Hey there i hope that you had a good week this week. It is sad to hear that Utah lost. It sounds like we need a Quarterback change. At least we only lost by a touchdown and not 3 or 4 touchdowns. Haha. I was happy to hear that the team down south lost as well. That just makes me feel so much better.
Well this week we had Zone Conference at Gadfield Elm. It was awesome. I loved being there and seeing all of the church history sites around there. It was great. Zone Conference itself was good. There were a lot of changes made to the mission and to our focus. They are a lot different to what i have been used to and a lot of missionaries were not happy. I am going to do my best at following them and working hard at them. The changes had a lot to do with Less Actives and investigators.
Margaret is still going to get baptized on Saturday. She is so excited. She is the best little old lady i have ever met. I love her. She just takes everything in so well and then some of her old age kicks in and she forgets a few things but then when we review it with her she remembers it. Its great. Elder Bedke is going to baptize her and then i will confirm her. I am excited for her. It will be great.
Well this week was pretty good other than those things. Yesterday we went by some former investigators that we have prayed about and chosen. We went by one of them and they weren't interested. She said that the Book of Mormon is racist. Then the next one we went by didn't even live there anymore but we asked the lady that lived there if she would be interested and she said yes. She took a Book of Mormon and she said that we could come back. It was great. The Lord works in mysterious ways. That is what i love the most about the mission. You never know what the Lord has in store for you.
I am grateful to be out here. I really do love it. It is the best. There really is nothing better. When the time comes that i have to end this i will be devastated. I never want it to end. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. I know he lives. He is the only way. I love him so much. The gospel is so great. There is nothing better. I love sharing it with everyone. The Book of Mormon changes peoples lives. I have gained a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. There is no way that i could ever deny my testimony. I can never deny Jesus Christ. He has done too much for me and has suffered on my behalf. I love all of you so much. Your support and love mean the world to me. Thank you. This gospel is true.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Letter - September 15, 2009
Hey everyone!! It was good to hear from you and i hope that everything else is going well for you. It has been a good week but a tough week. I love it though. I wouldn't want it any other way.
This week was good. We continue to teach Margaret and she is the best. She can't wait to get baptized. She has already read through 2nd Nephi and she gives us something to eat everytime we go over there. It is great. She is still scheduled to be baptized on the 26th. So things are going well with her.
We are teaching a bunch of teenagers at the minute and they are really crazy. Everytime we go over to the house there are about 10 people over there and they all talk at once and they are always playing the Xbox. We are trying to get them moved out though so they can get baptized. They aren't really willing to do it so its going to be hard. We will do it though.
Susan is doing pretty good. She came to church and she is reading the Book of Mormon and praying. We just have to get her excited about being baptized. Hopefully we can get her to commit tonight.
We have Zone Conference this week. It is going to be at the Gadfield Elm Chapel again. We went there last year. It will be great. I loved it. I am just hoping that it doesn't rain while we are there. President Ogden is really excited about it so it should be good.
On Sunday night we were walking down a street and we both felt as though we should go and tract this one street. So we did. We ran into a less active member who wasn't interested in coming back to church but then we ran into another member of the church who has just recently been disfellowshipped this past summer. She is a great lady. About 27 or 28 years old. She told us that she really wants to come back to church but she just doesn't feel accepted or she doesn't feel that anyone will want her there. She was less active for a few months before she was disfellowshipped but we told her to come back to church this sunday. She is going to come with us so i am really excited about that. She knows that the church is true and she continues to read her scriptures every single day. I just hope that this can help her and that when she comes to church on sunday that she will feel loved and accpeted by the ward.
Well i hope that everyone has a good week. Congrats to Dan and Tiff for doing the triatholon. I don't know if i will join you. We will have to see. I am glad to hear that the Utes won again. They sound like they are struggling though. I hope Kyle gets them kicked into gear this week. They got a tough one against Oregon. They will win though.
I love you all and thank you for your support. The mission is the best. I love it. The church is true. I know it is. Jesus Christ lives. My testimony of him has grown so much since i have been out here. I love him. He is the only way. Thank you again for everything. You are the best.
Love, Elder Sam Rudd
This week was good. We continue to teach Margaret and she is the best. She can't wait to get baptized. She has already read through 2nd Nephi and she gives us something to eat everytime we go over there. It is great. She is still scheduled to be baptized on the 26th. So things are going well with her.
We are teaching a bunch of teenagers at the minute and they are really crazy. Everytime we go over to the house there are about 10 people over there and they all talk at once and they are always playing the Xbox. We are trying to get them moved out though so they can get baptized. They aren't really willing to do it so its going to be hard. We will do it though.
Susan is doing pretty good. She came to church and she is reading the Book of Mormon and praying. We just have to get her excited about being baptized. Hopefully we can get her to commit tonight.
We have Zone Conference this week. It is going to be at the Gadfield Elm Chapel again. We went there last year. It will be great. I loved it. I am just hoping that it doesn't rain while we are there. President Ogden is really excited about it so it should be good.
On Sunday night we were walking down a street and we both felt as though we should go and tract this one street. So we did. We ran into a less active member who wasn't interested in coming back to church but then we ran into another member of the church who has just recently been disfellowshipped this past summer. She is a great lady. About 27 or 28 years old. She told us that she really wants to come back to church but she just doesn't feel accepted or she doesn't feel that anyone will want her there. She was less active for a few months before she was disfellowshipped but we told her to come back to church this sunday. She is going to come with us so i am really excited about that. She knows that the church is true and she continues to read her scriptures every single day. I just hope that this can help her and that when she comes to church on sunday that she will feel loved and accpeted by the ward.
Well i hope that everyone has a good week. Congrats to Dan and Tiff for doing the triatholon. I don't know if i will join you. We will have to see. I am glad to hear that the Utes won again. They sound like they are struggling though. I hope Kyle gets them kicked into gear this week. They got a tough one against Oregon. They will win though.
I love you all and thank you for your support. The mission is the best. I love it. The church is true. I know it is. Jesus Christ lives. My testimony of him has grown so much since i have been out here. I love him. He is the only way. Thank you again for everything. You are the best.
Love, Elder Sam Rudd
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Letter - September 8, 2009
Hey there i hope that this week was a good one. It sounds like you had fun in St George. I am glad to hear that the Utes won. I hope to hear about 13 more of those. I am ticked off that the stupid team from down south won. They don't deserve it. Even though i am 6,000 miles away i still get so mad when i hear they win. And whats worse is i still get all the crap from missionaries. I wish President Moffat were still here to back me up. President Ogden is a fan of the other team. But we are still the conferecne champs and so that makes it all better. GO UTES!!!!!
This week was a good week. We had 5 people at church and they are all working towards baptism. We should be picking another one up for baptism this weekend as well. I LOVE IT!!! There is a lady who keeps coming to church. Her name is Susan. She was taught by the missionaries about a year ago in another area but the missionaries scared her off because she felt pushed. But she walked into church one week and told some members who she was but that she didn't want the missionaries to talk to her or anything. So the past few weeks we haven't talked to her about anything. Just the occasional hello when she gets to church. Well on Sunday the member that she is friends with came up to us and told us that Susan said she is ready to be taught and to see the missionaries. So i am really excited about it. What a blessing from the Lord.
We are teaching another lady who is about 80 years old. She is amazing. Her name is Margaret. We barely finished teaching about the restoration and she already knows that its true. I LOVE IT!!!! It is amazing. People like this are the best to teach. She is going to be baptized on the 26th of this month. This will probably go down in the record books as the oldest person i will baptize on my mission. It is great. This really is the Lords work.
We have Zone Conference next week which should be good. It always is. We are going to go bowling today as a Zone so i don't have a lot of time left. I hope i do well in bowling though. I hope i do as well as i do on the Wii.
Everything is great. The gospel is true. I love it so much. I love being a missionary. It is the best thing i have ever done. It is the hardest thing i have ever done but i wouldn't change it for the world. There are always people who ask us if we get paid for doing what we do. I say no and i wouldn't want to get paid. I love serving the Lord. His blessings are so much greater and are of so much more worth than money is. My mission has changed my life forever. I still feel like i am the same kid but i do know that my testimony has strengthened. I love all of you. Thank you for everything that you do. Jesus Christ lives! He is our Savior. I love him so much. I can't wait until the day comes when i get to see him again. This gospel is true and i wouldn't change it for anything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
This week was a good week. We had 5 people at church and they are all working towards baptism. We should be picking another one up for baptism this weekend as well. I LOVE IT!!! There is a lady who keeps coming to church. Her name is Susan. She was taught by the missionaries about a year ago in another area but the missionaries scared her off because she felt pushed. But she walked into church one week and told some members who she was but that she didn't want the missionaries to talk to her or anything. So the past few weeks we haven't talked to her about anything. Just the occasional hello when she gets to church. Well on Sunday the member that she is friends with came up to us and told us that Susan said she is ready to be taught and to see the missionaries. So i am really excited about it. What a blessing from the Lord.
We are teaching another lady who is about 80 years old. She is amazing. Her name is Margaret. We barely finished teaching about the restoration and she already knows that its true. I LOVE IT!!!! It is amazing. People like this are the best to teach. She is going to be baptized on the 26th of this month. This will probably go down in the record books as the oldest person i will baptize on my mission. It is great. This really is the Lords work.
We have Zone Conference next week which should be good. It always is. We are going to go bowling today as a Zone so i don't have a lot of time left. I hope i do well in bowling though. I hope i do as well as i do on the Wii.
Everything is great. The gospel is true. I love it so much. I love being a missionary. It is the best thing i have ever done. It is the hardest thing i have ever done but i wouldn't change it for the world. There are always people who ask us if we get paid for doing what we do. I say no and i wouldn't want to get paid. I love serving the Lord. His blessings are so much greater and are of so much more worth than money is. My mission has changed my life forever. I still feel like i am the same kid but i do know that my testimony has strengthened. I love all of you. Thank you for everything that you do. Jesus Christ lives! He is our Savior. I love him so much. I can't wait until the day comes when i get to see him again. This gospel is true and i wouldn't change it for anything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Letter - September 2, 2009
Hey there it was good to hear from you this week. I was happy to hear that Dan and Tiff were successful in their half marathon. They can count me out for next year though. There is no way that i can run a half marathon. I can barely run for 20 minutes out here. But maybe.
This will be just a quick email but i didn't get transfered and neither did Elder Bedke. So we are together for another transfer. We are happy about it because we have a few people that we are teaching and we have plans to baptize a lot this transfer.
We have found this really cool family to teach. We knocked on their door and they invited us in. It was awesome. Thier names are Priscilla and Mary. They are sisters and they just lost their dad about 3 months ago. They were really interested in the Plan of Salvation and we are going back tonight to teach them again. It was an answer to my prayers because i was praying that we would find someone who we could teach that would be normal and that would be really good in the church. I was really happy. I will let you know what happens with them.
Adrian still keeps drinking and smoking and he doesn't want to give up. We keep trying but it doesn't look like he will give it up anytime soon. He didn't come to church this week cause he was fishing with his son but he is coming again this week so we will see what happens.
We have 3 people committed to baptism for the 19th of this month. It is great. They are all about 18 years old. We just hope that they are serious about it and really want to do it. I hope that they do but you never know with the teenagers here.
I am excited to hear about the Utah game. I can't wait. I hope they have another good season. I hope Kyle can get them ready and that he can keep their heads in it. Gary Anderson will make Utah St a tough team. I think we got ripped though on our ranking. We should be a lot higher. I would think at least close to the top 10. But we will just have to go out and prove ourselves. I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well the mission is great. I love it more than anything. I wouldn't change it for the world. Time is going by very fast and i don't want it to. I wish that i could be a missionary for the rest of my life. It is the best. I love all of you and i am so thankful for each and every one of you. I love you and the gospel is true!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
This will be just a quick email but i didn't get transfered and neither did Elder Bedke. So we are together for another transfer. We are happy about it because we have a few people that we are teaching and we have plans to baptize a lot this transfer.
We have found this really cool family to teach. We knocked on their door and they invited us in. It was awesome. Thier names are Priscilla and Mary. They are sisters and they just lost their dad about 3 months ago. They were really interested in the Plan of Salvation and we are going back tonight to teach them again. It was an answer to my prayers because i was praying that we would find someone who we could teach that would be normal and that would be really good in the church. I was really happy. I will let you know what happens with them.
Adrian still keeps drinking and smoking and he doesn't want to give up. We keep trying but it doesn't look like he will give it up anytime soon. He didn't come to church this week cause he was fishing with his son but he is coming again this week so we will see what happens.
We have 3 people committed to baptism for the 19th of this month. It is great. They are all about 18 years old. We just hope that they are serious about it and really want to do it. I hope that they do but you never know with the teenagers here.
I am excited to hear about the Utah game. I can't wait. I hope they have another good season. I hope Kyle can get them ready and that he can keep their heads in it. Gary Anderson will make Utah St a tough team. I think we got ripped though on our ranking. We should be a lot higher. I would think at least close to the top 10. But we will just have to go out and prove ourselves. I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well the mission is great. I love it more than anything. I wouldn't change it for the world. Time is going by very fast and i don't want it to. I wish that i could be a missionary for the rest of my life. It is the best. I love all of you and i am so thankful for each and every one of you. I love you and the gospel is true!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Letter - August 25, 2009
Hey how is everyone? I can't believe that school is starting up again. It is crazy to think how fast time is going. It sounds like you had a good time in San Francisco so that is good.
This week has been a pretty good week. Dana and Dionne were baptized and they were really excited about it. I baptized Dionne and then on Sunday i confirmed Dana. It was my first confirmation and i felt like i did pretty well. It was the greatest feeling in the whole world. I love it when people feel the spirit and they are just excited to be baptized. The gospel is the greatest thing.
Well also at church we had Adrian. Before church he had to have a fag (cigarette) and he was smoking it kind of close to the chapel. This old lady in our ward comes up to him and tells him to put it out or leave the property. He asked why he had to and then they got into a little argument and Adrian walked off and said forget it. He walked away and then me and Elder Bedke just looked at each other and said that he will be back. Sure enough about 2 minutes later Adrian walks up. He was still a little mad but he decided to stay at church. He came in and he lasted the whole sacrament meeting. It was great. We think it was because we didn't sit by him so he couldn't talk to anyone really. I was happy about it. But Adrian is not getting baptized this week. He was supposed to but we couldn't get him to give up smoking and drinking. We have tried everything. It is tough. We just need to get him to have a desire to give it up. We will get there though.
Everything else is going pretty well right now. We have a lot of people that we are going to start teaching this week that seem pretty good so i am hoping that we can get them to progress. There is nothing that i want more.
This morning i was studying about Faith and Repentance. I was reading in Enos and i was amazed at what Enos did. He desired to have his sins forgiven and he gave everything he had to the Lord. He wrestled with God. God told Enos that it was because of his faith that he had been forgiven. If we don't have faith then we can't be forgiven of our sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know it is. I have felt it in my life so many times and the happiness and the joy that it brings to me is beyond comprehension. I know that the gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. He really did do all that he said he did. I love him. I am so grateful for my membership in the gospel. There is nothing better in this life. Thank you for everything that you do for me. You are my greatest support. I wouldn't be here if it werent for all of you. Thank you. I love you all. I hope you have a great week.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Just to let you know it is transfer week next week so i will email on wednesday. I will be surprised if either of us get transfered so expect an email on wednesday. i love you.
This week has been a pretty good week. Dana and Dionne were baptized and they were really excited about it. I baptized Dionne and then on Sunday i confirmed Dana. It was my first confirmation and i felt like i did pretty well. It was the greatest feeling in the whole world. I love it when people feel the spirit and they are just excited to be baptized. The gospel is the greatest thing.
Well also at church we had Adrian. Before church he had to have a fag (cigarette) and he was smoking it kind of close to the chapel. This old lady in our ward comes up to him and tells him to put it out or leave the property. He asked why he had to and then they got into a little argument and Adrian walked off and said forget it. He walked away and then me and Elder Bedke just looked at each other and said that he will be back. Sure enough about 2 minutes later Adrian walks up. He was still a little mad but he decided to stay at church. He came in and he lasted the whole sacrament meeting. It was great. We think it was because we didn't sit by him so he couldn't talk to anyone really. I was happy about it. But Adrian is not getting baptized this week. He was supposed to but we couldn't get him to give up smoking and drinking. We have tried everything. It is tough. We just need to get him to have a desire to give it up. We will get there though.
Everything else is going pretty well right now. We have a lot of people that we are going to start teaching this week that seem pretty good so i am hoping that we can get them to progress. There is nothing that i want more.
This morning i was studying about Faith and Repentance. I was reading in Enos and i was amazed at what Enos did. He desired to have his sins forgiven and he gave everything he had to the Lord. He wrestled with God. God told Enos that it was because of his faith that he had been forgiven. If we don't have faith then we can't be forgiven of our sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know it is. I have felt it in my life so many times and the happiness and the joy that it brings to me is beyond comprehension. I know that the gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior. He really did do all that he said he did. I love him. I am so grateful for my membership in the gospel. There is nothing better in this life. Thank you for everything that you do for me. You are my greatest support. I wouldn't be here if it werent for all of you. Thank you. I love you all. I hope you have a great week.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Just to let you know it is transfer week next week so i will email on wednesday. I will be surprised if either of us get transfered so expect an email on wednesday. i love you.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Letter - August 18, 2009
Hey everyone! I hope that your all doing well this week. I hope that Mom and Dad and Dan are having fun in San Francisco. Howcome we never went when i was home? I always wanted to go. Well i hope that you didn't eat too much shrimp and i hope that you were able to see the stadiums of the Giants and the 49ers.
Well this week was a tough week. It was a good week but really tough. We had 29 hours of finding and we got 54 other lessons taught and handed out 24 copies of the Book of Mormon. We worked hard but it seemed like we didn't get anywhere with our new people. We were happy that we did get our people at church. It is just so frustrating when people don't keep their commitments. We talk to like 100 people a day at least on the street and a lot of them say they will come to church but then they don't come. It is tough but all we can do is just keep working our hardest and doing all that we can. We know that the Lord will bless us.
Well i guess you will want to know about Adrian. He came to church again. He lasted about 5 minutes after the sacrament so it was a little bit of an improvement from last week. But all throughout sacrament meeting he was talking loud again and just laughing. He wasn't even drunk this time. He is just naturally loud. I was trying not to laugh too hard again but i couldn't hold it in. We went earlier in the week and bought him a suit and a shirt and a tie so he could wear it to church. Also earlier in the week we were at his house and one of his friends were there and he always just cranks up his music and one time we told him that we like John Denver so he always puts it on for us and he always puts the song Starborn in Aspen. (I think thats what its called). But we were over there this week and it is just crazy over there and all of the sudden he picks up this sledge hammer that he has for metal dectecting and just bangs it on the floor. I am surprised it didn't break but it was hilarious that he just lifted this sledge hammer up and just hit it on the ground as hard as he could. He is crazy and i will continue to have stories about him so i will let you know about them. We are supposed to go metal dectecting with him sometime so he can find treasures. Its pretty funny.
Dana and Dionne are getting baptized this Saturday. They passed their interview on Saturday so i am really excited about it. Dionne has asked me to baptize her so i will be doing that. Elder Bedke is baptizing Dana and then we are switching on Sunday to comfirm them. So i will be comfirming Dana. I never have confirmed someone before so i am a little nervous. Just pray for me that i will say what needs to be said.
Well the update on my foot is that my cast is off. I am back in my normal shoes. They said that i pretty much just have to tough it out because they can't really do a whole lot with a fracture. It still is hurting and my foot is still swollen pretty bad but they said that it will go down in about 2 or 3 months. That isn't that long... Ha when they told me that i was like are you serious? They just said that i will walk on it and it will keep breaking and then heal and then rebreak and then heal and it will gradually get better each time. So i just have to keep trying it out.
Even though i have told you about Elder Bedke a bit i will tell you some more. Elder Bedke is from Oakley Idaho. His family owns a cattle ranch with 1500 cows so he is a straight up cowboy. He played football in high school and was the Quarterback for his team. He is 6' 2" and weighs about 182 pounds. He has blondish brown hair and has the most adorable eyes you have ever seen. This is only his 2nd transfer on the mission and he is doing great. We get along great and we work great together. He plays basketball and he keeps saying that he can beat me but we will see when we play each other. I told him that i will still beat him on a broken foot. I will let you know how the games go. I don't know what else you want me to tell you about him but he has a great sense of humor and we laugh all the time.
This work is true. I love it with all of my heart. Jesus is the Christ and our Savior and Redeemer. I love him more than anything. I am so grateful for his atoning sacrifice in our behalf. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson leads this church today. Its true. My testimony is simple. I just know that it is true. I have the best family in the world and i am so grateful that i was brought up with the gospel in my life. People here are lost and when i see someone accept the gospel it is amazing. It truly is a miracle. I love it. I don't want to stop. I won't stop. I love you all. Thank you for everything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this week was a tough week. It was a good week but really tough. We had 29 hours of finding and we got 54 other lessons taught and handed out 24 copies of the Book of Mormon. We worked hard but it seemed like we didn't get anywhere with our new people. We were happy that we did get our people at church. It is just so frustrating when people don't keep their commitments. We talk to like 100 people a day at least on the street and a lot of them say they will come to church but then they don't come. It is tough but all we can do is just keep working our hardest and doing all that we can. We know that the Lord will bless us.
Well i guess you will want to know about Adrian. He came to church again. He lasted about 5 minutes after the sacrament so it was a little bit of an improvement from last week. But all throughout sacrament meeting he was talking loud again and just laughing. He wasn't even drunk this time. He is just naturally loud. I was trying not to laugh too hard again but i couldn't hold it in. We went earlier in the week and bought him a suit and a shirt and a tie so he could wear it to church. Also earlier in the week we were at his house and one of his friends were there and he always just cranks up his music and one time we told him that we like John Denver so he always puts it on for us and he always puts the song Starborn in Aspen. (I think thats what its called). But we were over there this week and it is just crazy over there and all of the sudden he picks up this sledge hammer that he has for metal dectecting and just bangs it on the floor. I am surprised it didn't break but it was hilarious that he just lifted this sledge hammer up and just hit it on the ground as hard as he could. He is crazy and i will continue to have stories about him so i will let you know about them. We are supposed to go metal dectecting with him sometime so he can find treasures. Its pretty funny.
Dana and Dionne are getting baptized this Saturday. They passed their interview on Saturday so i am really excited about it. Dionne has asked me to baptize her so i will be doing that. Elder Bedke is baptizing Dana and then we are switching on Sunday to comfirm them. So i will be comfirming Dana. I never have confirmed someone before so i am a little nervous. Just pray for me that i will say what needs to be said.
Well the update on my foot is that my cast is off. I am back in my normal shoes. They said that i pretty much just have to tough it out because they can't really do a whole lot with a fracture. It still is hurting and my foot is still swollen pretty bad but they said that it will go down in about 2 or 3 months. That isn't that long... Ha when they told me that i was like are you serious? They just said that i will walk on it and it will keep breaking and then heal and then rebreak and then heal and it will gradually get better each time. So i just have to keep trying it out.
Even though i have told you about Elder Bedke a bit i will tell you some more. Elder Bedke is from Oakley Idaho. His family owns a cattle ranch with 1500 cows so he is a straight up cowboy. He played football in high school and was the Quarterback for his team. He is 6' 2" and weighs about 182 pounds. He has blondish brown hair and has the most adorable eyes you have ever seen. This is only his 2nd transfer on the mission and he is doing great. We get along great and we work great together. He plays basketball and he keeps saying that he can beat me but we will see when we play each other. I told him that i will still beat him on a broken foot. I will let you know how the games go. I don't know what else you want me to tell you about him but he has a great sense of humor and we laugh all the time.
This work is true. I love it with all of my heart. Jesus is the Christ and our Savior and Redeemer. I love him more than anything. I am so grateful for his atoning sacrifice in our behalf. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson leads this church today. Its true. My testimony is simple. I just know that it is true. I have the best family in the world and i am so grateful that i was brought up with the gospel in my life. People here are lost and when i see someone accept the gospel it is amazing. It truly is a miracle. I love it. I don't want to stop. I won't stop. I love you all. Thank you for everything.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Letter - August 11, 2009
Hey there thanks for all of your emails. They are always great to hear. It sounds like everyone is doing well. It was a pretty exciting week this week and there are a few stories that i have to tell so get ready for them.
So on Saturday we go and we see this guy that we are working with at the moment. His name is Adrian. He wants to be baptized on the 29th of August. He is an alcoholic and is pretty much always drunk when we see him. Surprisingly though he remembers most of what we say to him. But anyways, we are teaching him on Saturday and when we get there he was having an argument with the guy who lives above him. The guy was getting mad at Adrian because he was playing his music too loud and it was disrupting him. (The walls here are like a piece of cardboard. You could hear anything through these walls.) But eventually it all calmed down and we went inside and started teaching. While we were in there all of the sudden the cops show up and they arrest Adrian right then and there. It was crazy. They didn't even say why they were arresting him or what the deal was. They just came in and did it. They didn't do anything to us but we were just left there at the house wondering what we do now and what just happened. It was pretty crazy but Adrian kept asking them what he did and they didn't say and then he asked us what he did and we just said nothing that we saw he did was wrong. But as he was getting in the police car he told us that he would see us at church on Sunday. Haha. So Sunday rolls around and we call Adrian. He is out of jail and he is coming to church with us. So we start walking to church with him and he has Elder Bedke hold his beer for him while he is smoking. We have only been walking for about 10 minutes and he starts complaining its too far so we call a member and he comes and picks us up. We told him that he will have to drink his beer fast cause he can't have it in church. But our member comes and picks us up and we just tell him that the guy is kind of drunk but he really wants to come to church so don't ask questions. So then we get to church and we have a black member in our ward and he was outside greeting people as they came in and so Adrian walks up and says "Oh is this the bouncer, haha." But we get him into church and it starts and this guy doesn't know how to be quiet. He could very well be louder than Russell. It was crazy. The opening hymn was The Lord is My Light. Adrian wanted to sing and so he did just that but you can imagine how a drunk person sings. Me and Elder Bedke have been laughing hysterically this entire time and we are both crying we are laughing so hard. So then the member of the bishopric gets up and does all of the ward business and reads a letter from the Stake Presidency. He was up there for about 5 minutes and when he sat down Adrian leaned over to us and said "Well that guy was boring. It's a good thing he sat down." So then the sacrament starts. He thought the whole time that there was wine at the church but during the sacrament his phone starts to ring. He answers it and just says "Hey im in church, i'll call you in a while." I never thought i could laugh harder. But then a member that was in front of us kept looking back and one time he told Adrian to be quiet and that was the wrong thing to say. He spoke in his normal voice and said to the member, "Whats his problem? Hey you have a mouth why don't you use it." We tried to quiet him down but it wasn't working so Elder Bedke took him out. It was like we were babysitting a little baby. It was hillarious. So we almost had a fight in church this week and it was really funny because Adrian keeps telling us that he doesn't blame the members for looking at him because he had paint on his pants and he didn't have a belt on. That was my exciting story for this week. Adrian should be at church again this week but we told him that he needs to lay off the beer. I will never forget that experience.
But on the more spiritual side we hit the standard of excellence again this week. That is two weeks in a row and i am really happy about it. We have set some pretty high goals this week for people at church and people with a baptismal date. We will have to work extremely hard to get it but i know that we can do it with the help of the Lord.
We have Dana and Dionne who are being baptized on the 22nd of the month. I am really excited about it and then we have Adrian on the 29th of August and then we have a couple more hopefully on the 5th of September. It is unbelievable what you can do with the Lord's help. I love this work more and more each day.
We have interviews this week with President Ogden. I am excited about those and i am looking forward to learning more from him. He is a great mission president and he will continue to help the EBM (England Birmingham Misison) be the EBM (Earths Best Mission). I love this work. I love the gospel. It is so true. Me and Elder Bedke talk about it every day and there is no way that it isn't true. It makes perfect sense. Its amazing. I love Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. This is his work. I love you all and i hope that you are all doing well. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
So on Saturday we go and we see this guy that we are working with at the moment. His name is Adrian. He wants to be baptized on the 29th of August. He is an alcoholic and is pretty much always drunk when we see him. Surprisingly though he remembers most of what we say to him. But anyways, we are teaching him on Saturday and when we get there he was having an argument with the guy who lives above him. The guy was getting mad at Adrian because he was playing his music too loud and it was disrupting him. (The walls here are like a piece of cardboard. You could hear anything through these walls.) But eventually it all calmed down and we went inside and started teaching. While we were in there all of the sudden the cops show up and they arrest Adrian right then and there. It was crazy. They didn't even say why they were arresting him or what the deal was. They just came in and did it. They didn't do anything to us but we were just left there at the house wondering what we do now and what just happened. It was pretty crazy but Adrian kept asking them what he did and they didn't say and then he asked us what he did and we just said nothing that we saw he did was wrong. But as he was getting in the police car he told us that he would see us at church on Sunday. Haha. So Sunday rolls around and we call Adrian. He is out of jail and he is coming to church with us. So we start walking to church with him and he has Elder Bedke hold his beer for him while he is smoking. We have only been walking for about 10 minutes and he starts complaining its too far so we call a member and he comes and picks us up. We told him that he will have to drink his beer fast cause he can't have it in church. But our member comes and picks us up and we just tell him that the guy is kind of drunk but he really wants to come to church so don't ask questions. So then we get to church and we have a black member in our ward and he was outside greeting people as they came in and so Adrian walks up and says "Oh is this the bouncer, haha." But we get him into church and it starts and this guy doesn't know how to be quiet. He could very well be louder than Russell. It was crazy. The opening hymn was The Lord is My Light. Adrian wanted to sing and so he did just that but you can imagine how a drunk person sings. Me and Elder Bedke have been laughing hysterically this entire time and we are both crying we are laughing so hard. So then the member of the bishopric gets up and does all of the ward business and reads a letter from the Stake Presidency. He was up there for about 5 minutes and when he sat down Adrian leaned over to us and said "Well that guy was boring. It's a good thing he sat down." So then the sacrament starts. He thought the whole time that there was wine at the church but during the sacrament his phone starts to ring. He answers it and just says "Hey im in church, i'll call you in a while." I never thought i could laugh harder. But then a member that was in front of us kept looking back and one time he told Adrian to be quiet and that was the wrong thing to say. He spoke in his normal voice and said to the member, "Whats his problem? Hey you have a mouth why don't you use it." We tried to quiet him down but it wasn't working so Elder Bedke took him out. It was like we were babysitting a little baby. It was hillarious. So we almost had a fight in church this week and it was really funny because Adrian keeps telling us that he doesn't blame the members for looking at him because he had paint on his pants and he didn't have a belt on. That was my exciting story for this week. Adrian should be at church again this week but we told him that he needs to lay off the beer. I will never forget that experience.
But on the more spiritual side we hit the standard of excellence again this week. That is two weeks in a row and i am really happy about it. We have set some pretty high goals this week for people at church and people with a baptismal date. We will have to work extremely hard to get it but i know that we can do it with the help of the Lord.
We have Dana and Dionne who are being baptized on the 22nd of the month. I am really excited about it and then we have Adrian on the 29th of August and then we have a couple more hopefully on the 5th of September. It is unbelievable what you can do with the Lord's help. I love this work more and more each day.
We have interviews this week with President Ogden. I am excited about those and i am looking forward to learning more from him. He is a great mission president and he will continue to help the EBM (England Birmingham Misison) be the EBM (Earths Best Mission). I love this work. I love the gospel. It is so true. Me and Elder Bedke talk about it every day and there is no way that it isn't true. It makes perfect sense. Its amazing. I love Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. This is his work. I love you all and i hope that you are all doing well. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Letter - August 4, 2009
Hey there it was good to hear from you this week mom and dad. Thanks for that. My foot is doing ok. I am still in the cast and it is pretty frustrating but i live with it. Elder Bedke just keeps pushing me around in the wheelchair. I feel really bad that he has to do it to. I just hope that i don't have to have it on too much longer.
This week was pretty good though. Even though i was in a wheelchair and in a cast we hit the standard of excellence. I felt really good about it. I still can't figure out why we were blessed with it but i am glad we were. There is a lady in the ward here in Nuneaton that was baptized about 6 months ago. She has a lot of daughters and then the daughters have a couple friends that are always over at the house. We talked to them and we play basketball with them every week and the two friends dana (pronounced donna), and dionne, came to church this week and are going to get baptized on the 22nd of August. We are really excited about it and can't wait. We almost picked up two of the other kids but they flaked out in the end. We will get them though.
We are also teaching an 8 year old girl who turns 9 on August 30. Her dad is a less active member and he wanted us to teach her. We have taught her a couple times and she is getting baptized on August 29. It is a great feeling. Her name is Amy so please keep her in your prayers.
We also had Zone Conference yesterday and it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. President Ogden is really good. He knows what he is doing. The transition is going well. I don't think he will change a lot of the rules and so it will stay pretty much the same. I love President Ogden and Sister Ogden. They are great.
Well i don't have a lot of time because we have a flat inspection in 15 minutes and we have to run back to the flat in a wheelchair. It should be fun. Thank you for all that you do. You are the best. I love you all so much. The gospel is true. It is so simple. I love sharing it with others. The joy i get from doing it is unlike anything else. I love it. I know that it is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I love him. The church is true.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
This week was pretty good though. Even though i was in a wheelchair and in a cast we hit the standard of excellence. I felt really good about it. I still can't figure out why we were blessed with it but i am glad we were. There is a lady in the ward here in Nuneaton that was baptized about 6 months ago. She has a lot of daughters and then the daughters have a couple friends that are always over at the house. We talked to them and we play basketball with them every week and the two friends dana (pronounced donna), and dionne, came to church this week and are going to get baptized on the 22nd of August. We are really excited about it and can't wait. We almost picked up two of the other kids but they flaked out in the end. We will get them though.
We are also teaching an 8 year old girl who turns 9 on August 30. Her dad is a less active member and he wanted us to teach her. We have taught her a couple times and she is getting baptized on August 29. It is a great feeling. Her name is Amy so please keep her in your prayers.
We also had Zone Conference yesterday and it was pretty good. I enjoyed it. President Ogden is really good. He knows what he is doing. The transition is going well. I don't think he will change a lot of the rules and so it will stay pretty much the same. I love President Ogden and Sister Ogden. They are great.
Well i don't have a lot of time because we have a flat inspection in 15 minutes and we have to run back to the flat in a wheelchair. It should be fun. Thank you for all that you do. You are the best. I love you all so much. The gospel is true. It is so simple. I love sharing it with others. The joy i get from doing it is unlike anything else. I love it. I know that it is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I love him. The church is true.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Monday, August 3, 2009
Letter - July 28, 2009
Hey there it was great to hear from you. I am amazed that mom is playing so much golf. That is a miracle. I guess our family has been blessed while i have been on my mission. Haha. I love you mom. Well not a whole lot has happened since the last email. We have probably done about 4 or 5 hours of work since i last emailed. I guess i should explain. So on Tuesday the 15th i woke up and my foot hurt. It was kind of painful to walk on but i kept walking on it and i was going to see if it would go away at all. It didn't and it stayed there for a week. I couldn't run on it at all and it was very very painful to walk on. I didn't talk to Sister Ogden until transfers which were last wednesday and she told me to see how it was for the next couple days and then call her and talk to her more about it. So Friday morning i was walking on it and it hurt more than usual and so i went home and called Sister Ogden and she told me to go get it checked to see if i had an infection. I definately knew it wasn't an infection. My foot was swollen pretty bad and it hurt to do anything. So we went to the hospital Friday afternoon and i ended up walking out of the hospital on crutches and with a cast on my foot. They took an x-ray of my foot and they found out that i had a hairline fracture in my foot. I was laughing the whole time the doctor was explaining it to me and telling me what i would have to do. I couldn't believe that they were going to put me in a cast. So yeah now i am on crutches and i have to stay in the flat pretty much all day and can only go to set appointments. I AM BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!! But after the hospital experience on Friday we had to go see a lady who wanted to be baptized and we taught her the law of chastity and we told her that either she or her boyfriend needed to move out. It took about an hour for me to get there and it started to rain and i can't get my cast wet so we knock on this random door and this lady answers and we ask her if we can come in for a second to get out of the rain and she said that she didn't want to talk about religion or anything and she started to shut the door. Then i said i need to cover my cast because my foot is broken and i can't get it wet. We won't say a word about our church. Then she let us in. But i am so sick of crutches. It is no fun. So that is about all that has happened this week. Nothing too exciting missionary work related. Although we did manage to do some tracting yesterday. We had a member come pick us up and then we went to the street we were going to tract and i sat on a chair on the sidewalk while Elder Bedke went and knocked doors for 2 hours. It started to rain. Pouring rain and there i was sitting on a chair with an umbrella. It was crazy. I keep thinking to myself that it is a dream but then i wake up and i still have a cast on my foot. We are getting a wheelchair though that we can push around so that will be nice. An old lady in the ward called up the red cross and got us a wheelchair. I told you that i would get old ladies to do things for me. Haha. Well i love you all and i hope that you have a great week. We won't be doing much again but hopefully we can still find people with the little amount of time we have. I know that the Lord will provide a way. I love the mission and i love the gospel. I know that Jesus Christ lives. O that reminds me of a story that happened on Sunday. We had a dinner appointment on Sunday after church. We went to the house and the member wasn't there yet but her husband was. He used to be a member but he had his name taken off the records of the church about 5 years ago. So we go in and we start talking to him. Wow what a guy. He told us about all his beliefs and how there were 18 aliens in America. Most of them were good ones but some of them were bad but they got rid of them. Also he said that he has been reincarnated 3 times and the first time he died he just was laying there and he died. The 2nd time he died he was riding an elephant and he hit a branch of a tree and fell off and was trampled to death. I asked him how he died the 2nd time and as soon as he said he had fallen off of an elephant me and Elder Bedke just busted up laughing. We couldn't help it. It was crazy. This guy was nuts. Then he said that he has seen Jesus twice. I was like "Really!? What does he look like?" So we pull out a restoration leaflet and show him a picture and he said he looked similar to the picture but he has jet black hair. We told him that he was pretty special then because all of these things have happened to him and we haven't had anything happen to us. It has just been a crazy week. But i love all of you and the gospel is true. I love it so much. You are the best family in the world. I hope to hear from you all soon.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Letter - July 22, 2009
Hey everyone how is it going? I hope you are all doing well. I am doing well and everything is going great. Well today was transfers and yes i got transfered. I didn't want to leave Lichfield. It was really hard to say goodbye to all of the members and to Elder Williams as well. I am now in a place called Nuneaton. It is about a half hour or 45 minutes away from Lichfield. It is in the same Zone as Rugby. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to go to Wales really bad. But i am excited to be here in Nuneaton. It will be a good experience. My new address is:
150 B Manor Court Road
Nuneaton
CV11 5HG
England
Write me soon. I haven't gotten mail for a really long time. Tell everyone else to write as well. My new companion is Elder Bedke. He is from Oakley, Idaho and he has only been out 1 transfer. He seems pretty cool so i will let you know how things go.
This last week in Lichfield was an alright week. We taught Mark. He is leaving for Portugal and he will be gone until the 29th of July so i had to say my goodbye's to him. It was tough. I am really sad that i won't be there for his baptism on the 1st.
We don't have a lot of time on the computer today but thank you for everything. It was really cool to have Sister Fairbanks at Church on sunday. I wasn't expecting it at all. I was happy though that she came.
That is about it for this week. I am so grateful for this mission. It is amazing. I learn so much each and every day. I love this gospel and everything about it. Jesus Christ lives. He really does. The gospel is so simple and so easy, we just make it difficult. I love serving the people of England. They are hard work but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love all of you and i am thankful for all that you do. I hope to hear from you all next week. Well i love you and the gospel is true.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
150 B Manor Court Road
Nuneaton
CV11 5HG
England
Write me soon. I haven't gotten mail for a really long time. Tell everyone else to write as well. My new companion is Elder Bedke. He is from Oakley, Idaho and he has only been out 1 transfer. He seems pretty cool so i will let you know how things go.
This last week in Lichfield was an alright week. We taught Mark. He is leaving for Portugal and he will be gone until the 29th of July so i had to say my goodbye's to him. It was tough. I am really sad that i won't be there for his baptism on the 1st.
We don't have a lot of time on the computer today but thank you for everything. It was really cool to have Sister Fairbanks at Church on sunday. I wasn't expecting it at all. I was happy though that she came.
That is about it for this week. I am so grateful for this mission. It is amazing. I learn so much each and every day. I love this gospel and everything about it. Jesus Christ lives. He really does. The gospel is so simple and so easy, we just make it difficult. I love serving the people of England. They are hard work but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love all of you and i am thankful for all that you do. I hope to hear from you all next week. Well i love you and the gospel is true.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
