Oct 28

This is me in front of our mission logo. I love the NCRM! (North Carolina Raleigh Mission)!

Hello family and friends!

Time goes by so fast here I cant believe it! I feel like it was just yesterday I was writing you all telling you about C's baptism. It has been another fabulous week here in North Carolina!

C is doing fabulous! We will continue to meet with her. This week we taught her about family history and then taking the names of her family member to the temple to be baptized so that they can enter into the kingdom of God. We pulled up the wonderful familysearch.org website. We typed in the name of the only deceased family member she knew. We were then able to track her family back a little while. She was so excited to see the names on the computer of family members that she had heard stories about before. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the largest collection of family history and genealogy resources.What a wonderful resource we can all use to find our deceased family members! She is excited to get names put together to take and do work in the temple for them so that they will be able to feel the same peace and happiness that she has found by being baptized by the proper authority of God.

M is doing just wonderful. I have so much love and respect for this woman. A single mother trying to survive raising her children and do the right thing. She will be so blessed to have this gospel in her life! This week we went and saw her. We were talking with her at the end of the lesson she says "you girls want to hear a joke I heard yesterday. My co worker said that mormons cant drink coffee. The rumors people say are so funny". We then started laughing and kindly told her that that wasn't a joke and she had complete shock on her face. M loves her coffee. We told her we were grateful she wasn't believing all the rumors that she hears and we would come back tomorrow to teach her the Word of Wisdom and the blessings we receive by being obedient. The next day we went over prepared to teach her this commandment. When we explained that our bodies are a sacred gift from our Heavenly Father and we need to do everything we can to take care of them. Just like when you buy an expensive car or item we will do everything we can to protect that certain thing, we need to do that for our bodies. Just like alcohol or drugs, coffee is an addictive substance that can come in control of our bodies. Addictions are dangerous for many reasons. M then said that this commandment was an answer to her prayers. Her doctor has been telling her for years that coffee is ruining her intestines. She explained to us that she never has been a drinker but recently she has been drinking wine with her friends. Every time she has something inside of her tells her that it is wrong but she didn't know why. She is grateful now for the explanation and has committed to living her life following the word of wisdom. We know that the Lord never gives a commandment without blessings in return for obeying. She will now be blessed with a healthier body and mind in which the spirit can more heavily reside. We will all receive blessing when we obey the commandments. 

As I said last week we had a fabulous visit from 2 general authorities. We had Elder Zwick and Elder Pino if the seventy. The whole mission gathered together in Fayetteville North Carolina. This is the first time the whole mission (over 200 missionaries) has been together in over 18 months! There was a wonderful spirit in the room! Elder Pino and his wife both bore wonderful testimonies. They are from South America so their talks were translated by a spanish speaking elder. Elder Pino shared this story with us. A little while ago he was invited by an apostle to sit in on missionary calls being assigned. He said as they were going the apostle stopped on the North Carolina Raleigh Mission and said "this is a great mission". As he was with us yesterday he said he could now see why and he was grateful to be here. I agree that this is a wonderful mission and I am so lucky to be here! Elder Zwick gave a fabulous talk also. He talked about the scripture found in Mark 1:16-17..

16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become^afishers of men.

He pointed out the word become. We are all becoming. It is line upon line, precept on precept. None of us are perfect, we are all learning. We are all becoming better. He stated that we must not stop ourselves on what we think we can do but we must allow the Lord to expand our capacities. We must trust in the Lord because through Him all things are possible!! I can testify of that.

I am out of time but I hope you all have a fabulous, blessed week! I pray for you all! 

Thanks for all your love and support!

-Sister Judd

This is the pumpkin I painted at our Relief Society activity this week. Inspired by my wonderful farewell cake Heidi Hunt and Mia Brooks made. 

God loves you

Sister Fullmer and I were walking to try and contact one of our referrals. We had our cameras on us from the baptism so we took some pictures. Here I am showing you North Carolina. All you that you ever see is trees. Trees trees everywhere. You probably had no idea there are tons of houses right behind those trees did you?

On Saturday October 19, 2013 C was baptized! Oh what a glorious day. Who knew planning and preparing for a baptism could be so stressful? I didn't sleep much the night before with so many thoughts going through my head but when the moment finally arrived I was filled with so much joy! It was wonderful to be able to see the fruits of my labor and change somebody's life! Ward members came and supported and even our mission president was in attendance! Funny story, we had a lady in the ward doing a musical number. About 30 minutes before the baptism started she was practicing and said her voice was a little rough that day. She then asked if Sister Fullmer and I would sing with her. With much hesitation we agreed. Now in case you didn't already know, I am not a good singer. I would never choose to or volunteer myself to sing in front of people. A mission definitely changes you in ways you would never imagine. We sang the song and by the end much to my surprise there weren't very many dry eyes in the room. I know the spirit was helping me sing that song. It was one of those "I wish my friends and family back home could see me doing this" type of moment. All in all it was a wonderful day and I look forward to seeing C grow and strengthen herself in the gospel! 

Yesterday our investigator M came to church for the first time! We had a little rough patch with her. She was supposed to watch general conference with us 2 weeks ago but instead of showing up she sent us a text saying "I don't think it would be fair to myself or the children if I made a commitment to the mormon church without researching other things first". It was a heart breaker! We were deeply saddened but we knew that was not going to be the end. We have been able to resolver her concerns over that past weeks and now she is stronger than ever! She had a wonderful experience at church yesterday and we are praying for a baptism sometime in November! She is just fabulous.

So some exciting news... We are having 2 General Authorities come visit us this weekend! We found out on Saturday. We have been expecting one and preparing for one to come in November (which is still happening) but we are also getting graced with the presence of 2 this weekend! We are so excited. We have no idea what is happening all we know is that it is a "very special occasion" and they have "something special to share". All the missionaries will be gathering together in Fayetteville. So we get to go on a little road trip about 2 hours south. We are very anxious and cant wait to learn from them!

Thought of the day is about FAITH! What a powerful principle!

2 Nephi 26:13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

We were promised by our mission president that there are at least 10-20 people in our ares that are prepared and ready to accept the gospel. We also had the goal set that our mission would double baptisms from last year in the months of October, November, and December. Now this kind of seemed daunting at first. Sisters have been in this area for about a year now and there has been one baptism, C. How in the world are we supposed to find those 10 people and also be able to double our baptisms?! One word, faith! As the scriptures say miracles can and will happened, according to our faith. How do we develop faith? The bible dictionary says this "strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness" We must be obedient to the commandments in order for our faith to increase and in order for miracles to happen in our lives! 

I know that God has not ceased to produce miracles. He is a God of miracles. But we must have faith in order to see those miracles in our lives! We must be obedient to the commandments and we must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ! I challenge you all to strive to increase your faith and I know that you will be able to see those miracles start to happen in your life.

Thank you all for your continuing love and support. 

Have a wonderful, blessed week!

With love,
Sister Judd 

October 14

Hello!!

Well I am still here and alive. Hurricane Karen didnt come into Wake Forest too strong. A week full of rain but that's about it.

Just ended week 1 of my 2nd transfer. Today marks my 2 month mark! I can not believe how fast time is flying! Only 16 more months left of my mission and the rest of eternity to think about it. To say I am loving this experience would be an understatement. I could not think of anything else I would rather be doing right now. Of course sleeping in for an extra hour would be nice or sitting down to watch tv would be relaxing but I can do that for the rest of my life. For this 18 months I get to wake up every single day with a purpose. I get to serve others and bring happiness into peoples lives. It is the most rewarding and life changing experience. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for sending me here and blessing me with this opportunity. I feel as though I am on cloud 9! Even during the moment this week as we were walking up to a house and before we even got to the porch the lady we were coming to visit runs out and yells at us to stop harassing her.. oh well.

This week has been wonderful. We have been preparing for C to be baptized! Yes, this Saturday October 19 C will be getting baptized. We are SO EXCITED! She is truly prepared and we were placed in her path for a reason! Her life has made a complete 180 from when we first met her. She is happier than ever before and she will continue to be blessed throughout her life as she continues on the right path.

We had a mission home fireside last night. All missionaries are welcome but the catch is you have to bring an investigator or a recent convert. Well luckily C was able to go so we attended. Our President spoke for a little and then he opened the time up to have the investigators and recent converts bear their testimony. It was remarkable. The testimonies of these new members is such an example to me. They are so simple and full of so much power and spirit. C bore her testimony first and she testified that she knows that this church is where we can find the most happiness in our lives. She told the story of after the first time she came to church she went to her moms house and the first thing her mom said to her was "you look so happy". C realized that and knew it was because she came to church and has come to know that this is the best place to be. That true joy is found when we are coming closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. And I can testify of that myself. 

Look forward to pictures from her baptism next week. And keep C in your prayers this week as she continues to prepare and Satan will be trying to tempt her hard.

3 Nephi 19:25
And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them..

The power of prayer is real!! I dont know about you but I would love to know that Jesus is smiling because of something I did. Pray to our Heavenly Father. He will be listening. And he will answer your prayers.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks for all the support.

Love, 

Sister Judd

Oct 7

Hey y'all! 

(that's as southern as it gets. Sadly I havent picked up an accent yet)

Another fabulous week has come and gone!! It was like Christmas here this past weekend. We got to go to the temple and listen to general conference!

I loved all the words that were spoken. They all touched me in different ways. But I wouldn't be a true missionary if I didn't talk about all the missionary work that was spoken of. It's still pretty surreal to me that I'm a missionary. That I was called to be here in Raleigh North Carolina and help invite others to come unto Christ. I love this work!! There truly is nothing that has brought me greater joy in life than seeing other peoples lives change because of the message that the true Church of Christ has been restored to the earth. And YOU can all feel that joy too! I know that there are opportunities to share the gospel put in our paths every single day. I challenge you all to open your eyes to those opportunities. Look for ways to serve others and act as Christ would and I promise you that you will feel so much more joy in your life.

We received a new investigator this week. Her name is C. The elders we share a ward with found her taught her the first lesson and then gave her to us to continue teaching. Well she is incredible!! She is 23 and recently divorced. Her ex husband didn't want anything to do with religion so she wasnt attending any church for many years. With this divorce and other circumstances in her life she has been very depressed. The elders knocked on her door and the rest has been history. Her life is truly changing and she is glowing more and more every time we see her. She has been able to find peace and happiness through our Savior Jesus Christ just like we all can. She has accepted to be baptized on October 19 and we are so excited for her!

There is a hurricane supposed to happen here this week. Hurricane Karen. We hope it brings in lots of storms. The rain and thunder storms here are incredible! Obviously we don't want any damage to happen but it would be pretty cool to be in a natural disaster. If you don't get an email next week from me you know why ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful week! May God bless you all! 

Thanks for all your love and support.

 -Sister Judd