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
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Letter - September 23, 2008
Hello there!!!! Thank you for the emails. They mean alot. I love hearing about everything that is going on. It makes me feel good to know that everyone is happy and safe. I love you all.
Well this week was a pretty good week. We had a baptism on Saturday. Her name was Jennifer Ferrell and she is 10 years old. She didn't get baptized when she was 8 but she comes to church every week and rarely ever misses. Since she was over the age of 9 she counted as a convert baptism. It was a great service. Also Trisha was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. President Moffat came teaching with us to her house and sorted the past concern out and now all she needed to do was give up smoking. She was doing great until yesterday. We call her at 7 in the morning every morning to make sure she doesn't smoke and then multiple times throughout the day. We talked to her at about 5 30 and then again at about 7 30 and when i talked to her at 7 30 she told me that she had smoked a couple hours ago. I was devestated. My heart just dropped and felt like it shattered into a million pieces. I told her that was not good and she said she knew. It really just broke my heart when she told me that she smoked. I honestly have not cared about an investigator as much as Trisha. She is a great lady. Me and Elder Wear both feel that way. We are going to teach her tonight with our new ward mission leader, (who reminds me exactly like Mark Hulet. It's scary. But he is exactly like him ), and we are just going to be bold with her and help her through it. It is so hard to see people not keep commitments that are so important. I want Trisha to be baptized so much because i know that it will bless her life so much. It will bless her family. I never thought that i could love people as much as i do out here. I really do care about all of our investigators. It is still hard to love everyone that i talk to because we meet some real winners and some real jerks but i pray for that help every time i pray. Also this week Rosemary, blanket lady, walked into church again. She is out of control. We didn't really understand what happened but we did not expect it at all. She walked in and then we asked her to be baptized on October 11th. She accepted and we stressed that it has to be different this time and that she needs to hold her appointments. Hopefully she will understand. We also found a guy named Lee and set a date with him on the 11th as well. Also BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!! WE FOUND ELVIS!!!!!!! HE IS STILL ALIVE!!!! DONT WORRY!!!!! THE KING IS BACK IN THE BUILDING!!!! Hahaha we found this guy yesterday who thinks that he is Elvis. He goes and does shows and immitates Elvis. He played a cd of him singing which was actually pretty good but he told us that one day he will make it big. He told us that he is the next best singer next to Elvis. It was pretty funny. I was laughing and also worried because this guy was nuts. That is our interesting story for yesterday. This week should be a good week. I am excited about General Conference but i'm not at the same time. That means that i only have 18 months left. Time absolutely flies out here. I remember Elder Nordquist told me that he had 9 months left when he got here and now he only has 3. It seems like yesterday that i was sitting in the MTC watching General Conference and watching our brand new prophet wiggle his ears. It is amazing how time goes.
WHAT IS UP WITH UTAH???? DISCIPLINE KYLE, DISCIPLINE. Why are we having so many penalties? I don't get it. You are right it is a good thing i am 10,000 miles away. Kyle would definately be hearing from me. That is great though that we are ranked again. I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i think that i have gotten everything you have sent me. I haven't gotten the package yet that you sent last week but im sure i will get it soon. I haven't sent that package home that i was going to a few weeks ago but i am today. Thats about it for this week. I am loving every minute of my service. I love it so much. Alma 29:9 sums it up. I love the gospel. It brings so much happiness into peoples lives. I think i took it for granted back home but i realize now more than ever how important it is. The gospel truly is the only way to true happiness. I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior and our redeemer. I love him more than ever. Joseph Smith truly is a prophet and he did look up and see through the trees Our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the Prophet Joseph. I know that Thomas S. Monson leads this church today. He is an inspired man. I love him. This gospel is so true and i love it with all my heart. I love all of you and i am so greatful for your love and support. You don't know how much it helps me and how much it means to me. I love you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. i cut my own hair and we don't have too many dinner appointments. I am still starving but you know that even if i eat i am still hungry. Send me some jif peanut butter. They have jars that say peanut butter over here but it ain't no peanut butter.
Well this week was a pretty good week. We had a baptism on Saturday. Her name was Jennifer Ferrell and she is 10 years old. She didn't get baptized when she was 8 but she comes to church every week and rarely ever misses. Since she was over the age of 9 she counted as a convert baptism. It was a great service. Also Trisha was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. President Moffat came teaching with us to her house and sorted the past concern out and now all she needed to do was give up smoking. She was doing great until yesterday. We call her at 7 in the morning every morning to make sure she doesn't smoke and then multiple times throughout the day. We talked to her at about 5 30 and then again at about 7 30 and when i talked to her at 7 30 she told me that she had smoked a couple hours ago. I was devestated. My heart just dropped and felt like it shattered into a million pieces. I told her that was not good and she said she knew. It really just broke my heart when she told me that she smoked. I honestly have not cared about an investigator as much as Trisha. She is a great lady. Me and Elder Wear both feel that way. We are going to teach her tonight with our new ward mission leader, (who reminds me exactly like Mark Hulet. It's scary. But he is exactly like him ), and we are just going to be bold with her and help her through it. It is so hard to see people not keep commitments that are so important. I want Trisha to be baptized so much because i know that it will bless her life so much. It will bless her family. I never thought that i could love people as much as i do out here. I really do care about all of our investigators. It is still hard to love everyone that i talk to because we meet some real winners and some real jerks but i pray for that help every time i pray. Also this week Rosemary, blanket lady, walked into church again. She is out of control. We didn't really understand what happened but we did not expect it at all. She walked in and then we asked her to be baptized on October 11th. She accepted and we stressed that it has to be different this time and that she needs to hold her appointments. Hopefully she will understand. We also found a guy named Lee and set a date with him on the 11th as well. Also BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!! WE FOUND ELVIS!!!!!!! HE IS STILL ALIVE!!!! DONT WORRY!!!!! THE KING IS BACK IN THE BUILDING!!!! Hahaha we found this guy yesterday who thinks that he is Elvis. He goes and does shows and immitates Elvis. He played a cd of him singing which was actually pretty good but he told us that one day he will make it big. He told us that he is the next best singer next to Elvis. It was pretty funny. I was laughing and also worried because this guy was nuts. That is our interesting story for yesterday. This week should be a good week. I am excited about General Conference but i'm not at the same time. That means that i only have 18 months left. Time absolutely flies out here. I remember Elder Nordquist told me that he had 9 months left when he got here and now he only has 3. It seems like yesterday that i was sitting in the MTC watching General Conference and watching our brand new prophet wiggle his ears. It is amazing how time goes.
WHAT IS UP WITH UTAH???? DISCIPLINE KYLE, DISCIPLINE. Why are we having so many penalties? I don't get it. You are right it is a good thing i am 10,000 miles away. Kyle would definately be hearing from me. That is great though that we are ranked again. I love it. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well i think that i have gotten everything you have sent me. I haven't gotten the package yet that you sent last week but im sure i will get it soon. I haven't sent that package home that i was going to a few weeks ago but i am today. Thats about it for this week. I am loving every minute of my service. I love it so much. Alma 29:9 sums it up. I love the gospel. It brings so much happiness into peoples lives. I think i took it for granted back home but i realize now more than ever how important it is. The gospel truly is the only way to true happiness. I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He is our savior and our redeemer. I love him more than ever. Joseph Smith truly is a prophet and he did look up and see through the trees Our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the Prophet Joseph. I know that Thomas S. Monson leads this church today. He is an inspired man. I love him. This gospel is so true and i love it with all my heart. I love all of you and i am so greatful for your love and support. You don't know how much it helps me and how much it means to me. I love you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
p.s. i cut my own hair and we don't have too many dinner appointments. I am still starving but you know that even if i eat i am still hungry. Send me some jif peanut butter. They have jars that say peanut butter over here but it ain't no peanut butter.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Letter - September 16, 2008
Hello how is everyone? I hope all is well there. It sounds like everyone is doing well and having fun. We just had our mission football (soccer) in coventry and it was pretty fun. We won two games and lost two. We should have won all of them but we just werent making our shots. It was a little disappointing but it was fun to be with all the missionaries. I scored a couple goals and people said i was one of the fastest kids there. I am going to be sore tomorrow though. I saw Elder Nordquist, Elder Landgren, and Elder Morgan. We got a picture together so you will get that sometime. So we have had a fun day.
Well this week was a good week. We had Zone Conference which was amazing and i learned so much from it. President Moffat is so inspired and i love learning from him. He puts things so simple and he truly cares about each and every missionary. The Zone Conference was on Chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel and i had to give a talk at it. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and finishing it before the end of the year. As we read it we are looking for all the references to the spirit. It is amazing to read the Book of Mormon. I love it with all of my heart. I know that it is true. I encourage all of you to read from the Book of Mormon daily. It makes your day so much better. Also during the week i think it was Friday, it absolutely poured. All day long it rained. It poured and poured and poured. Streets were flooding and it was not very good at all. I was so wet. I think it was the worst storm of my mission. We finally went back for dinner and i took everything out of my backpack and i took my scriptures out and they were absolutely drenched. They are not in working condition right now lets just say that. I would love it if you guys sent me a new set. I still have my small set so it will work but i pretty much need new scriptures ASAP!!!!! I don't care what color or style but i would prefer the medium sized set. I just need new ones. Also that night we were going to talk to a lady that we had spoken to earlier but we got to the house and no one was there. As we were walking away a guy was walking by and saw us and went inside and got a Book of Mormon. We taught him and he was a little drunk but i shared Helaman 5:12 with him and told him that if he gets his life in order and in line with God that satan would have no power over him. As soon as i said that he started to get tears in his eyes and we set up a return appointment. It was just amazing to see how the spirit works. I love it so much. I love missionary work. It is the best thing that we could ever do. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Thank you for the sports update. I need to have a talk with Kyle and tell him that he better get his team disciplined or else nothing good will happen. What is up with all the stupid penalties this year? Well i still love the Utes and i cheer for them every saturday. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still haven't gotten a lot of mail so if anyone back in Utah loves me i would love to hear from them. I am happy that you are enjoying From Cumorahs Hill. I wish i could do it again. I loved doing it. Well that is it for this week. I am having a great time out here. I am so happy and i love every minute of every day. Missionary work is the greatest. I love all of you guys and i hope that this week is a good week for all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well this week was a good week. We had Zone Conference which was amazing and i learned so much from it. President Moffat is so inspired and i love learning from him. He puts things so simple and he truly cares about each and every missionary. The Zone Conference was on Chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel and i had to give a talk at it. We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission and finishing it before the end of the year. As we read it we are looking for all the references to the spirit. It is amazing to read the Book of Mormon. I love it with all of my heart. I know that it is true. I encourage all of you to read from the Book of Mormon daily. It makes your day so much better. Also during the week i think it was Friday, it absolutely poured. All day long it rained. It poured and poured and poured. Streets were flooding and it was not very good at all. I was so wet. I think it was the worst storm of my mission. We finally went back for dinner and i took everything out of my backpack and i took my scriptures out and they were absolutely drenched. They are not in working condition right now lets just say that. I would love it if you guys sent me a new set. I still have my small set so it will work but i pretty much need new scriptures ASAP!!!!! I don't care what color or style but i would prefer the medium sized set. I just need new ones. Also that night we were going to talk to a lady that we had spoken to earlier but we got to the house and no one was there. As we were walking away a guy was walking by and saw us and went inside and got a Book of Mormon. We taught him and he was a little drunk but i shared Helaman 5:12 with him and told him that if he gets his life in order and in line with God that satan would have no power over him. As soon as i said that he started to get tears in his eyes and we set up a return appointment. It was just amazing to see how the spirit works. I love it so much. I love missionary work. It is the best thing that we could ever do. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Thank you for the sports update. I need to have a talk with Kyle and tell him that he better get his team disciplined or else nothing good will happen. What is up with all the stupid penalties this year? Well i still love the Utes and i cheer for them every saturday. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still haven't gotten a lot of mail so if anyone back in Utah loves me i would love to hear from them. I am happy that you are enjoying From Cumorahs Hill. I wish i could do it again. I loved doing it. Well that is it for this week. I am having a great time out here. I am so happy and i love every minute of every day. Missionary work is the greatest. I love all of you guys and i hope that this week is a good week for all of you.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Letter - September 9, 2008
Hey family how is everyone? I was glad to hear from all of you this week. I don't have a lot of time on the computer today so this may not be very long so i apologize for that.
Well this week has been just an ordinary week. Not a whole lot of exciting things. We have Zone Conference on Thursday in Birmingham so i am excited about that. Trisha is making a lot of progress. She didn't come to church on sunday because her son didn't want to go and she doesn't like to leave him home alone so she didn't come but she is getting alot better and we are planning on setting a baptismal date with her again. I am confident all will go well. We still haven't made contact with Rosemary and it is pretty frustrating so we have decided not to go by her unless we are in the area or see her on the street. We will get her back though. We found a few more people yesterday that seem pretty good so this week is looking good. I am excited for it.
We worked with the Zone Leaders this week and it was really good because i learned a lot of new things. They helped us realize some things and we have really worked hard at doing the things that they asked us to do.
The computers here are messed up so hopefully we can get on to another computer and email. But we only got like 20 minutes so this one is really short. I love being a missionary. It has been a tough week and a real faith trying week but i know that the Lord will help us and we will see success. The greatest joys in my life so far have been on this mission. There is nothing greater. I love this gospel. I love all of you and i want to thank you for all of your support. It means a lot to me. I love you and i look forward to hearing from you again.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well this week has been just an ordinary week. Not a whole lot of exciting things. We have Zone Conference on Thursday in Birmingham so i am excited about that. Trisha is making a lot of progress. She didn't come to church on sunday because her son didn't want to go and she doesn't like to leave him home alone so she didn't come but she is getting alot better and we are planning on setting a baptismal date with her again. I am confident all will go well. We still haven't made contact with Rosemary and it is pretty frustrating so we have decided not to go by her unless we are in the area or see her on the street. We will get her back though. We found a few more people yesterday that seem pretty good so this week is looking good. I am excited for it.
We worked with the Zone Leaders this week and it was really good because i learned a lot of new things. They helped us realize some things and we have really worked hard at doing the things that they asked us to do.
The computers here are messed up so hopefully we can get on to another computer and email. But we only got like 20 minutes so this one is really short. I love being a missionary. It has been a tough week and a real faith trying week but i know that the Lord will help us and we will see success. The greatest joys in my life so far have been on this mission. There is nothing greater. I love this gospel. I love all of you and i want to thank you for all of your support. It means a lot to me. I love you and i look forward to hearing from you again.
Love Elder Sam Rudd
P.S. GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Letter - September 2, 2008
Hey family how are you doing? It was good to hear from you again as always and it sounds like all of you are doing well. It always makes me feel better when i know that you guys are safe, healthy, and having fun.
Well first things first...We were tracting on Sunday and all of the sudden i look at my watch and it said the 31st and i was like wait its already August. Football probably started this weekend. Wow time flies. It seems like it just got over. Did Asiata start or did Mack? Did Mack play and if so how did he do? Did he pick up right where he left off from? Well anyways make sure that they don't fly over to Hawaii again to celebrate and leave the practice squad to play against UNLV. They better get fired up. Are we ranked at all? Was Michigan ranked? Well i love it!! GO UTES!!!!!!!! (I will have to tell President Moffat about that one. He is a HUGE Utah fan!!!) Keep me updated on all sports.
Well on Sunday we went and heard L. Tom Perry speak in Birmingham. It was awesome!! He is so powerful. When he was just speaking normally he was just like he is in General Conference. But wow when he bore testimony he raised his voice a little and the spirit just filled the room. It was so amazing to see and hear an apostle of the Lord bear testimony of the reality of the Gospel. He is on a tour of Europe and some of the missions as well. He brought Elder Rasband with him as well and so he spoke. It was a great meeting. I loved it so much. After the meeting i went up on the stand and shook hands with Elder Rasband and told him that he had come to stake conference a couple years ago. He asked me which stake and he said that is a great great stake and he said to tell dad hi. After that Elder Perry was making his way out of the chapel and i caught him and put my arm around him and said to him Elder Perry i enjoyed your talk. It was great. Then he said are you related to the "famous Rudd" and i said yes he is my Grandpa and he said wonderful. Then he had to leave. But it was amazing to talk to an Apostle and shake his hand. The spirit just glows off of him and he is one amazing man.
Well this week was full of interesting things. Trisha was supposed to be getting interviewed for baptism on Saturday so we went and taught her on friday and reviewed the questions with her. I asked her a question and a concern came up. It was not a good one. We had to call President Moffat about it and things just didn't go to well. Our district leader came and did the interview as usual on Saturday and when it came to that question she flipped out and we told her that she had to meet with President Moffat before she could be baptized. Everything went downhill from there and she didn't want to come to church anymore and she just went crazy. So Trisha's baptism for this Saturday had to be pushed because of it. We had to go back Sunday and pretty much build our relationship back up with her. That didn't go too well. She didn't talk alot but when she did she yelled and yelled at us. We went by last night and it was alot better. She was talking to us and laughing with us so we think she has felt the spirit pretty strong and hopefully something has changed. It was pretty intense. Rosemary aka blanket lady is wierd. I don't think she realizes she needs to be taught and give things up before she is baptized. We have tried to make contact with her but no luck. Hopefully we will today. I really hope she gets baptized because it will be a great blessing in her life. Well thats about all for this week. It has been a somewhat disappointing week but the work moves on and we will try to resolve some concerns. It is great. I love it. This work is inspired of God and we have to be in tune with the spirit 100% or else its not effective. I have learned so much since i have been out here and i continue to learn and grow each day. I have learned so much about myself and just how important the gospel really is. It is amazing what missions do for people. Best time of my life. No doubt about it. I hope i am making you guys, our ward, our stake, but most importantly the Lord proud. I am working hard and working on improving every day. There is nothing greater. I love you guys and i do miss you but i love being on the Lords errand. I will forever be in debt to him. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today. I know that the Apostles are real and that they along with the prophet are the most powerful men on the earth. It is so comforting to know that. I love to see the gospel change lives. It is the greatest joy ever. I love you. The church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
Well first things first...We were tracting on Sunday and all of the sudden i look at my watch and it said the 31st and i was like wait its already August. Football probably started this weekend. Wow time flies. It seems like it just got over. Did Asiata start or did Mack? Did Mack play and if so how did he do? Did he pick up right where he left off from? Well anyways make sure that they don't fly over to Hawaii again to celebrate and leave the practice squad to play against UNLV. They better get fired up. Are we ranked at all? Was Michigan ranked? Well i love it!! GO UTES!!!!!!!! (I will have to tell President Moffat about that one. He is a HUGE Utah fan!!!) Keep me updated on all sports.
Well on Sunday we went and heard L. Tom Perry speak in Birmingham. It was awesome!! He is so powerful. When he was just speaking normally he was just like he is in General Conference. But wow when he bore testimony he raised his voice a little and the spirit just filled the room. It was so amazing to see and hear an apostle of the Lord bear testimony of the reality of the Gospel. He is on a tour of Europe and some of the missions as well. He brought Elder Rasband with him as well and so he spoke. It was a great meeting. I loved it so much. After the meeting i went up on the stand and shook hands with Elder Rasband and told him that he had come to stake conference a couple years ago. He asked me which stake and he said that is a great great stake and he said to tell dad hi. After that Elder Perry was making his way out of the chapel and i caught him and put my arm around him and said to him Elder Perry i enjoyed your talk. It was great. Then he said are you related to the "famous Rudd" and i said yes he is my Grandpa and he said wonderful. Then he had to leave. But it was amazing to talk to an Apostle and shake his hand. The spirit just glows off of him and he is one amazing man.
Well this week was full of interesting things. Trisha was supposed to be getting interviewed for baptism on Saturday so we went and taught her on friday and reviewed the questions with her. I asked her a question and a concern came up. It was not a good one. We had to call President Moffat about it and things just didn't go to well. Our district leader came and did the interview as usual on Saturday and when it came to that question she flipped out and we told her that she had to meet with President Moffat before she could be baptized. Everything went downhill from there and she didn't want to come to church anymore and she just went crazy. So Trisha's baptism for this Saturday had to be pushed because of it. We had to go back Sunday and pretty much build our relationship back up with her. That didn't go too well. She didn't talk alot but when she did she yelled and yelled at us. We went by last night and it was alot better. She was talking to us and laughing with us so we think she has felt the spirit pretty strong and hopefully something has changed. It was pretty intense. Rosemary aka blanket lady is wierd. I don't think she realizes she needs to be taught and give things up before she is baptized. We have tried to make contact with her but no luck. Hopefully we will today. I really hope she gets baptized because it will be a great blessing in her life. Well thats about all for this week. It has been a somewhat disappointing week but the work moves on and we will try to resolve some concerns. It is great. I love it. This work is inspired of God and we have to be in tune with the spirit 100% or else its not effective. I have learned so much since i have been out here and i continue to learn and grow each day. I have learned so much about myself and just how important the gospel really is. It is amazing what missions do for people. Best time of my life. No doubt about it. I hope i am making you guys, our ward, our stake, but most importantly the Lord proud. I am working hard and working on improving every day. There is nothing greater. I love you guys and i do miss you but i love being on the Lords errand. I will forever be in debt to him. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today. I know that the Apostles are real and that they along with the prophet are the most powerful men on the earth. It is so comforting to know that. I love to see the gospel change lives. It is the greatest joy ever. I love you. The church is true!!!
Love Elder Sam Rudd
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