A little longer at Scripps Ranch

So, we got transfer calls today and Sister Ritter and I will be staying her in Scripps Ranch for another transfer...we were both expecting that but still there is always a little excitement when this day comes each 6 weeks. This morning we took a sister to the airport and we have her companion with us for the day. She found out she is whitewash training (whitewash means she and her companion are both leaving her area and she and her new companion will both be new in the next area.) Anyway, it has been a crazy day w/ all of that going on. Heavenly Father certainly directs the work and there are countless times when I have been surprised by something because it isn't how I was planning it to happen or I wouldn't have picked that setup on my own and then blessings and miracles come forth because Heavenly Father knows what he is doing! I testify to that truth, this is his vineyard, he loves his vineyard, and he knows what to do with it.

We had some cool experiences this week w/ our street contacting. We taught 2 discussions to random people we met and they both took at least an hour. I'm not sure what will come from it but I DO know that God is leading us to these people and we're being mouthpieces for him. I just hope it is enough.

We are still working w/ Dulce, Lupita, and Leslie (and our other investigators of course but these are the most committed.) Dulce should be at church this week!!!! Please please pray for that!

We're having a Mission President's Fireside in our stake on the 9th. Its sort of a musical night of the missionary choir and some of the missionaries do musical numbers. We also watch mormon messages and have recent converts bare their testimonies, then President Clayton will say a few words at the end. They are so powerful! I'm excited because it is a great finding opportunity and I'll be singing a musical number in it. That makes it even more pulling because a lot of people are willing to come to support you! :) Yay! I'm singing w/ Elder Lloyd and Wallentine...it's a folksy version of "Jesus Savior Pilot Me" Hymn 104. I'm going to try and attach a copy of us practicing it...hope it works. Love you all so so much! Thanks for everything! Keep praying for me and tell Desi and Kris that I am SO EXCITED FOR THEM!

 

Sorry, it is WAY too big! I'll find a way to get it to you....maybe when I get home haha! Sorry!

 

The 1st picture is from a pond on the Miramar Marine Corps base we had a picnic at a few weeks ago!

The other is an Higo...a delicious fruit that Dulce gave us...a weird cross between sprouts and watermelon! haha!

 

With love, from San Diego

So, this has been another wonderful week in paradise. :) We have been working hard to contact more people and change our mindsets so that we unmistakably value finding new people to teach and contacting them on the street or wherever we find them. We have a lot of fun with it though! We met the coolest guy from Libya...or Arabia if there is such a place. He had 5 little girls that were so darling and we are so excited to take him an Arabic Book of Mormon and some pamphlets. Any of those hesitations to do a good thing come from the adversary...I know that. Miracles (seen and unseen) are usually on the other side of those hesitations. I love the gospel so much and our zone is so pumped about August. We are all trying hard to help people get ready for Baptism and this month is "Heat um up" August and we're even getting T-shirts. haha...can't wait! Sister Ritter and I are trying to help people progress and we know that is best done as we use members. We have the best ward mission leader ever! He came out w/ us Sunday and we contacted 3 people w/ him and 6 close after. It was awesome. He really cares a lot about our success and working right next to us.

 

San Diego has been so hot lately. I know I shouldn't complain because I"m living in Paradie, but it has been so hot!!! I"m just so so grateful that we have a car and we're not in the midwest! Whew....!

 

We added two new investigators last week. Both of them were ladies we've been working on for a few months. We're excited. Who knew there were so many organization skills required for this work!? I learned that real quick but I still haven't mastered it.

 

I wish I had more to report, but I don't. One miracle though is that we were really busy and I had the thought to go visit Myrna. It was so so hot and I really didn't want to. We had treked up that hill so many times in the middle of the hot afternoon only to stand on a doorstep sweating for a couple of minutes. I tried to rationalize my feeling away because we truly had other important things to do and the feelign wasn't that strong, but It wouldn't go away, so I followed it and we parked and walked and knocked on her door. To my surprise, she opened the door and invited us in for 30 minutes. Then after our lesson she was hesitant to set up a return appointment because she so badly doesn't want to disprespect the Bible or the Lord but after we bore our testimony of our purpse, and reinvited her, she accepted! She wasn't home for our appointment later in the week but still! What a miracle. It is so cool to be tools in the hands of the Lord...such a blessing!

 

Well, I think that is it for now. We got to go to the Temple today and it was amazing as always! :) It was Sister Ritter's first time in the San Diego Temple. What a lovely experience. There is nothing that compares to the sweet spirit and feeling of coming home that you can only find in the Temple.

 

I love you all and I hope you know you are in my heart.

 

And the spirit did not fail (her.!)

Hey Everyone,

 

So it has been a very interesting week. I've had so many experiences where I didn't know how to get us out of a situation or help someone really understand and sat back and let the spirit work it's truth. Seriously, the spirit will not fail us and no one can argue with a testimony!

 

Leslie came to the Elder Ballard Fireside and was all excited for us to come over to teach her more and to bring her a book of Mormon. We were so so excited! We started calling her a couple times a day and no responses. Luckily, Thursday was super busy! We taught 6 lessons and we happened to have a 30 minute break between appointments so we made a few calls. I decided to call leslie and to my surprise she answered. At first it was small talk and then she said, "well, I have your number, let me call you." So at that point I knew if the conversation ended like that we would stalk her a few times and then she would just be another former investigator. So the thought came to my mind, "ask her if she prayed about what elder Ballard taught." So I asked her and she said yes but that she was really confused. Then she went on to explain that she had gone to a prayer group/meeting of all women and the speaker/evangelist was really well known. She said the lady prayed over her and "anointed" her and that she really felt the spirit of the Lord. She told the lady that she had just listened to an apostle and then her response was that she was really confused and should pray about it. she also told her to read psalms and proverbs and to see if any of that applied to her.

 Wow, I really didn't know what to say to that but of course I love to try and then I felt this need to help her understand what that was and yet do it simply...I wanted to FORCE it to make sense and then I knew that I had to humble myself and trust in the Lord. I calmed down and just let the words in my heart come out of my mouth. The Spirit did all the talking and I remember telling her that she should keep reading proverbs and psalms. I told her that if she prays she will get an answer and that God wants her to know the truth. I then explained that it wouldn't be clear until she understood more about what she was asking. Then I explained that our purpose is to help others have that understanding and truth so that they can reason with the lord and he will speak to their mind and their heart. Then I explained that the Holy Ghost witnesses of truth, so you can feel it anywhere that truth is being taught, even a portion of the truth. And that God's truth is hard. So had that people have always tried to change it to fit what is comfortable or more appealing. It keeps changing until God won't have anything to do with it and he withdraws from them. I explained that Satan will make us content w/ half truths but that there is a fulness here and we want to teach her of that and make it easier for her to get a clear undeniable answer from the Lord. Then I asked if we could call her on Thursday or Friday (it was Thursday but i forgot) to see how she's feeling and maybe have a lesson. She said, "oh, Friday I have something but Thursday might be good. Yeah, how about Thursday in the evening?" So I said, "that's today, how about 5?" She agreed! I hung up the phone and then covered my face and said a prayer of thanksgiving. I've never experienced anything quite like that. It was one of the greatest teaching experiences I've ever had. I loved it and felt so supported by the Lord.

Then, a member came to a less active lesson w/ us and then she offered to come w/ us to Leslie's last-minute appointment! Money! It was perfect! :) Then we met w/ her again on Saturday and taught her about the Book of Mormon. She's pretty excited. Too bad all of her friends around here are the ones that converted her to Christianity...it's gonna be a tough fight...or maybe we could teach them too!? :) Possibilities are endless w/ the spirit. I bare my witness that the spirit will not fail you. Trust in the Lord!

 

I love you all!!!! Thanks for your many 

 prayers and all your love!

 

 

 

 

 

Letters To President

Wow! I love training! I'm sure I'm not the best there is but I have been learning so much! Sister Ritter is so great. Poor thing, I've been working her so hard. She didn't even get to fully unpack until Friday. It's been wonderful. We've seen so many miracles together and I know that is because Heavenly Father takes training very seriously. There are always miracles. On her first day we taught 3 less active lessons and 2 member lessons. We found an unknown less active by randomly knocking on his door and we contacted a lady that had just been praying to God. It was so powerful! :) "I love being a missionary," words both of us have said a few times this week. We taught 17 lessons last week, which was good. We finally had someone come to church! Leslie came and I think she enjoyed it. There is a lot we'll have to help her get used to but the Gospel really sells itself. We're still working to find new investigators and help our investigators progress and keep commitments. Our companionship goal this week is to powerfully follow up on commitments. We're excited because we know it will make a big difference in our ministry.

 

I've been reading in Alma this week and I've learned a lot about teaching and how important our image is. In Alma 22:3, King Lamoni's father was so impressed with Ammon's "generosity and greatness of words" that he insisted that they administer unto him. :) Every missionary's dream. That really hit me though. There is so much good that can be done simply by how we conduct ourselves. I have also learned alot about Heavenly Father's plan for us. A less active that we have been working with finally talked with the Bishop on Sunday. It was so great to see how the Spirit was working on her. We're reading from the Book of Mormon with her to help her better understand what is going on and truly gain a testimony and be converted for herself. This is a marvelous work.

Im Expecting!

Dearest Family,

 

I'm Expecting. There you have it. I am training. I'll pick up my new greenie tomorrow morning! : I knew this day would come but I'll be the first to admit that I should be nervous...but I'm not. I think the stress and emotions of the last few days have made me feel unable to really react. I had to say goodbye to Sister Ah Chookoon yesterday. She has been a wonderful companion, friend, and sister. I never imagined we would be companions or that we would stay together that long but I know that I must have been on Heavenly Father's good side for that one. I'm so blessed! She was there through so much and really strengthened my ability to exercise patience and faith. Mostly though, she taught me to love openly and receive love freely. It was exactly what I needed. I feel like a more whole person and more capable representative of Jesus Christ.

 

When she had departure activities she accidentally took our phone with her and so yesterday we were laughing about how funny and unfortunate it would be for her to accidentally take it to Samoa w/ her....guess what ended up happening? Yep...our phone is currently in New Zealand...probably buried at the bottom of her purse. So great. I hope she doesn' cry when she finds it.

 

Things are going well. We are working with a handful of people and a couple of them are really starting to be converted by the spirit. It is just a matter of them exercising faith and taking control of the situations that they are in to make it happen. Dulce is so so sweet. We've had powerful experiences with her as we've taught from the book of Mormon and then connected it to her life and her experiences with the Lord. It is really amazing. She is so excited to read. We need to be better at following up. If we don't take it seriously, they won't take it seriously. Family, I know I'll be in greater need than ever of your prayers and faith. Please don't hold back in the blessings you invoke from Heaven in my behalf. ;) I love you all and I am so excited for all that is happening in this great world. The Lord has important lessons for us to learn and sometimes they take a lot of patience and carefuly accumulation of the little flecks of gold to have a heavy pouch of gold. As I look back on my mission, I can see how those flecks have truly added up. I'm so grateful for the gospel and for the powerful ability the spirit has to change us. Thank the Lord for the Comforter by listening to His voice.

 

I love you!

 

Love, Sister Hudson

A Note From The Care Giver

Dearest, Readers
I must say that I regret my lack of diligence. Though you may not see it now I was in "Limbo". I'm not sure how I got lost from such a simple Copy and Paste task. Here I am 6 months later inserting the blogs where they are Historically Accurate. Please excuse my behavior, it was unacceptable. Therefore I shall be more diligent in my Copy and Paste task. Thank You very much Please Enjoy the Late posts!
                              Sincerely, Deena Marie

Hit and Run Chase

Before reading the story below....please be advised:
1. We are 100% okay
2. I don't have to pay the mission anything
3. Dad, I almost didn't tell you because I don't want you to worry and I also don't want you to call my mission office about it...everything is taken care of. Leave those poor people alone haha! ;)
4. Thank you for your prayers...they work!

So remember all that car trauma I caused for Maria Blanca? Well, I was in my first accident with another vehicle on Saturday. It was so weird. It's actually a very good story considering there wasn't much damage at all and that everyone was totally fine and just a little sore.

We were stopped at a light waiting to go left. The light turned green and a pedestrian started crossing a very busy road and the car ahead of me made the left. We were still at a stop because I was waiting for the guy to get accross the street. Then BAM we got rear ended. It was so weird. I would've sworn by how hard it felt like we got hit that we had lost a bumper. I put on my hazard lights then I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a huge line of cars. They started honking and I thought it was obvious that we had gotten hit (in my head at least) and I knew I wasn't supposed to move the car but there was so much traffic so I thought ok we'll just cross this intersection and the guy will follow me right? So we went across the street slowly and the guy behind us took a left and so I thought he was just going to pull over there right? NO! He sped off! What did we do? We followed him! Yes, we chased our hit and run "suspect" through the smoke his tires left as he sped off. My companion scrambled for the phone to call 911 and we realized not only do we not know the liscence plate number we don't know what kind of car it was....we went as fast as we could and had our TIWI box ( a little box that talks to us if we are speeding or driving aggressively) told me "speeding Violation"  so annoying. We went on anyway for .5 miles and then I knew we couldn't catch him so we just pulled over, got out and I called 911. Then my emotions took over and I realized how fast my heart was beating and I started crying of course as I struggled to tell the lady on the line which direction the "suspect" was headed. It was so surreal and I was so upset that he just took off! Then, probably 100 people drove by (including all the witnesses) and not one of them even stopped to check on us. There wasn't any obvious damage to the bumper so it just looked like we were having car troubles but I kept thinking about how that would never happen in Oklahoma! I was so upset and disappointed at humanity. I got over it though. haha! 15 minutes later 2 police woman showed up and filled out the report and all that information then Elder  and Sister Fort came and checked on us and Sister Fort gave each of us a big hug...it was so nice! They are great!
The results are that the car is totally fine and Elder Fort (he's in charge of the mission cars) said there is barely any damage and he probably won't even call it into the insurance. Everyone said we did the right thing and one of the cops said we played everything by the book. :) That was validating. Sister Ah Chookoon and I were so grateful for the many many prayers that are said all over the world for missionaries and the handful that are said for us specifically! There are so many ways it could have been worse and I'm grateful it all happened the way that it did. Maybe I'll witness an accident and need to be smart enough to record info for someone else...or maybe I'll need to know what to do in the future with a different situation that this will help me out with. Who knows. I thought you would enjoy me sharing that though :) Yes, your sister/daughter chased a hit and run while a missionary. Good times and a great story.