Elder Judd in California

I'm staying! transfer news came and I am staying here for another couple weeks! This transfer is going to be cut short because we get the new mission president and mission on July 1st. Elder Burrows and I just want to hit this awkward 3 week transfer hard! Had a lot of cool things happen this week! We thought we were gonna be white washed out of the area so we did all we could to progress all the people we are working with. We really tried to get as hard as we could to get them all to church. On Sunday morning we thought we were going to have 4 people come to church but by the time sacrament started only 1 showed up! She is the sweetest old lady I've ever met. She is what some would an "eternigator" she has been taght by the missionaries since the dawn of time. She loves the church, she loves the members, she loves the activities, but has never been to church. We had to go do some service at her home and at the end we told her that we were speaking at church and l...

This has without a doubt been one of the best weeks of my mission. There were so  many instances where I felt we were direct answers to someones prayers. At the beginning of the transfer Elder Burrows and I set the goal to be "Sanctified by the spirit", I feel like I understood what that meant for the first time. There are so many experiences I want to write about but I feel like nothing I will type will do them justice. I just wish you could see and understand the miracles I have witnessed and the feelings I have had. I feel unworthy to be representing the lord everyday because I am so weak, but I have learned that He does not want perfect missionaries, he just wants humble followers who will bring their weaknesses to him. 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, t...

Holy Cow! I don't have much time, but It has been a super good week. We are hitting our stride! Elder Burrows and I have really been focusing on the way we teach people. We have been trying to avoid basic canned lessons and really teach to their needs. I would say I have learned 2 things about teaching in the Savior's way from taking D&C 84:85 to heart: 85 Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man. 1.   Neither take ye thought beforehand  At times in my mission I have gone into a teaching appointment saying that we were just going to "Wing It", but that is not teaching the spirit. The Difference is actively striving for the spirit to guide the lesson. When we wing it, we don't take in mind the other key parts of this scripture. I believe a large part of trusting in the spirit while t...

This was a hard core week. I haven't been this tired since my greenie days. We have just been going nonstop all week. It feels good to hustle! The coolest thing that has happened is when were called to come help a member's neighbor move. We went over and started moving her and realized it was too big for us so we called some priests, only one came but he was a life saver! It has been a while since I have done a move because there is no one to move in San Clemente. We felt super bad for this lady because her landlord was being super mean and rude to her. My compassion for this lady went up and I wanted to do everything I could to help her. In the past I have felt annoyed by moving people, but this time I felt joy in my heart to be representing Jesus Christ. Today we finished moving her into her storage unit and all the Elders from the zone came and helped move her in , it took 10 min! It was awesome because us and the other Elders took time out of the P-Day to help. No one ...

Well... Laguna Beach is weird. It is definitely the most different from any area I have served in thus far. Having served in all the coastal zones now, I have come to realize that none are the same. I expected San Clemente to be like Newport, and Laguna to be like San Clemente, but they are all so different. The ward here is awesome. We meet in this super cool little building in downtown often referred to as "a glorified relief society room" It is tiny.  This week we were able to have a lot of cool interactions with people. On Tuesday we met with a bunch of young recent converts and held a Q and A session. They wrote anonymous questions and Elder Burrows and I did our best to answer them with the help of a couple ward members. It was an amazing spiritual experience to see all of these young men and women have their questions of the soul answered. Elder Burrows walked away knowing that we could have only answered those questions if we were worthy for the spirit. On Thursda...

This was a spectacular week! I can't believe I've been out a year. No doubt, it has been the best year of my life. It felt like the blink of an eye. We had some wonderful things happen this week, I'll hit you with the top 3... 1. On Tuesday we met with the some young recent converts, they call themselves "Yung Bloods" we meet with them every week. We have had some of the most spiritual lessons of my mission their. This week we taught them about the atonement, more specifically the difference between a Savior and a Redeemer. We taught them that a savior cleanses us from our sins and gives us peace, but a redeemer changes our nature. We read a couple stories with them and highlighted Alma the Younger's conversion experience. It was really interesting to help these young converts understand the nature of repentance and the love of Christ. It helped me realize how little I know about the atonement, or anyone for that matter. It is so much deeper than I think i...

Transfers happened and I'm back with one of my trainers Elder Burrows! We served together my second transfer in Newport Beach! Now I'm serving in the Laguna Beach ward and I'm super super excited about it. I was pretty sad to leave the Talega Wards In San Clemente, but I know the Elders there will take good care of the wards. San Clemente has become my home these last 6 months but I'm ready for something new! Not much else to report this week, I had to say bye to my Brazilian friends which was super hard, I love them so much they will forever be apart of my heart. But now Elder Martins (from Brazil) will get to teach them! I feel like I've taught and learned all that I needed to from them and now someone else needs to be a part of their journey. I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon again and this is a scripture that stuck it to me this week: 3 Nephi 18 19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name; 20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the ...

It's been one of those weeks - rough. I could write about all the hard things that happened this week, but that's not fun, so instead I will share a super cool miracle that happened. On Saturday I went to Marblehead are with Elder Martins for an exchange. We both love finding so we decided to dedicate the entire day to it. On one our first doors we got bashed hard. This guy said some nasty things to us and the church. As I have said before in my emails, I used to be terrified of bashers, but now as I have had experiences with them, that fear has been replaced with frustration. Elder Martins and I decided to take the highroad and leave as peacefully as we could. That was frontier #1. We could have gone back and quit, but we said a prayer and went forward. After about an hour of no one being home or interested Elder Martins asked if I wanted to go to another area to find, in my heart I wanted to but I knew that in order to see miracles, we must push forward, so we did. That...

Aloha! Today, for our p-day activity we played quidditch! it was super fun, but I can only imagine what the people in the park thought of us running around with brooms and volleyballs.  This week has been amazing, last week Elder Esplin and I set a goal to pass out 25 copies of The Book of Mormon, which is a pretty lofty goal for this area. we didn't quite reach our goal, but we definitely pushed ourselves. The goal wasn't really about the number of Books of Mormon passed out, but stretching ourselves to bring the gospel to everyone we see. I learned a lot about the area and about myself. It was amazing to see what could be accomplished when we just push ourselves a little further. As I approach my year mark, I have thought a lot about who I want to be for the second half of my mission. This week we got to go to the temple and I had time to ponder this question. In the Celestial room I was given much guidance as to what God expects of me. During my meditation, I receive...

Man, it has been a crazy good week in San Clemente! Elder Esplin and I went on a super cool hike this morning right next to our apartment and saw the sun rise. Good vibes. We had a ton of amazing experiences this week. Here are a couple: 1. I gave my Brazilian friend a blessing. We hasn't been able to meet with them for a while so we just decided to stop by. When we came over, he told us how much he appreciates us and how they wish they could meet with us all the time. I could see how stressed he had been for a while now and I offered him a blessing and he accepted. I felt God's love for him as my hands were on his head. I have gained a strong testimony of the power of priesthood blessings. The spirit was very strong and afterwards I could see that he felt it. It was amazing giving blessings is one of my favorite parts of missionary work. I love this Family. 2. This week I have tried to give Elder Esplin more opportunities to contact and lead out. So I did what my t...

Spectacular first week of the transfer! I love this area! I recently found out that the translation of "Talega" (The area of San Clemente I serve in) translates to "Money Bags". Not surprised.The weather is finally getting back to normal and it has stopped raining. It has been super fun to be in the same zone as my trainer Elder Kema! We have had some good times already. This week has been super booked with endless meetings and other boring first week business but we have still been able to see some awesome things.  Every Thursday us and a couple other elders hold a soccer night for some of the youth and seekers of truth. This week only one boy and his dad showed up, we were pretty disappointed, but we stuck around hoping some other kids showed up. After it was over, we went to the chapel for a second to here one of the elders practice the piano. After a couple minutes a man we met briefly earlier that day came and listened to him play. After he played a few s...

I am staying in San Clemente! I love it here and like I said when I first got here, I could serve the rest of my mission in these wards. It's the promised land. We had the opportunity to hear from more general authorities this week! This makes 5 in a transfer! We heard from Elder Tad R. Callister and Elder Owen. It was amazing. Elder Callister has given some of my favorite talks like  The Blueprint of Christ's Church  and  Becoming a Consecrated Missionary . He and his wife talked about the importance of the Plan of Salvation and how to plan for lessons. My favorite quote from him was "Do not lose faith in the things you do know because of the things you don't" Elder Owen talked about "Being a Happy Camper" and that we should be grateful for the things we have. I love when he said "Don't ever let this, the gospel, become so common that you don't appreciate it.". Both of them gave incredible talks to us. I am so grateful that we have...