A REGULAR WEEK #15

A REGULAR WEEK#15

    I am a little behind in my writing the blog this week, but would like to tell you a little any way or a lot which ever!!!

    We have learned a lot about how our mission assignment works and what we need to do. One of the assignments is to love and encourage the students to love the Lord and do his will at all times—we have some great experience with these young  people. I have gotten to know Kayla Halloway , she talks to me before church or after class  she has a neat story and she loves the  gospel. Then there is Veronica- a convert of 3 years serving has the Relief Society Pres., Melissa Compton, Kassy Stuk , Lily Johnson, Rachale Tolman, Nadia Valdez and more young beautiful women. I am also impressed  with the strength of the young men leaders- Sean Smith, Zach Logan, Robert Jeans--grandson of Bob Jeans who was baptized by  Elder Judd 49 years ago, Mathew Walker-who is putting his papers in to serve a mission( he is a little older than the young 18 year olds but has a strong testimony), Mike Watkins- recent convert- who shows great leadership abilities and many more who will some day run with the leadership of this church.
    Supper on Thursday night was a dish called Ziti. Everyone knew what it was but me.  The secretary of the Mission office gave me a super easy recipe which I was grateful for. It made a heaping 9 x13 pan—I only had to make 4 pans for the group to eat. They ate it all plus the chocolate and white Texas sheet cake I made.  (Tricia gave me this recipe for the white Texas sheet cake and it was really good).  It is fun to see them enjoy this dinner even though it is served at 8:30pm. It also brings the missionaries out too.  By the time the meal is eaten and cleaned up I am really tired, but the night is not over with because the YSA will play a rousing game of volley ball for about 1hour longer. No I don’t play but it is fun to watch.

   We went to the Bishop Storehouse on Saturday with the YSA. Every few months they are assigned to help put items away in the warehouse. It happened that this Saturday an extra shipment came in. (In our Bishop Storehouse in Ogden this work is done by missionaries). We started at 7:30am and finished at 9:30am.  We were blessed to have 14 YSA members come and help in this assignment. We bagged fresh fruit and vegetable, put milk in the coolers, moved lots of boxes, the young men jumped on the storage shelves and moved boxes to fit the new arrivals.  It was fun to see the workings of the church with the young people helping out.   Elder Gustafson  was surprised that so many young  people came at that time in the morning.  He worked hard at keeping everyone busy—I think that he  was really tired at the end of that day.   It was a great experience working with the youth of the church.

Elder Judd:

   My classes went well this past week and the numbers are holding well or increasing slightly. I had about  10 in the Isaiah and the Latter Days on Monday and 14 in my mission prep class this last Thursday.  My lesson was on the importance of missionaries using their time wisely. I invited two of our sister missionaries (Sisters Howard and Miller, sister Howard reminds us of Megan, our oldest grand-daughter. They could be sisters they look so much alike.) to talk about how they find investigators and to share some of their experiences. They did a great job and the Spirit was in class very strongly, especially when they bore their testimonies.

   The missionaries here are absolutely amazing. They are dedicated, hard working and spiritually committed young people. They really follow the Spirit in their efforts and we can often see the Lord’s hand in their efforts and success. They have great faith and the Spirit shines thru their faces like a beacon.

   Fernando came to the mission prep class a little late and was very upset. We learn later that his mother had threatened to kill herself if he did not return home soon. That threat really upset Fernando, understandably. At the close of the class Fernando asked to bare his testimony and he stood and bore a powerful testimony of the truth of the Gospel that has made him so happy and given him so much to be grateful for.  He told the class that they should be thankful that they have family that supports them and also loves the Restored Gospel.  He wept as he spoke and asked for their prayers for he knows the truth and wants to be able to serve a mission but knows that his parents are not supportive.  Everyone in the class was touched deeply. Fernando has been pressured by his parents to return home which he is going to do around the first of August. I know that it is the intention of his parents to influence his direction against the Church and his desire to serve a mission instead of pursuing being certified as a helicopter pilot. His conversion has changed his course 189%. Friday morning at about 4:30 am I woke up thinking about Fernando’s situation.  My thoughts focused on the mission of Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni to the Lamanites in the Book of Alma chapters 17-26.  As I thought about them and Fernando I realized that what he was facing somewhat the same kind of situation as they did as he returns to his family in Columbia. I was impressed to have Fernando read and ponder these chapters and see himself in a similar situation as they were in. I know that the Lord will bless and sustain him as He has the four sons of Mosiah.  I shared this with Fernando on Friday afternoon and challenged him to read and ponder those chapters for they would help him in the days ahead.  He immediately understood the message and committed to reading and pondering those chapters. As I spoke with him today, he said that he understands the similarities and can see what he needs to do. I promised him that he would not be alone and that one of the first things he should do when he gets back home is to look up the Church and its  members.  Once you are a member of the Church, you have family all over the world. I believe that Fernando’s faith is strong and that he has a great work to do in Columbia both with his family and his countrymen.

   Later on Sunday Fernando told us that he went to the bishop and asked for a blessing to help him through this difficult situation.  The next day we saw him and he totally looked at peace. We asked him what had happen and he told us that in the blessing the Lord told him to honor his parents and show gratitude for being their son. So now he will go home get active in his ward in Columbia and show his parents how the gospel helps him to be happy.  I am sure he will bear his testimony often to them, He will be able to come back to the US and obtain his certification at being a helicopter pilot at later time.

the tent

  The FHE was pretty fun last week we had a movie night watching Johnny Lingo and the the Phonebook.  It was a pretty old video but has a great message.  A lot of young people  do not like these movies  because they are not up to date. Popcorn and elcairs  what more would you want.  I thought it was fun.

under the tent

eclairs by Sister French

   We are doing pretty good living in this little apartment. We come home from the end of the day and crash grateful we have a place to come to. We have seen some pretty heavy storms here in this area.  I am still working on transferring videos maybe next time!!

 Thanks  for being such a great family  and great friends. 

SUNDAY #14

Sunday #14

     THE SIGNS ARE STARTING TO WORK‼  and they have only  been up 1 week. During the week we learned from the sister missionaries that at least two people have asked for building tours because of these signs. Hopefully they will work even more when the fall semester comes. I hope that is just the beginning.‼!  Elder Judd will start working on the pillar signs telling everyone that this is the Institute of Religion.  We want everyone to know who we are.

    My choice for last Thursday’s meal was a rice, black bean, corn and chicken dish served on corn chips with salsa  and sour cream and a peanut butter bar for dessert.  All day long I stewed about how awful it was looking and smelling. Elder Judd loved the way it smelled and looked. It had taco seasoning, onion and chicken bullion in it.  However, I was still gagging as I cooked it When it was served we thought the students were going to knock us down getting to it and then they ate it all.  That didn’t help my feeling about it and Elder Judd was sad that there were no left-overs.  Apparently, people here in Florida like a lot of beans and rice. Who would have guessed???  Sister Tollerton(Mission secretary) said it was like a Cuban dish..

  We did not leave the Institute on Thursday till about 11 pm and we were both really tired.  I cook the meal for the students, Elder Judd teaches, we set up  the meal, clean up, socialize with the students and  then Elder Judd plays volley ball until 10:30 or 11pm I watch from the side line.  The students have a great time with the volley ball, everyone who wants to plays which is usually 24 individuals plays.  It is fun to watch them interact with one another.

  We are getting rain shower generally every day with lightening and thunder.  I know everyone told us about this but is so unusual.  Half the time the sun shines in one area while it is cloudy in another.  Some people say there front yard is sunny and the back yard is being rained on.  And it is true‼

Elder Judd classes:

Missionary Prep went well- the subject was how faith grows and the importance of physical and emotional preparation is important.  Elder and Sister Severinson helped in this discussion.  The Isaiah class went really well because he involved the students more in learning about the prophecies about the latter days.  Elder Judd has about 10-15 regularly attending both classes and that is really a sign. He loves to teach‼

Elder Judd:

 We left for Orlando and our meeting with Florida’s early morning Seminary teachers, about 120 of them.  There was an opening session by Brother Patrick and then three sessions to choose from each hour for three hours.  I taught two of those sessions with power point on the subject of  “The Importance of the Background and Setting of the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants.” Sister Judd said it went very well.  I am so grateful to the Lord for the inspiration of that subject with came to me as I pondered what I should do in this assignment. I am also grateful for the work on that subject that I have done over the years in preparing and teaching the D&C in the Stake Adult Religion classes.  I have the testimony of the importance of the D&C’s background and setting. After the meeting, Sister Judd and I stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner before driving back to Tampa. This week exhausted us so we sat down at the apartment and watched a movie to relax.

Sunday, we drove to New Port Richey to attend Sacrament meeting where Parker Jeans gave his farewell talk before leaving for his mission to the Idaho Nampa Mission. Parker is the grandson of Bob and Jan Jeans who I baptized in 1965 on my mission in New Hampshire.  That was a joy to see the fruits of a success so many years ago.

At the close of class on Monday Fernando, who was baptized just two weeks was struggling with the mandate that his parents had given him. They threatened to cut off his support if he was determined to serve a mission.  Unknown to us, Fernando began fasting and pleading with the Lord that he could have help to get his parents to change their minds.  I know that he fasted at least three days this past week. He is truly a young man of great faith.  I encouraged him and testified that the Lord could do more for him behind the scenes that he could up front if he remained faithful and sought the Lord’s help. On Thursday, as he came in for class, he was very upbeat. His mother was so upset over Fernando’s baptism and plans for a mission she was not eating and getting sick. He said that his parent’s had called a close friend in another city for advise of what to do about their son. This friend is a very well known writer in Columbia, an announced atheist. When this author friend heard of the problem, he set the phone down and drove two hours to their home to talk to them.  When he arrived he told them that his own daughter, after looking all over for a church that had some true character, she had discovered the LDS Church as was deeply impressed with its people, organization, and teachings.  This atheist author told them that they should not be too concern for, from what his daughter had said, there could not be a better church to be a part of.  These words changed their anxiety into relief and they called Fernando and told him they were rethinking their direction.  What a testimony of the power of the Lord to change things that are totally out of our control. Fernando’s faith is incredible and his desire is to do what the Lord wants of him. The Lord heard his prayer and did for him what he could never have done on his own.

    We both have felt the spirit that this young man radiates. No matter where the Lords sends him, he will be a great asset to His work. 

    Sister Goodman and Sister Wheeler invited us to join them for a lesson they were teaching to an Egyptian Copt Christian and his nephew who just arrived from Alexandria, Egypt.  Momdouh and Joseph are very gentle and kind people.  When Sister Goodman realized Momdouh had not read the Book of Mormon for the day, she decided to forgo the planned lesson on the Word of Wisdom and read the Book of Mormon with him.  Sister Goodman did a masterful job with the first 12 verses of 1Nephi as she taught him the importance of reading the Book of Mormon to invite the Spirit and come to know the book was a true record of scripture. She likened Momdouh to Lehi who was given a book by Christ and told to read it.  The sisters invited us to bare our testimonies which we did. After the lesson, Sister Judd and I spoke with them about Egypt and our love for the people and what little we know about Arabic. We had a good experience and hope that we made a connection with them and hope that Momdouh continues to progress toward baptism

    We have enjoyed the two sisters missionaries(one is from Park City –Sister Howard and  the other is from California -- Sister Miller) that come to the YSA ward.  They are on the ball and excited about meeting new people and sharing the gospel.  We think that Megan looks like one of them and she also has the same excitement for the gospel. It is fun to have them around to remind us of our beautiful granddaughter from St. George.

BANNERS AND BAPTISMS #13

BANNERS AND BAPTISMS  #13

Hi everyone, we have been pretty busy around here. We finally picked up the the new A-frame signs telling  about the institute and the mission offices. The signs  have an arrow pointing  to the building telling what we do in this building--such as : teaching about Jesus Christ, inviting them to find out  the answers  to life's most important questions, inviting people to come into the building for a tour, and  to use a a class room, with wi-fi, for a study area.  Bro Patrick really liked the looks of the signs in front of the building, so he gave the go ahead to make the tall banners for the pillars  to tell the students and the people walking by what building  this  is, who we are, what is going on  and what we are doing here.  This will be a great addition to draw people into the building for missionary work.

I am fixing dinner now for a bout 40 people.  It is hard to know how much to fix when I have only cooked for 2 people for so many years. The students are very thankful and appreciative for my efforts and I have enjoyed them a lot.  This week's meal was sloppy Joes, carrots, and cupcakes with blue sprinkles and red sprinkles in the form of a flag. I  think  that it was fun just to recognize the patriotism of the students.

 I have been to Costco now about 6 times. I spend a lot of time purchasing food there.  The neat thing about it I have only been lost about 2 times. It is about 15 miles from the Institute.

Elder Judd:  My Mission Prep class started with only one student, Melissa Compton. We had a great discussion as I started class on time.  45 minutes later 5 more students came in late, having been caught in traffic on the bridge over Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg.  That is a little hard to keep continuity in a lesson. But you do the best you can and call it good.  It was good class anyway.  Fernando, our awesome new convert, complimented me on my Stars and Strips flag tie and asked if he could borrow it for Sunday. I gave it to him after dinner.  He was really touched but it was fun to give him something back when he has given us so much thru his love and excitement and growth in the Gospel. It is a true miracle to see how the Holy Ghost increases the spiritual  growth in a person who is sincere when he is baptism and confirmed. In one week Fernando has made great strides in his understanding the Gospel.  In class I asked him to define faith when he had not been there when I defined it earlier. Here is a convert of a little over a week and he gave a perfect definition like it came out of the LDS Bible Dictionary. Then he testified how faith had worked in his conversion and baptism. Everybody in class sat there stunned by the Spirit that accompanied his testimony.

Most of Friday, July 4, Sister Judd and I stayed in the apartment while I worked on my lesson for Monday and sister Judd worked on making some brownies for the dinner we were invited to.  About 3pm we  left for Indian Shores where Alex Patrick and family lives. We were invited, well, I invited us to join their celebration of the 4^th with burgers,salads and chips etc. and an evening on the Gulf beach with fireworks.The beach was only a half a block away from their home so we walked with our chairs, towels, and fireworks. We were able to watch the fireworks to the right and the left of us  and  then watch God’s lightning and thunder show out in the gulf at the same time.  It was spectacular, and of course, the Lord’s part was the best.  Man is puny in his works compared to God’s. we had a great dinner, good hosts and a great time we won’t forget.

Today, Sunday has been a wonderful day. It started out with the baptism of three converts, Jerry Thompson- in his late fifties I guess, Jamie Leggett- a YSA who is just a great young man, and Laneika Murdock-a YSA from Jamaica. Jerry was so happy that he was being baptized that he told me he was more excited about this event than his marriage that took place last week. His spirit is just amazing and I could feel his testimony as he and I talked briefly before the baptism. I met Jamie for the first time when the Elders asked me to come into their lesson with him and explain Jacob 5.  We had a great time talking about its meaning for the House of Israel. Jamie told me today that that was an amazing experience for him. He truly does have  a testimony and it is wonderful to see his growth in the Gospel in just two weeks time. Jamie asked that I confirm him, which I did. It was a spiritual experience as the Spirit spoke thru me in his blessing. Jamie’s whole family came and stayed for Sacrament meeting. They are a beautiful family and even his grand parents came to see him baptized.  We hope to see more of them. Lanieka is a beautiful, tall Jamaican girl going to school at the University of South Florida, which is just across the street from our Institute building. She lives in the apartments next to the Institute.  She started with the missionaries just two weeks ago. She has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and brought two of her close friends to the baptism. Following the baptismal service our Sacrament and testimony meeting began.  It was a great meeting and the Spirit was present with every testimony borne. Fernando bore his testimony and was bursting with love for the Gospel and his joy for the Savior.  He looked great up at the pulpit with that Stars and Strips tie on. After the meeting, the YSA had their traditional Fast-Feast meal, a pot luck of sorts where many bring dishes on a theme, this time it was Italian, and we feast after the Fast Meeting. It was a great day.

LENIEKA FROM JAMICA

We are having a lot of lightening and thunder storms right now. They seem to be so close that it is nerve racking.  The rain that usually accompanies the lightening and thunder is really heavy.  Elder Judd calls it a really frog strangler!!

FROG STRANGLER

THE END OF JUNE!!! WOW!!! #12

     THE END OF JUNE!!! WOW!!!  #12
We have lived in Florida for 2 full months! Time does fly--The heat is beginning but still not the high humidity that all these people say will happen.  I am sure it will --just so we can have the experience of it.

     We have been in church most of the afternoon.Three YSA's talked in Sacrament Kassy Struk talked about President Monson's talk " Love the Essence of the Gospel", great remarks, Sean Smith talked about Elder Scott's talk "I have given you an Example" he gave some great examples  of people in his life who has helped him, and Chris Elton talked about Elder Donald Hallstrom's talk " What manner of Men". These talks were well prepared and thought through giving us ways to improve our own lives. Relief Society and Priesthood was combined and was taught by Bishop Collin Harris. His lesson was about the Plan of Happiness, teaching us to keep up with the scriptures reading and pray every day. He is a good teacher.

     We had Elder Severinson over for dinner our first visitor for dinner in our little apartment. His wife had to go home to Utah for a short stay to see her mother who is not doing well. She will be gone another week.  I am sure we will have him over again for next Sunday.  He is lonely but doing his missionary week faithfully.

    We went to a YSA pool party Saturday--I think that every one has a pool of some kind here in this city. This pool is in the home of Raquel Tolman and it is a salt water pool. They really like the feel of the salt water better than a chlorinated water.  We did get lost getting there of course --missed a turn on the freeway.  You  would think that the GPS would be right --well it was until I decided to help give "better" directions. We made it to the home after we continued with the GPS --only 15 mins late not to bad and we did get to see another part of the suburbs of Tampa.  I liked it it had a lot of beautiful homes. All of them were close together but still nice homes.  I didnot think  that I missed my home until we visited Sister Tolman's home. Oh well  What is is important is Joel and I are together.

Elder Judd has been busy this week in addition to preparing, studying, teaching classes,  helping the missionaries and helping me-- he has been proctoring exams for home taught students.  One young lady has come 4-5 times. He has to sit in the classroom for the whole duration.  He decided to give her a Book of Mormon next week with his testimony in it.  We will see how that goes.

Thursday is our busiest day because Elder Judd  teaches a mission prep class, Bro Patrick teaches a Pearl of great Price class and I fix the dinner for about 40 students.  This week we had a potato bar with chili, butter, cheese, sour cream, lettuce salad and brownies.  Of course as we do this meals we learn how to do them better every week and it is called: MAKE IT SIMPLY!!! I have a hard time with this I want to have a feast every time.

Elder Judd's words:

My mission prep class went very well. The Spirit was there very strongly as we discussed the first vision and the restoration of the gospel thru the Prophet Joseph Smith.  A brand new convert, Fernando Giraldo, who was baptized last Sunday, was in class and he bore a powerful testimony of the First Vision. His testimony touched all of us and it made us appreciate this great missionary effort that these students are being prepared for.

After FHE on Monday evening I met with the Elder’s presidency as an advisor under Bishop Harris’ direction. President Tom Clem, counselor Zack Logan and Secretary Sean Smith were there.  All of them are very committed and capable leaders.  We had a very productive meeting and I felt good about the direction they are going.  I feel like just a nudge here and an idea there is all they need to help them along.

We finally got the signs ordered for the A-frame boards that we will use out by our parking entrance.  These signs will be visible to the large amount of foot traffic to and from the USF campus. They will say respectively; “Life’s most IMPORTANT QUESTIONS answered here”,“learn more about  JESUS CHRIST here” ,“FREE quiet study area here” and “FREE building tours and religion classes here.” Each sign will have a red arrow pointing to the building. We will alternate them so they are different everyday.  We hope that they will have an impact on those who are searching for the truth and “know not where to find it.”  This is an “up” event. We are moving forward.

I will put pictures in later