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.