so amazing. I felt so good and i was so proud of Trisha for all that she has done. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost at the baptism and then on sunday she was confirmed. I stood in the circle and that same feeling of joy entered into my heart again. It was the best feeling. I definately want to baptize more people but if i don't Trisha made it all worth it. I have thought a whole lot about Doctrine and Covenants 18:15, "And if it shall be that ye bring save it be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy.'' Wow what a feeling. Other than that we have a few potential people who look good. We had a big finding day yesterday. We knocked doors for almost 6-7 hours. Very long day. I love it though. There is nothing better in the world.
Well Elder Wright is doing great. I really like him. He is very funny and always makes me laugh. He is good though and we are having a lot of fun together. No not all people from Boise are farmers. He lives in a normal house on a normal street. No farm.
Thanks for the sports update! It was great. I can't believe the Jazz are starting again. Deron is going to get the MVP this year and we are winning the finals. I am so glad that Utah is doing so well. I just knew that i would miss a great season. It sounds like Kyle still needs to get the offense moving but it sounds like we have an awesome team. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i hope that everyone has a great week this week. I hope that school is going well for everyone. Deb how is your class? You should have them draw me pictures and write me for art class one day. Hahaha. I can't believe Tom is a senior and that Dan is in 9th grade. Unbelievable. Keep up guys. I am so proud of you. I love you. Well thank you for all your love and support. It means so much to me. I know that the church is true. Missonary work is such an amazing work. I love it with all my heart. Don't ever be scared to share the gospel. Always find people for the missionaries to teach. It is such a blessing to be serving the Lord. There is no greater joy or happiness. There is no greater work. I love the Savior. He lives and i know that. I love all of you and i am so proud of all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well first things first. TRISHA WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. I was so excited. I really think it was the best day of my mission. It was so great to see how excited she was. When she came out of that water I'll tell you what, this incredible feeling of joy came to my heart. It was so amazing. I felt so good and i was so proud of Trisha for all that she has done. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost at the baptism and then on sunday she was confirmed. I stood in the circle and that same feeling of joy entered into my heart again. It was the best feeling. I definately want to baptize more people but if i don't Trisha made it all worth it. I have thought a whole lot about Doctrine and Covenants 18:15, "And if it shall be that ye bring save it be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy.'' Wow what a feeling. Other than that we have a few potential people who look good. We had a big finding day yesterday. We knocked doors for almost 6-7 hours. Very long day. I love it though. There is nothing better in the world.
Well Elder Wright is doing great. I really like him. He is very funny and always makes me laugh. He is good though and we are having a lot of fun together. No not all people from Boise are farmers. He lives in a normal house on a normal street. No farm.
Thanks for the sports update! It was great. I can't believe the Jazz are starting again. Deron is going to get the MVP this year and we are winning the finals. I am so glad that Utah is doing so well. I just knew that i would miss a great season. It sounds like Kyle still needs to get the offense moving but it sounds like we have an awesome team. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i hope that everyone has a great week this week. I hope that school is going well for everyone. Deb how is your class? You should have them draw me pictures and write me for art class one day. Hahaha. I can't believe Tom is a senior and that Dan is in 9th grade. Unbelievable. Keep up guys. I am so proud of you. I love you. Well thank you for all your love and support. It means so much to me. I know that the church is true. Missonary work is such an amazing work. I love it with all my heart. Don't ever be scared to share the gospel. Always find people for the missionaries to teach. It is such a blessing to be serving the Lord. There is no greater joy or happiness. There is no greater work. I love the Savior. He lives and i know that. I love all of you and i am so proud of all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Letter - October 9, 2008
Hello Family thanks for all the emails. They were great! Wow what an intense game a week ago. I am so happy we won. Louie for Hiesman!!!! He is so good. I am missing a great season but there is a greater work to be done than watching college football. Don't the jazz start up again soon? Didn't the season just get over like yesterday? Time flies by out here it is crazy. 6 months. Wow i can't believe it.
General Conference was amazing! I loved it. We were able to see all of the sessions except sunday afternoon. I enjoyed every session. I love hearing the Apostles and the Prophet speak. They are so powerful. Everyone who was watching had to have felt the spirit in some way or another. You can't not feel the spirit when they are speaking. I think i can apply all of the talks into my life. For the first time in a long time i really enjoyed Elder Scott and Elder Hales. They were amazing. So so powerful. I can't wait for the next conference! Everyone was asking me if it was my grandpa everyone was talking about. It made me very proud to know that my grandpa is looked up to by the Apostles and the Prophet. O how i love him. Thanks grandpa. You are a great example to me.
Well transfers happened yesterday. Elder Wear got transfered. It was sad to see him go. We had a great friendship and i got really close with him. The work moves on though and we will see each other again. I am now with Elder Wright. I am the Senior Companion and am very excited about this transfer. It will be a great transfer. He is from Boise and has only been out a transfer less than me. He is a funny kid and i think we will get along pretty well. Trisha is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!! I am so excited for her. She hasn't smoked in 2 weeks. It is incredible to see the change that the gospel has brought to her life. She is so much more happy and she is so ready to be baptized. I am so proud of her. Wow what a great work.
Well here is a pretty funny story that happened. So we went last Tuesday night to go teach a lady named Rachel. She is Rosemary's mom. She is in her 80's but has read almost the whole book of mormon. She can't hear very well and so we have to yell at her to get her to listen. It's pretty funny. Well we went and taught her and she would not shut up. She just kept tellin us story after story and i tried to get her to stop so we could teach her. Well she wouldn't so i decided to act like i was really listening and really loving her stories. She told us how she has seen 3 ufo's. I got really excited about it and just asked her a lot of questions about it. It was so funny. She continued to tell us that one day she was getting chased by green diamonds. Wow that was intense. We all started laughing right there and she didn't know that we were laughing at her. I had to get up and leave the room because i couldn't control myself. It was pretty funny. She kept referring to something and she would say well lets keep this between you me and the door knocker. I asked her who the door knocker was and she just laughed and then she proceeded to ask us if we wanted a lemonade about 5 times during the visit. It was a pretty good visit and we finally got down to talking about the Book of Mormon. Everything she was saying about it was right on. It was really wierd but that was my interesting story for the week.
I love this work. It is the Lords work. We need to do the things that we are commanded to do. I know that as we do our part the Lord will do his. '' I the Lord am bound when ye do what i have said, but when ye do not what i say, ye have no promise.'' The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is unbelievable what it does for people. I have seen it work miracles in my life and in other peoples lives. I love it with all of my heart. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of god. The Lord leads his church through him. I love the Book of Mormon and I love Joseph Smith. He did amazing things and i am so greatful for that. I love all of you. I am so thankful for all of your love and support. My time has run out. I need to go back to doing the Lords work. I love it with all of my heart.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
General Conference was amazing! I loved it. We were able to see all of the sessions except sunday afternoon. I enjoyed every session. I love hearing the Apostles and the Prophet speak. They are so powerful. Everyone who was watching had to have felt the spirit in some way or another. You can't not feel the spirit when they are speaking. I think i can apply all of the talks into my life. For the first time in a long time i really enjoyed Elder Scott and Elder Hales. They were amazing. So so powerful. I can't wait for the next conference! Everyone was asking me if it was my grandpa everyone was talking about. It made me very proud to know that my grandpa is looked up to by the Apostles and the Prophet. O how i love him. Thanks grandpa. You are a great example to me.
Well transfers happened yesterday. Elder Wear got transfered. It was sad to see him go. We had a great friendship and i got really close with him. The work moves on though and we will see each other again. I am now with Elder Wright. I am the Senior Companion and am very excited about this transfer. It will be a great transfer. He is from Boise and has only been out a transfer less than me. He is a funny kid and i think we will get along pretty well. Trisha is getting baptized on Saturday!!!!! I am so excited for her. She hasn't smoked in 2 weeks. It is incredible to see the change that the gospel has brought to her life. She is so much more happy and she is so ready to be baptized. I am so proud of her. Wow what a great work.
Well here is a pretty funny story that happened. So we went last Tuesday night to go teach a lady named Rachel. She is Rosemary's mom. She is in her 80's but has read almost the whole book of mormon. She can't hear very well and so we have to yell at her to get her to listen. It's pretty funny. Well we went and taught her and she would not shut up. She just kept tellin us story after story and i tried to get her to stop so we could teach her. Well she wouldn't so i decided to act like i was really listening and really loving her stories. She told us how she has seen 3 ufo's. I got really excited about it and just asked her a lot of questions about it. It was so funny. She continued to tell us that one day she was getting chased by green diamonds. Wow that was intense. We all started laughing right there and she didn't know that we were laughing at her. I had to get up and leave the room because i couldn't control myself. It was pretty funny. She kept referring to something and she would say well lets keep this between you me and the door knocker. I asked her who the door knocker was and she just laughed and then she proceeded to ask us if we wanted a lemonade about 5 times during the visit. It was a pretty good visit and we finally got down to talking about the Book of Mormon. Everything she was saying about it was right on. It was really wierd but that was my interesting story for the week.
I love this work. It is the Lords work. We need to do the things that we are commanded to do. I know that as we do our part the Lord will do his. '' I the Lord am bound when ye do what i have said, but when ye do not what i say, ye have no promise.'' The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is unbelievable what it does for people. I have seen it work miracles in my life and in other peoples lives. I love it with all of my heart. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of god. The Lord leads his church through him. I love the Book of Mormon and I love Joseph Smith. He did amazing things and i am so greatful for that. I love all of you. I am so thankful for all of your love and support. My time has run out. I need to go back to doing the Lords work. I love it with all of my heart.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Friday, October 3, 2008
6 MONTHS
Sam's been gone 6 months today! It seems like it's been longer, but at the same time, it seems like he just left. He's doing great as you all can tell from his letters. We know England is blessed because he's there. We all miss him and love him so much! WAY TO GO SAM!!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Letter - September 30, 2008
Hey familia how are you guys doing? It sounds like everything is going great there. I got the package you sent me with the scriptures so that was good. Thank you for that. I love them!!! Also good job Utes for pickin up the W this last weekend. Keep it up!!!!
Well this week was a pretty good week. We had interviews in Coventry and those went well as always. President Moffat once again continues to amaze me. He is a great mission president and a great example. I will miss him quite a bit when he leaves. My interview was very good and i learned a whole lot from President Moffat. At the end of interviews President Moffat came in where all the missionaries were and just yelled ''Elder Rudd, Elder Wear in my office right now.'' It scared the crap out of me and then he started laughing and said ''I got ya pretty good didn't i.'' It was typical President Moffat and so we went and talked to him and he told me that i was senior companion for this next week. He wanted me to experience that for a week and see how i did. So since friday i have been the senior companion. It has been a very humbling experience and i have learned alot from it. I hope i can continue to help this area grow the rest of the week.
Trisha is doing good. She hasn't smoked since Thursday!! It is awesome. Hopefully she is done for the rest of her life. She is scheduled to be baptized on the 11th of October so we are really pushing her. She has made a lot of progress. I am really really proud of her. She just needs to take that next leap of faith and rely on the Lord. We had an interesting thing happen in church on sunday. We were sitting in Elders Quorum and all of the sudden we see Rosemary walk in again. (She is the blanket lady.) She also had a friend. Apparently like half way into Relief Society the friend decided to try and light a cigarette. The relief society president saw her and took her outside and came and got us. We went outside and she just started to walk home. There were definately some screws loose in that head. She was crazy. We all had a pretty good laugh with that one. Other than that we haven't had to much more goin on. Just tryin to get the crazy and depressed english to accept the gospel.
I'm glad you got the memory card. Throwing those things out the window was so fun! It was a little slippery on the roof but we handled it ok. We had had a long day and it was pretty rough so we needed something to calm us down. It was very fun. Also the stuff in front of the door is the moldy bread that we threw out and it got rained on so it fell down onto the deck.
I can't believe General Conference is here again. That is crazy. I can't believe i only have 18 more months to go. It goes by too fast. I love serving the Lord and doing this great work. It truly is a great work. There is absolutely nothing else like it. I am so blessed and so honored to go and to share this gospel with people. I have come to really know that the church is true. If this wasn't the Lords work us 19 year olds would have already screwed it up big time. I love this gospel with my whole heart. I was walking down the street the other day and i just looked around and thought to myself how lost all these people are. They say they are happy but they really aren't. It just made me that much more grateful and motivated for this work. It is the best thing we can ever do.
Well that is about all for this week. Unless tiff didn't tell you it is transfers next week and i think Elder Wear is leaving so i probably won't email until Thursday. I love you all and i hope your doing well. I hope school is going well and that everyone is happy. I challenge everyone who reads this email to find someone for the missionaries to teach. Members of the church are full time finders, Missionaries are full time teachers. You don't understand how much a referral means to a missionary. I know all of you know someone who isn't a part of the church. Invite them to meet with the missionaries. I can promise you that you will be blessed more than you can imagine. I love being in the service of the Lord. I love the gospel and it really is the true church. Thanks for all your love and support.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this week was a pretty good week. We had interviews in Coventry and those went well as always. President Moffat once again continues to amaze me. He is a great mission president and a great example. I will miss him quite a bit when he leaves. My interview was very good and i learned a whole lot from President Moffat. At the end of interviews President Moffat came in where all the missionaries were and just yelled ''Elder Rudd, Elder Wear in my office right now.'' It scared the crap out of me and then he started laughing and said ''I got ya pretty good didn't i.'' It was typical President Moffat and so we went and talked to him and he told me that i was senior companion for this next week. He wanted me to experience that for a week and see how i did. So since friday i have been the senior companion. It has been a very humbling experience and i have learned alot from it. I hope i can continue to help this area grow the rest of the week.
Trisha is doing good. She hasn't smoked since Thursday!! It is awesome. Hopefully she is done for the rest of her life. She is scheduled to be baptized on the 11th of October so we are really pushing her. She has made a lot of progress. I am really really proud of her. She just needs to take that next leap of faith and rely on the Lord. We had an interesting thing happen in church on sunday. We were sitting in Elders Quorum and all of the sudden we see Rosemary walk in again. (She is the blanket lady.) She also had a friend. Apparently like half way into Relief Society the friend decided to try and light a cigarette. The relief society president saw her and took her outside and came and got us. We went outside and she just started to walk home. There were definately some screws loose in that head. She was crazy. We all had a pretty good laugh with that one. Other than that we haven't had to much more goin on. Just tryin to get the crazy and depressed english to accept the gospel.
I'm glad you got the memory card. Throwing those things out the window was so fun! It was a little slippery on the roof but we handled it ok. We had had a long day and it was pretty rough so we needed something to calm us down. It was very fun. Also the stuff in front of the door is the moldy bread that we threw out and it got rained on so it fell down onto the deck.
I can't believe General Conference is here again. That is crazy. I can't believe i only have 18 more months to go. It goes by too fast. I love serving the Lord and doing this great work. It truly is a great work. There is absolutely nothing else like it. I am so blessed and so honored to go and to share this gospel with people. I have come to really know that the church is true. If this wasn't the Lords work us 19 year olds would have already screwed it up big time. I love this gospel with my whole heart. I was walking down the street the other day and i just looked around and thought to myself how lost all these people are. They say they are happy but they really aren't. It just made me that much more grateful and motivated for this work. It is the best thing we can ever do.
Well that is about all for this week. Unless tiff didn't tell you it is transfers next week and i think Elder Wear is leaving so i probably won't email until Thursday. I love you all and i hope your doing well. I hope school is going well and that everyone is happy. I challenge everyone who reads this email to find someone for the missionaries to teach. Members of the church are full time finders, Missionaries are full time teachers. You don't understand how much a referral means to a missionary. I know all of you know someone who isn't a part of the church. Invite them to meet with the missionaries. I can promise you that you will be blessed more than you can imagine. I love being in the service of the Lord. I love the gospel and it really is the true church. Thanks for all your love and support.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
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