July 30th-Blessings on blessings on blessings
This week has been wild.
The APs started out the week by letting everyone know that the Mission record for most new investigators in a week was 92 and that we are setting a goal for 100 new people to be taught. Everyone in the mission was super excited. The previous goal was set when we had double the missionaries in our mission. Every companionship only needed to find 2 new people each.
We went about our week with no success. We had so much administrative stuff to do along with sending Elder Lichtenberg (my father) home. RIP. It was super sad and kinda distracted us for a bit. Then Thursday came along and we went on exchangeds with the APs. Elder Burrows and I were put with Elder Wilkinson. He is a fantastic missionary and gave us a lot of energy for the short time we were with him. We started our day by doing companion study at a small park looking over Lido Island. We have had great contacts there in the past so we knew we had to go there. As we were studying, I saw a guy in the corner of my eye who had an Acai bowl. I struck up a conversation with him and got to know him. He was a super humble man who just got back from living in Mexico and is about to start work in Anaheim. We let him go sit and relax, then we got the impression to go testify of the Book of Mormon. When we talked about the Book of Mormon, he loved it. He could really feel the spirit and feel the impact it made on our lives. He sincerely committed to reading it.
After lunch we headed over to the "gold mine" to talk to our guy, Brother Michael. He wasn't there. Discouraged, we decided to contact a little bit around the complex. Elder Wilkinson was directly lead by the spirit around the corner to a maintenance man who was awesome. He talked about his love for his family and his love for being a grandfather, he quickly told us he was Catholic and wasn't interested but after we told him that the gospel blesses families he was interested. We told him how the Book of Mormon blesses families and bore our love for it. We set up a return appointment for tomorrow and he was super excited. There is a reason we call it the "gold mine".
On our way out of the "Gold Mine", Elder Burrows had the impression to knock on a door. The lady, lets call her Jamie, answered and was thrilled to see us. We gave her a picture of Christ that was painted by one of our previous missionaries grandmothers. She was touched and said we could come back another time. The next day we came back to talk to Brother Michael and he wasn't home again. We were absolutely bummed because we planned a great lesson for him. We sat on the steps outside his apartment and offered our heart to God in prayer. We asked him why we were lead there and what purpose did it serve. We felt our time was wasted and that we could have been using the Lords time more effectively. On our way back we stopped at Jamie's and taught her one of our best restoration lessons thus far as a companionship. The spirit was so strong in the room. She wants to start coming to church. We offered a prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father for showing us our purpose of being there. After leaving, Elder Burrows shared a scripture that illustrated perfectly how we felt.
Alma 26:27
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanite, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
Yesterday we prayed to find another person to make up for any companionship that didn't make it to 2 people. We didn't think it would happen, but the Lord always finds a way. We had dinner with a very sweet member of our ward who was bold and invited someone she just met. These people were the salt of the Earth, just so humble and kind. After we became friends with them we shared our dinner message. We each shared our favorite verse in the Book of Mormon. They could really feel the spirit. when we asked if they wanted to have us come over and talk more about the scriptures. They are the best people and we knew that they were directly provided to us by the Lord.
It has been one of the most successful weeks so far and I know that success is not measure by numbers. I feel like I have really grown spiritually. I have relied on the Lord more as I have prayed more often. I know that the Lord does answer our prayers and listens to us when we need him. I am beyond grateful to be serving him.
Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Judd
The APs started out the week by letting everyone know that the Mission record for most new investigators in a week was 92 and that we are setting a goal for 100 new people to be taught. Everyone in the mission was super excited. The previous goal was set when we had double the missionaries in our mission. Every companionship only needed to find 2 new people each.
We went about our week with no success. We had so much administrative stuff to do along with sending Elder Lichtenberg (my father) home. RIP. It was super sad and kinda distracted us for a bit. Then Thursday came along and we went on exchangeds with the APs. Elder Burrows and I were put with Elder Wilkinson. He is a fantastic missionary and gave us a lot of energy for the short time we were with him. We started our day by doing companion study at a small park looking over Lido Island. We have had great contacts there in the past so we knew we had to go there. As we were studying, I saw a guy in the corner of my eye who had an Acai bowl. I struck up a conversation with him and got to know him. He was a super humble man who just got back from living in Mexico and is about to start work in Anaheim. We let him go sit and relax, then we got the impression to go testify of the Book of Mormon. When we talked about the Book of Mormon, he loved it. He could really feel the spirit and feel the impact it made on our lives. He sincerely committed to reading it.
After lunch we headed over to the "gold mine" to talk to our guy, Brother Michael. He wasn't there. Discouraged, we decided to contact a little bit around the complex. Elder Wilkinson was directly lead by the spirit around the corner to a maintenance man who was awesome. He talked about his love for his family and his love for being a grandfather, he quickly told us he was Catholic and wasn't interested but after we told him that the gospel blesses families he was interested. We told him how the Book of Mormon blesses families and bore our love for it. We set up a return appointment for tomorrow and he was super excited. There is a reason we call it the "gold mine".
On our way out of the "Gold Mine", Elder Burrows had the impression to knock on a door. The lady, lets call her Jamie, answered and was thrilled to see us. We gave her a picture of Christ that was painted by one of our previous missionaries grandmothers. She was touched and said we could come back another time. The next day we came back to talk to Brother Michael and he wasn't home again. We were absolutely bummed because we planned a great lesson for him. We sat on the steps outside his apartment and offered our heart to God in prayer. We asked him why we were lead there and what purpose did it serve. We felt our time was wasted and that we could have been using the Lords time more effectively. On our way back we stopped at Jamie's and taught her one of our best restoration lessons thus far as a companionship. The spirit was so strong in the room. She wants to start coming to church. We offered a prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father for showing us our purpose of being there. After leaving, Elder Burrows shared a scripture that illustrated perfectly how we felt.
Alma 26:27
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanite, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
Yesterday we prayed to find another person to make up for any companionship that didn't make it to 2 people. We didn't think it would happen, but the Lord always finds a way. We had dinner with a very sweet member of our ward who was bold and invited someone she just met. These people were the salt of the Earth, just so humble and kind. After we became friends with them we shared our dinner message. We each shared our favorite verse in the Book of Mormon. They could really feel the spirit. when we asked if they wanted to have us come over and talk more about the scriptures. They are the best people and we knew that they were directly provided to us by the Lord.
It has been one of the most successful weeks so far and I know that success is not measure by numbers. I feel like I have really grown spiritually. I have relied on the Lord more as I have prayed more often. I know that the Lord does answer our prayers and listens to us when we need him. I am beyond grateful to be serving him.
Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Judd
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