Sept 22

In the words of my companion.. "two words.. rough week". 

But we will not focus on the negative! Like the fact that I think almost every single appointment fell through, we had 2 investigators dump us and tell us what we were teaching was crazy, and we found most moments of our days having no idea what to do next. This was all Satan trying to get to us because on Friday we got to go to the TEMPLE!! 

Thanks goodness for the temple, it was my saving grace this week. The temple is truly the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for it. 

And to top it off we had our session with the Apex Stake sisters. So I got to see Sister Treu and here about all the wonderful things still happening in Garner. Yay for tender mercies of the Lord! 

Other than that there isnt much to report about this week. I will tell you a little story that happened a few months ago. 

I was driving a car with 3 others sisters in it. My companion and another set of sisters. We were traveling home from a meeting. We were driving on the freeway when all of a sudden I see a car in the left lane drive over the median and onto ongoing traffic luckily missing all the cars that were speedily coming down the other side of the road and then the car stopped in a ditch. When I first saw it happening I yelled at everyone else to look and we all watched it happen. We then made comments like, "Holy cow! What in the world was that person doing?!" "Did they fall asleep at the wheel?" "They were probably using their phone or doing something stupid" "Maybe they were drunk". We couldnt believe what we had just saw. We were all then prompted that we needed  to turn around and go back. We didnt know why but as a missionary you learn very quickly to always follow promptings of the spirit. We made a u-turn as soon as we could and drove back. We found the car was still there and there was a lady sitting in the car crying. We were the only ones who had come back. We went up to talk to her. She explained that her brakes on her car had stopped working and the car wouldnt slow down. She saw a little brake in traffic and knew she needed to get off the road. She went over the median and that was able to help slow her car down and then when she went onto the grass on the side of the road her car stopped. She was very shaken up by it and was trying to call for some help. We asked if there was anything we could do for her and tried to help calm her down. She was able to receive some help and so we drove away. I dont know if that lady needed to see us or if we all needed to learn a lesson that day. We were so quick to judge when we saw it happen, thinking the driver was completely in the wrong. We had no idea what the situation was and how she was actually doing the best thing she thought she could do. I think this happens a lot more in life than we realize. I learned that day to be not so quick to judge others. To be more open to hearing what really happened. And to be more Christlike in all I say and do. We never know whats really happening on the other side. 

"May we ever be found doing the work of the Lord." 

I hope you all have a great week! 

We will be finding, teaching, and baptizing here in Durham, NC!! 

Thanks for all your love and support, 

Sister Judd 

Sept 15

*****It's Emily's birthday on Sept 25! Send her a card, she would love to hear from you!!*****


Hello all!! 

I survived my first week in Durham. Which is an accomplishment to say the least! 

Transfers are one of those things that you forget how hard they really are until you have to go through it again. 

But you know everything is going to be okay if you can just make it to preparation day, and here we are. 

Transfer meeting itself was actually really great. Sister Treu was training so she had to be at a meeting all day on Tuesday so me and some other sisters who I love got to hang around at the stake center all day and catch up on old times. It was lots of fun. 

After the bittersweet meeting we came back to Durham, brought my stuff in from the car and an exchange was already there waiting for us. Off we were to teach! No unpacking, no meeting the new companion, no really even discussion of who we were seeing or what we were going to teach. We just show up. And somehow it all just works out. Amazing how the spirit can work that way. We were gone and didn't get home until 9 that night. I had a little time to unpack but I was so exhausted all I wanted to do was go to bed as soon as possible. After a few days though I can sat that I am officially all moved in. I love the new place we live. Its a nice little town-home and its probably my favorite place I have lived so far. 

Oh my companion is Sister Turley. She is from Arizona. She has been out for 15 months. She is really sweet and so far we have gotten along great! She has been serving in the southern part of the mission and I have only been in the Northern part so we didn't really know each other until now. Sorry I dont have a picture of us together yet! 

We have been busy this week and we have a lot of work to do! We have 3 investigators right now. I got to meet 2 this week. We are teaching a 17 year old girl named S. She goes to the NC School of Math and Science. Its this awesome high school that basically is a college. The kids come from all around the state to come to this school. They live at the school and have everything they need there. Its super hard to get into and its tons of work. Its a really neat campus and everything is free. Even all there meals. The trick is just getting in.. But anyways, S is really sweet. Her boyfriend is a member and that's how she found the church. She doesn't really know if God is real but she decided to give it one last shot and is meeting with us. I really hope and pray that she will find truth in the Gospel and mostly gain a knowledge that God is her loving Heavenly Father and that she is of infinite worth.

Our other investigator M is very sweet as well. She is an older woman who had some kind if accident and is now in a wheelchair. Let me give you the situation of a typical meeting as a missionary. We knock on the door and she forgot that we were coming but lets us in anyways. We walk into the apartment and her son is sitting at the table smoking a cigarette and drinking who knows what with the TV blasting. We walk in and try not to breathe. We start talking and after what feels like forever his cigarette is finally burned up. Sweet M apologizes and starts spraying Lysol all over. Now that we have a great mix of second hand smoke and cleaning chemicals in our lungs we are all ready to start the lesson. You got a good picture of that? And thats pretty low key compared to some of the places we walk into. Who is ready to put in their mission papers now? I promise, you wont regret it. 

We share a car with the elders and this week we were on bikes. Holy cow, I think Durham takes the prize for most hilliest city in the mission. We biked a lot this week..and if you ask me we biked up way more hills that we got to go down. Thank goodness for the slightly cooler weather we have had! 

In the span of one day we went to 3 different retirement homes to visit people. That was an exciting day. We had quite the miracle at one of them. 

Something I love to do on my mission is serve. Yes, the whole 18 months is serving but I like to be involved in service opportunities to mix up the days a little bit. So I asked Sister Turley when I got here if there were any service opportunities in the community. She told me they hadn't been doing anything but that a member in the other stake owns or manages a retirement home and that they were looking for people to volunteer. Perfect I thought, we will go there. We go there one day and walk in and tell them why we were there. They called up the activities director to come speak with us. She was so excited we were there! She told us she had been feeling overwhelmed and asked God to send some help since they arent able to hire more people.  She gave us a tour around the place and we went into an office where she explained things we could do and ways we could serve. She was very kind to us and so excited to start working with us. It was the perfect situation. After we got back into the car with the member we were with we totally started talking about how awesome that lady was and how she needs to be baptized! We left very excited to go back next week and volunteer. Later that night during our planning session Sister Turley grabs the ward directory. She then gets this super weird look on her face and points to a name. Its the same name of the lady that was the activity director at the place.. And the lady is from Finland, it wasnt just some ordinary name. We just look at each other in complete shock. She has already been baptized! We knew there was something special about her!! We then just start laughing because we couldnt believe it. Her and her husband and 2 kids have been less active for a while. God sure does work in mysterious ways! We are now even more excited to go back and serve there and hopefully we will be able to get there family coming back to church in no time! 

I would love to receive letters from all of you. Especially since the 25th of September is coming quickly. I will let you figure out the significance of that day. 

Well time is running out fast! 

I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the rest of your Monday! 

much love! 

Sister Judd

sept 9

Hello all!!

So sorry for the very short email. 

I am getting transferred tomorrow!! I will be off to DURHAM, NC!!

Soo... I would suggest you probably dont look it up. All you will see is news reports on murders and everything bad. Yes, I am going to the ghetto!! One of the most dangerous areas in the mission. yay! Mom, dont freak out. 

 I am a little nervous but I know it will all be for the best and Heavenly Father will protect us! 

Excited to see whats in store! Pray for me!!! 

This week has been amazing. Have I told you how much I love the Garner ward??!! 

We have been treated so well and this is truly my home away from home. I will miss is SOOO much!

Not much else happened this week that is exciting to tell. Just the normal missionary things, with a few going away parties thrown in there. 

I hope you all have a great week!!

Love, 

Sister Judd 

Sept 2

Hello one and all!! 

Well its safe to say that miracles never cease!! 

It was a week full of miracles.

So you all remember T? She was baptized back in May. Well I havent mentioned anything about her since for a reason. You see, after her wonderful spirit filled baptism and confirmation she disappeared. She walked out of the church building after church the day of her confirmation and we never saw her again. It became something that has been a huge stress to me. We called, we texted, members called and texted, we fasted, we prayed, we had our whole district pray, we stopped by her house at least once a week, members stopped by, we left numerous notes. Basically we tried absolutely everything and had no success. She didnt return anything and never answered her door. We had no idea what had happened. And the biggest problem was that because we hadnt seen her since the day of her confirmation we were never able to get her baptism record filled out therefore the church couldnt recognize that she had been baptized therefore she would have to be baptized again if she ever came back. It was a huge MESS. This is basically a missionaries worse nightmare. And it really has been bothering me. I felt like it was all my fault. Luckily we have had such huge support from our members in trying to help us. I couldnt help but feeling though, what did I do wrong? Well now here comes the good part. It was Thursday morning and we had just finished up a visit near T's house. The member we were with then said "should we drive by T's house?" Sure we replied. This was something all too familiar to us. We drove up and bam! T was in the backyard mowing her lawn. My heart immediately sank into my stomach. She couldnt see us. We immediately said a prayer and asked that the spirit would guide us as to what we should do. Since Sister Treu has never even met T I knew I needed to take the lead. I started walking towards her not knowing what she was going to do. Was she gonna yell at us to get away? was she gonna be angry? was she gonna be happy? One could never know. I walk up and then she sees me. The first thing that I could say was "can I take over mowing your lawn for you?" She then gets this look of relief on her face and says no, she wouldnt make me do that in a skirt. We then talk for a second and the our very sweet saintly member with us who mind you is 63 years old says "I will mow the lawn, you go inside and talk with the sisters". T agreed. We hesitantly left our sweet member out in the hot sun to mow the lawn while we went inside. We got to talk with T. Luckily she wasnt angry, she wasnt mad, she was very grateful to see us. After we got all caught up on life she went on to tell us the struggles she has been facing and that her crazy job schedule has kept her away. She then expressed that she felt guilty for being gone and she didnt know how to come back. We expressed our love and how much we had all missed her. We had a great visit AND were able to get her baptism papers all filled out. To tell you that this was truly a miracle is an understatement. I cant even begin to tell you how much love, and happiness, and relief filled my soul being able to visit with T this week. I KNOW that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, in his own timing. 

Another miracle.. We have this wonderful investigator N. She loves the church and everything she is learning. She has great desires to follow Jesus Christ and she knows the church is true. There is just one problem, her husband does not feel the same. He is completely against the church and has really been a struggle to get through for a while now. This week we were in a lesson with N and guess who came home early from work? Her husband. We all saw his car pull up and we all got a little scared. What was he going to do? (he doesnt have the greatest background on being nice to missionaries and people from the church). He came inside and saw us and then walked back out. N then said that she was going to invite him inside so we could talk with him. I was preparing myself to take some verbal hits. Well he came inside and was very nice. He greeted us. N then told us what she wanted us to tell him. They then got into a little quarrel but he agreed to try out the church 3 times. Try out the church?!! This was huge. After speaking with him for a moment he went back out. We knew he had made progress. We had a ward pig pickin yesterday and they both came! He went out and played football with the guys and had a great time. We are grateful for this HUGE step we were able to make. 

Rember A and L? The two cute boys baptized back in April. Well they are doing very well. Their mom has a very difficult job and has been struggling with it for a long while. She has to work late hours and sometimes on Sundays. It has affected them being able to come to church and do all they are supposed to. We have been praying real hard that she would be able to find a new job. And this week she was offered a position and will now be able to make her own schedule, not work weekends, be less stressed, and get paid more!! This is a huge blessing for their family. 

I talked I think last week about our new investigator J. She had her sweet baby girl this week. We have been able to arrange meals to be brought to their house. Her husband, who we have been unable to meet told one of the members "I didnt know people still did things like this". He mother in law who is staying with her we also found out was being taught by missionaries a few years ago and has been greatly touched by the kindness they have received. I have a feeling their search for a new church will be ending at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints very shortly!! 

I am grateful to be able to see the hand of the Lord in many ways this week! 

In other news, I found out this week that I am being transferred... enter many many tears... This is SO HARD!! I love Garner more than I can even express!!! I am grateful for all these miracles that have happened and know that it is my time to go but it doesnt make it any easier. I will miss this place more than I can say. 

I have no idea where I am going or who my companion is going to be. I am quite nervous. Things cant get much better than they are now. All I know is that I am staying a sister leader, once again. Transfers are a week from today, on the 9th. PRAY FOR ME! 

So I made mention earlier about the ward pig pickin.. Anyone have a clue what that is? Its a true southern party. You all might call it a BBQ. Here in the south they get a full giant pig. And cook it on a pig cooker all day long. Then you have to break it apart and get everything edible, including the pig skins. Then you mince it up the meat and pour some vinegar based bbq sauce on it and wala, you have amazing meat! Then everyone gather together and brings sides and you have a delicious meal! It was so much fun! I thanked them all for throwing me a giant party before I get transferred :) 

Well I hope you all have a great week!! 

I know I will!

Much love, 

Sister Judd 

Aug 25

Hello!

Well I guess I should say the best news first, C got baptized!! 

Man, it was such a special day. He was so excited and it was so sweet to see that he knew he was making the right choice. We were able to have a lot of non members attend which is always a good thing! Baptisms always provide such a sweet spirit. I cant thank my Heavenly Father enough for providing me with this experience to witness this man come to Christ. 

We went on exchanges this week. I went to Fuquay Varina. I had a great time there. It is so much fun to be able to go around and meet so many incredible people! There is just special things that come with being a missionary that you just cant put into words. The love that you feel for people and the love that you feel from people is one of them. I can feel my time in Garner coming to an end. Which makes the end of my mission feel even closer. And its not a good feeling. I have been trying to soak of every minute of this very special time I have to be a representative of Jesus Christ and to be here in North Carolina sharing the gospel. 

Every third Thursday our ward council gathers together and then we go out and do ministering visits to people in the ward. I always love doing this! Usually Sister Treu and I split up and go out with one of the relief society members. This week it wasnt so. In the nicest way possible the single adult rep in our ward is a little bit crazy. Love her, but she is crazy.  Well she needed someone to go with her and who gets nominated.. me! I happily agreed because thats what missionaries do but secretly inside I was a little bit sad I didnt get to go with a member that I have a good relationship with. We get in the car and head to the house of the person we were going to visit. She welcomes us right in and we sit down. I look around at my surroundings, here I am with two old single ladies who are both cat lady hoarders. The smell isnt very nice and all they are talking about is cats and the 1960's. I then remember a quote I read just a few days earlier while visiting in Fuquay. It reads " Remember that you can miss a lot of good things in life by having the wrong attitude". I was quickly reminded by the spirit that I needed to change my attitude. I obeyed and what do you know.. it ended up being such a great night! We had a great time chatting and I got to learn about what Garner was like long ago. After the visit the sweet sister wanted to go get ice cream. She opened up to me about her life and I now see why she might be a little bit crazy. She hasnt had it easy but she sure has done a great job with what she has been given. I am grateful for all the lessons I am able to learn in every situation. I know that a good attitude makes all the difference! 

I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Judd 

Aug 18

Hello!!! 

Guess what happened this week... This sister celebrated her 1 year mark!! 

I CAN NOT believe it has already been a year. I can honestly say 100% that this has been the fastest year of my life! And it has been the best year FOR my life. I cant say its been the easiest year, but it has truly been amazing. I wouldnt change it for the world. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here in North Carolina serving my Heavenly Father.  Of course it was a day to celebrate. Sister Treu made me a special breakfast and served me all day long. Can I just say how grateful I am for a good companion? Makes life so nice. Anyways, we had a great day. I had been craving a Jello cake for a while and so no better day to have one then on the special occasion. If you have never had jello cake I highly recommend you looking it up and making it asap. We brought it to one of our favorite members houses, the Wiggins, and they celebrated with us. The rest of the day was filled with normal missionary activities. Including being rejected and yelled at, but that's what makes everything exciting right? Its not a good missionary day in the south if you don't get torn down by a baptist preacher. 

C got interviewed for Baptism and all went well! He will be baptized this Saturday!!! His interview was quite tense. It lasted for an hour, longest interview of my life. But all is well and we are so excited! He walked out with the biggest smile on his face and I felt like a proud mom! Yes sorta weird that I felt like a proud mom to a 60 year old man but hey, we have put in a lot to teach him. And it all paid off! He is just the sweetest. 

We had a great experience this week. 

We were just finishing up dinner with a member and were headed out on exchange. We had somebody planned to see but as we were pulling out of the driveway she stopped the car. She explained that she felt that we needed to go stop by her neighbor. She didnt know why she had the feeling but she asked us to say a prayer to make sure it was right. We said the prayer and then walked across the street to the house. Her kind neighbor Jenny opened the door and let us right in. We began talking and the member introduced us as the missionaries. We were able to to talk with her and explain a little bit about who we are and what we do. We then asked if we could come back and share more about what we believe. She accepted. We were able to go back for another lesson and it went so well! She had told us when we got their that she had gone onto mormon.org and found answers to her questions! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she said it all made sense. It was incredible. Jenny is expecting her second child in just a few weeks and so far her husband is supportive and will hopefully join in on the lessons. They have been searching for a church to go to. This was a testimony to me of how members and missionaries are supposed to work together!! Listen to those promptings brothers and sisters! 

M took a couple steps back this week. She still quit smoking but we realized she just isnt ready yet. We need to take more time and teach her a little bit slower. We are going to keep teaching her and hopefully she will be baptized in September! 

The Book of Mormon has been a focus for me for a little while now. I just cant say enough how much I love the Book of Mormon. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that you will become closer to God if you read it and abide by its precepts. We watched this mormon message this week and I just cant help but sharing. Take 5 minutes to watch it. I promise you wont regret it. 

Here!

This gospel is TRUE!! God doesnt want us to be lost, so he has blessed us with a prophet. He has blessed us with families. He has blessed us with the knowledge of a plan. A plan that can give us hope for a better tomorrow. I love my Savior and I know he died for me and for you!  

What will you do to make a difference in the world this week? 

Thanks for all your love and support!! 

Love, 

Sister Judd