Being A Missionary Is the Best

Hi all,

What a week! There is so much that happened but the most important thing is that one of our investigators was baptised on Saturday! :) She was glowing! It was such a special thing and I will never forget how tender it was. She is a wonderful person that will continue to do so much good in the world. It was so special to be there as she made a promise to Heavenly Father that she would strive to keep his commandments for the rest of her life!  It was so wonderful and I feel so blessed to have been a small part of her journey. It was so crazy because about 60 people showed up to the Baptism and so we had to move it all to the chapel. Earlier that day we went to pick up the baptismal clothing and no one was home and the clothes were not outside the front door in a box like they were supposed to be. We hopped back in the car and started calling everyone we could think of as we drove to the Stake Center to fill up the Baptismal Font. The baptism was supposed to start at noon and at 12:10 we still didn't have any clothes except for some white pants we found in the closet. We ended up getting it all sorted out but it was a wild adventure. The interesting thing is that we were calm throughout most of it and we just did what we could with a prayer in our hearts. It worked out exactly as it needed to and it was such a special experience. As missionaries we get to share a message. We showed the Mormon Message of Elder Holland testifying of the Book of Mormon and then we got to follow his testimony of it with our own. It is in moments like that when I realize how blessed I am to know that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, that he loving sacrificed his life so that I could returning and live with my Heavenly Father again with my family, and that Christ restored his church in fullness through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that I am a small part of God's Work and His Glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I am so blessed to be here serving the Lord. I have fallen in love with the scriptures and am truly learning to put the savior at the center of my life. I love being able to teach people eternal truths that help them draw closer the the Savior and to our Heavenly Father. Being a missionary is the best!

My companions are the best! We each bring something unique to the work here in Green Valley and I love that we all want to be better missionaries. It is so nice to be able to work together as a team towards a goal. I love it! They tell me that I'm the comic relief when things get stressful which makes me so happy. :) They are great missionaries that really want to serve the Lord. We've learned a lot together and hopefully we'll get to stay together for at least one more transfer (or 6 weeks.) We find out next Tuesday and then we'll make any changes next Wednesday. Yikes!

Well, I hope that all is well for everyone that reads this! I'll work on taking notes throughout the week of things to share in my posts because I can never remember on Tuesday.

This Week's Many Adventures

Hi everyone,

This week we had many adventures. It seems like Tuesday, Preparation day, is the day for things to happen. Of course it always happens after we write home. :) Well, last Tuesday we met with one of our investigators. We hadn't met w/ him in such a long time and one of our many awesome members in Green Valley got connected with him and has been an incredible support to him. They are becoming good friends! We came over after they had finished eating dinner together and we used a lot of the things we've been trying to implement in our teaching to bring the spirit. It was so awesome! He now has a baptismal date!!!!! It was so powerful!

One of our investigators is getting baptized on Saturday. We are so so excited for her! It is such a special thing to be a part of. She is wonderful and I have learned so much from her.

As many of you may have heard, there was an incident with the power on Thursday. We were at a members home when the electricity went out and we thought that it was just their house but we soon found out it was all of Poway. Not much later we found out that it was all of Southern California, part of AZ and Mexico! Whew...it was honestly so fun! We loved seeing all of the neighbors come outside and listen to the radio together and do what neighbors used to do! It was awesome! We chatted with one group and nothing really came of it but it was really cool to see that and have a hope for that neighborhood unity. We planned for the next day by flashlight. We had way too much fun with it all. We went to sleep at 10..it was great! We woke up the next day to find the electricity was working again. Sister McCloy was bummed because she liked the adventure! haha! Oh and Dad, the flashlight you sent me in D.C. is STELLAR! I love it! I'm so glad I had it. :)

During weekly planning we had a lot of breakthroughs about how to improve our service here in Green Valley. We are so excited about "our vision" of our missionary work here. We have adopted a slogan that I want to be sure and take the credit for because I'm so proud of it :) "Wear the Badge" It's like "wear the pants" because we are in charge but "Wear the Badge" is so much more meaningful...I actually do have authority and a responsibility to the people here in Green Valley. Many great things are happening. We are working hard and doing are best to make the many improvements we know we need to make but we are also having fun and have hope in all we do!

Thanks for all the love and support! Until next week!

P.S. Sami Skabelund, dear, I want to apologize. You haven't received a letter from me because it got sent back to me. :( I use the address in Provo, I thought it looked weird but sent it anyway. I'm just going to find another place to send it but if you could e-mail deena.marie.hudson@gmail.com your address I will be able to send it to you next week. Love ya!

 

Quick Note! Our mission has it's own blog!

P.S. Our mission has a blog! They are going to put pictures up whenever we have different events so check it out!

CaliforniaSanDiegoMission.blogspot.com

A late entry because My sister is lazy!

Hello from San Diego,

Time is the weirdest concept as a missionary because our schedules are the same every single day and Saturday and Sunday are just ordinary days for us except for the Sacrament on Sunday. :) Missionary life is so different than I ever expected and it is more rewarding than I could ever have imagined. It is such a blessing to have the confidence and trust that I am in San Diego at a specific time, with a specific work to do, and with specific experiences before me. What I love most about it is the way I am set apart as a missionary. I am freed from all the regular distractions in life that I will one day welcome back, but I am able to throw myself into the work and gain a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thought reading the scriptures and studying would be hard to do eveeryday for 2-3 hours but it is so precious to me! I absolutely love it. I also have a deeper love and appreciation for the Savior and for what he has done for me and all of his brothers and sisters. It is an incredible privilage to be a part of his work and help invite others to come unto him and find true rest and happiness.

I have been anxiously awaiting a rainful and yesterday it rained off and on all day but it poured throughout the night. This is a special occasion in San Diego and I had one of the best nights of sleep since I've been here. I felt right at home w/ the windows open and the soothing sound of raindrops, not to mention the smell! It was wonderful! I've always loved rain but the thing that makes me love it so much is the way the earth is cleansing itself. There is a certain stillness that comes from a calm storm that makes me think of Jesus as he calmed the storm.

Last month we studied faith as a mission and we had a really rough week here in Green Valley. Many things were causing us to be doubtful and discouraged but in the end Heavenly Father blessed us to witness many miracles. One of our investigators is no longer moving to the other coast, which will be a huge blessing for their family. Many people were praying for that. Another of our investigators asked for time to let things sink and that scared us but she now has a baptismal date. He works in mysterious ways but it was definitely a lesson for our companionship to learn. As we had faith through the hard times we were blessed to better appreciate the miracles occuring before us. The Lord is absolutely in His work and I just have to do my part trusting that he is guiding it all.

Oh, I also found out last week that I could go home 12 Feb 2013 or 1 Jan 2013...I didn't realize that and now I know i'll have to make that decision someday. I could start up school right away because of the semester that starts a few days later or come back home later on 12 Feb and take time to "normalize" and get a job....time will tell but that's an interesting situation to be in. Luckily I have a long time before I really have to think about that. :)

Finally, I would like to extend an invitation to all that read this entry. Every time that we meet with members we extend a challenge to them and their families. Elder Ballard has promised us on more than one occasion that if we come together as a family and pray sincerely for opportunities to share the gospel as well as to recognize these opportunities and to have the courage to act on those opportunities, that we would be able to help others find truth. After extending this challenge over the pulpit, Elder Ballard one day received a letter from a woman. She was furious that she and her family had done the 90 day challenge and had prayed as a family each day and nothing had happened. They had not found someone to prepare for the missionaries to teach. He decided to call her and he said, "Hello, this is Elder Ballard from the Quorom of the 12 Apostles in Salt Lake City." There was silence on the other line (haha!) They had a chat about her experience and he asked her what she DID. They had only prayed as a family, which is certainly the first part but Heavenly Father doesn't just make things happen. He typically works through his children. He asked her to take the challenge again but to this time also talk to everyone! Make friends with the mail man, the grocer, her neighbor. Seek opportunites to share the gospel with those around us, recognize them, and act on them. She agreed.

3 months later he recieved another letter from the same woman and she explained that there was a family about to be baptized. This happened because her daughter had invited a friend to a primary activity and she really loved how she felt there. Then she told her family about it and they became interested and soon they were invited to take the lessons from the missionaries. Be an example to those around you, BE who you SAY you are. As I like to say, "Wear the Badge" sometimes I forget my calling and have to remind myself that I am a missionary for the Lord and have no reason to be apologetic about the things I know to be true. I am who I am and I don't ever have to switch hats. Obviously we still need to be respectful of others and their beliefs but never hide your light. Let your light shine forth!

I love you all! I really do. Thank you for all the love and support, I am grateful for your prayers and know that I pray for your and your families too!