Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,

This has been a great week! We decided we really wanted to have a lot of investigators at church and so we did our best to really invite everyone to come. We made brownies and my whole wheat blueberry muffins and took them to our investigators. We visited one we just added (after many months of knowing and visiting her she decided to really learn more) and took her muffins. She wasn't home so we left them w/ her son and just slipped in that we were going to invite his mom to come to church at 9. Earlier that day we visited Kathy and her husband was home! We weren't sure if he knew that we had been visiting. After a minute of debating we decided to go in anyway. He was so nice! He isn't interested at all but he really listened (from the kitchen as he put away his groceries) to what we told his wife. Then when he heard that we were going to close w/ a prayer he said to wait for him and then he joined us. :) YAY! :)

I really hope we get to help his wife progress and maybe help him understand more about the gospel so he can decide for himself.

Sunday rolled around and we walked into church hoping to see Carolyn but instead Karen was there! We were so surprised that A) she came and B) her son actually heard what we said and remembered to tell his mom! Not only that but her husband was there! We were so excited! :) they had to hurry off afte Sacrament meeting but we were thrilled they came! :)

The work is really improving here. We have been trying to be more bold...I don't know why we make life harder than it is. Anyway, we're really excited for this weekend. Todd is getting baptized and he will be the last one in his immediate family to be baptized! It is so exciting! :)

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Be Happy

Hi everyone!

So, A lot has happened in this past week! We went to the transfer meeting to pick up our new companion, our "trainee." We got there and were still really confused about whether they made a mistake or not. Our new companion is a delight and she has actually been in Salt Lake City serving at Temple Square for 1 year. She is here in San Diego to serve for 3 months! She is so wonderful and so much fun. She is a great missionary and we are all learning so much from/with each other. So we aren't really training anyone...we're just helping her have a good experience transitioning to proselyting. We'll all be good friends for a long time. We have so much fun and we're working hard to channel all of that excitement and enthusiasm towards the work. :) We have been striving hard to help our investigators progress in the gospel. It is amazing what they are learning and understanding for the first time. We have a lot of work to do but we are loving it and we all want to be better! That is so important to me. It makes me think of a Mormon Message we showed to a family last night about how small and simple things add up to great things. This Video is called "Flecks of Gold." I hope you'll take a second and watch it. :)

Book of Mormon is also a GREAT video! I love it and the truths it teaches.

We have so many things to laugh and smile about here in San Diego. We meet so many great people and hear a lot of philosophies on how people conduct their lives. Even within the church we differ on how we individually apply the details of truth. One elderly Phillipino woman we visit tells us that she talks to herself (of course in her Phillipino accent.) "Elyng, be happy!" "Elyng, get up and go walk!" I love that she coaches herself to make good decisions...I need that! I love hearing her voice in my head...it makes me giggle and it inspires me to stand a little taller.

I love this work and I love how every single day is an opportunity to learn and to grow. This week we in sacrament we had the Primary Program where all of the kids get up and bear testimony, sing, and share insights about the things they know. I'm continually blown away by how simple this gospel really is. Heavenly Father loves all of his children and wants us to understand our purpose in life and how we can return and live with him. It is beautifully simple.

You are all great! I Love you and I hope that life is treating you well. If it isn't, I hope that you are coping with it through the only true source of peace, the Savior Jesus Christ and his enduring love for you.

An Amazing week

It has been an amazing week! We had a great experience last week that
set the tone for an amazing spirit-led week. We learned so much and
were able to help many of our investigators move forward in building
their faith and personal testimonies of the gospel. There is nothing
better than the peaceful feeling and comfort that comes from knowing
you are doing what Heavenly Father wnats you to do. I love how many
opportunities we have to change and to pick ourselves up, brush off
our knees, and try again. :)

One of our investigators now has a baptismal date for November 26! We
are so excited for him! He has a long journey but is putting in a lot
of effort to learn all he can and develop the faith he needs. It is so
wonderful to be a part of this work. Amazing things happen when you
love what you do and when you are willing to take one more step. Alma
37:6-7 explain how by small and simple things great things shall be
brought to pass. I know that is true. As I have paid attention to how
I can give a little more in the small things I have been able to build
trust Heavenly Father. The small sacrifices enable Him to bless us
with an added measure of the spirit and guidance. As I don't
"push-back" I find that he consecrates our efforts to accomplish even
more. We learn all things precept upon precept and now I know that
this includes building trust in Him and His promises. He has blessed
Sister Davis and I so much this week because of our willingness to
submit to his will and obey him in exactness (well we've been trying.)
This is in the small things like starting personal study right at 8 AM
or calling people when we hate the phone (haha!) He really does bless
us as we do the small things.

Sister Davis and I have had such a great week and although everything
around us says that things are working too well to stay the same we
KNEW we would be staying here. To our surprise, however, we got a call
from our Zone Leaders this morning. They only call when you have a
change so with the phone on speaker we heard Elder Belt say Sister
Davis, (long long pause) you will be staying in Green Valley. Sister
Hudson (Even Longer pause) you will also be staying. And you will be
Training. You will pick up your new companion tomorrow at 9:30. WHAT!
I was so relieved that we were both staying. I told sister Davis later
that it would have strained my relationship with the spirit if he said
I had to pack my bags because I KNEW I was staying. We were blown
away. Last we heard we weren't getting any new english proselyting
sisters! Holy smokes!

Well, it should be a great learning experience. I have so much left to
learn and I'm so glad that I'm not training alone. haha! We're excited
and a little terrified. ha! Not really, mostly we are bracing
ourselves for yet another wonderful experience in a training trio.
What a wonderful opportunity to make our weaknesses strengths. One of
the biggest things is the diffusion of responsibility. I'm sure we'll
find a way to work that out...it is so important because it hit me so
much when we switched to 2 after 6 weeks. I felt a little overwhelmed
when I knew that if sister davis didn't "have it" I would need to! It
should be a wonderful experience! Can't Wait!

Love you all and love your prayers...keep 'em coming!

Sister Hudson

Sneezy, Happy, and Dopy

Good Morning everyone,

I love the atmosphere of Fall. It is amazing that even though there isn't much evidence of it here in San Diego, everyone still has the spirit of new beginnings that so often comes with the season. Throughout the day, Sister Davis, and I point and say "Fall" anytime we see a tree that actually changes colors or leaves that have fallen. As nice as the weather is here in Poway, my allergies are VERY much aware  that things are changing in the air. I'm "Sneezy" and itchy but my allergy medicine makes me really "dopey." Nevertheless, I'm still "Happy."

Our missionary work here is also feeling the new beginnings and richness of this time of year. We have another new investigator who has been an "almost Mormon" for 10 or 15 years but her many health challenges have made her feel incapable of being an active member and meeting the "requirements" of callings, so she has never joined. Okay, there is another thing stopping her but for the most part she hasn't felt capable or adequate. She said Mormons are the "Navy Seals" of religions. haha! That made me laugh so hard!

 During planning the night before, Sister Davis really felt we should try her at an hour later than usual so the next day we showed up at 11 AM right on the dot and were preparing to express our purpose to her before being turned away but that wasn't what happened at all. She opened the door with a smile and invited us in....funny how that happens. :)

We talked w/ her and had an incredible experience with the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We were able to express to her that the covenant of Baptism is so beautiful...a promise to Heavenly Father that will do all we can to keep his commandments and follow his son, Jesus Christ. In return we are blessed to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost to be with us always if we live worthily. We told her that Heavenly Father would not withhold that blessing from her simply because she would struggle to attend church. She looked me in the eye and said, "You are the first person that has ever told me that." It was amazing to be guided to know exactly what she needed to hear. Her countenance completely changed. It was so beautiful to feel the spirit working through us to help her.

We're not sure what will happen but it was a great reminder of the importance of the spirit. John 14:26 says "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The spirit testifies of truth and helps us feel the peace of the savior's love. I feel blessed to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and I want everyone to feel the way we felt in that room. Many of you who are reading this have experienced something similar. I encourage you to do all you can to seek the spirit daily. It is a blessing to know the Lord is with us, that he approves of us, and that we are living worthily. Hopefully, I'll always remember and apply that, even when life gets crazy again and I have to focus on more than sharing the Gospel. Being a fulll-time missionary and set apart from the world, is such a blessing!

On Sunday Sister Davis and I gave a talk. --yes, that is singular. One of the counselors in the Bishopric asked us to speak together in Sacrament on Teaching the Gospel. It was a challenge to prepare a talk together...everyone does it so differently, but we're pleased with the result. :) We used a lot of great quotes from Preach My Gospel (PMG) about missionary work and referenced John 21 where the Lord appears to his Apostles and asks Peter: "Lovest thou me more than these (the multitude of fish the lord blessed him with)?" Peter says, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." The Lord replies "Feed my Sheep." Christ asks him a total of three times and each time he replies, "Feed My Sheep." I love this so much, many of us don't realize that when we are Baptized in the Church we promise to share the gospel with others. Mosiah 18 expresses this and so does President Eyring in a  talk "A Child and a Disciple" from April 2003 General Conference, "All of us who are under the baptismal covenant have promised to offer the gospel to others." It is a great reminder to apply the things that we all know...to Do what we Know.

I'm so blessed to be learning so much everyday...I hope that some of it sticks and I apologize for being "preachy." I'm just a missionary excited by all that I'm learning and I want to share it with the world...or at least the 5 of you that will eventually read this as well as myself when I come home.

You're all wonderful! I miss you and I hope that November starts off well for each of you!

Love always, Sister Hudson