March 30th Transfers and Easter

Kia Ora Whanau! 

 

Wow 2 months cam on went and i'm starting my second transfer now! I'm still in Manurewa but i have a new companion! Sister Clarke went down to the visitor's center in Hamilton and my new companion is Sister McFlinn! she is from Brisbane, Australia. She is so cute and so much fun! 

 

I am SOOOO excited for General Conference! Because they don't have the channel we have to watch it a week later than yous but I can't wait! it's gonna be weird not waking up to dad making crepes but we're gonna have our own that morning :) Next week is Easter and i can't believe it's April already!! We're so excited to bring our investigators to church on Sunday for the special Easter program. This is such a great Holiday to talk about and invite people to learn more about Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for us. 

 

 I just love this are heaps and i know i am supposed to be here. one of our investigators, Terry, has been taught by HEAPS of missionaries but i really do feel like this is her time. she has been prepared so much by the Lord and we're working with her to feel ready. She is so great and her kids are the cutest. She is so receptive to the spirit and she knows that the church is true, she just needs to take that leap of faith now. and that's why we're here; to help her take that leap. 

 

Marlene WILL get baptized i have faith in her. she just needs to have faith in herself.keep her in your prayers. :)

 

sorry it's short today but this week has been crazy just trying to get Sis. McFlinn introduced to everyone and the area but i'll have more next week! and more pictures too! stay safe and have fun!! 

 

GO KYLEE (or shall i say Sister Smith) BOLIVIA IS WAITING FOR YOU!!! 

 

Kia Kaha

Sister Judd

 

ps the dogs here are INSANE and i may or may not have been almost eaten and have a tooth scratch on my leg to prove it. but moony is a good defense. she's got my back :) 

March 22nd WHANAU! (fahn-oh)

i loved seeing all the pictures of yous at Sea World i'm glad yous had fun and saw some creatures for me. keep doing fun things and sedingme pictures!!  

 

Well this week has been so crazy i don't even know where to start. I can't believe my first transfer is at it's end! i went by so fast and we accomplished so much! i'm excited to continue the work and i' m just getting started. I had such a great start to my mission and i know that New Zealand is where i am supposed to be. 

 

Our lovely Fijian/Indian Barbara was baptized on Saturday and it was such an amazing experience. The amount of faith that she has is incredible. She has had such a hard life and has been through so much and yet she continues to rely on The Lord. I have learned so much from her. A couple days before her baptism we taught her about temples. We brought Sister Pasikala with us and she shared the blessings that she has received from attending the temple. She also told Barbara that because of her choice to be baptized she can be with her husband again and be sealed to him for eternity. as she said that Barbara broke into tears and told us that all she wants is to be with her husband again. She knows this is the true church and she wants to do everything she can to go to the temple. We are so lucky that Heavenly Father has given us temples to not just help ourselves progress but to help others who are waiting in the Spirit World. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord and that the work that we can do for others will help generations. She's a special lady and i am so blessed to have been able to help her come closer to Christ. and her family as well. 

 

So, the moment i have been waiting to tell yous since Tuesday morning. After exercise Sister Clarke and I were walking back to the flat and we were in the grass that has HEAPS of hidden hole because it's really uneven and i stepped in one and my left ankle rolled under itself and i felt a crack. we had to go to the hospital and get x-rays and i ended up fracturing my left ankle. I'm in a moon boot, who we cal moony, and i'm just limping around everywhere. it needs to stay for 4-6 weeks so she's going to be my other companion for this next transfer. Don't worry about me i'm completely fine, Sister Clarke is taking good care of me and it's really not that bad. moony is a really good conversation starter and she gives our lessons character. Heavenly Father just needed a good laugh so he's watching me limp around the area with moony stapped to my leg. 

 

MY FIRST PACKAGE AND I AM SO HAPPY!! So much candy!! (or lollies as they would say here) The Milano's made me cry, and also the ranch. so amazing! thank you mom and dad so much!! We really enjoyed taste testing most of the lollies that Sister Clarke had never had before. The peanut butter is amazing and the giant bottle of advil came right on time as well, because the prescriptions that they gave me just makes me feel yuck and the advil works better anyway. OH! so funny, as i was pulling out all the lollies i found some of mom's hair!! it was so funny and we had to take a picture. sister clarke said, "so that's where you get your shedding from" because my hair is constantly everywhere all the time hahahahaha and i found like three other strands after that too. oh mom too funny. it was a perfect package thank you thank you thank you! :) 

 

The last thing i wanted to share with you is a quote from Henry B. Eyering which says: "If Faith is not embedded in your hearts, the power to endure will crumble." Because of moony i have had to have heaps more Faith that this is part of the plan that Heavenly Father has for me and if i lose Faith i will not be able to endure and keep the work progressing. This is a lesson that can be learned during any time in our lives. that as long as we have Faith we can endure. once we lose that Faith the power to endure leaves with it. i'm so glad i have a Savior Jesus Christ who has felt everything i have felt so that i can turn to him whenever i need it. even if it is for a fractured ankle. He keeps me strong and keeps me positive. i love my Savior and my Heavenly Father and i love love all of yous. thank you for the support and prayers. i can feel the love all of yous have for me and it keeps me going. 

 

have fun and be safe!!

Kia Kaha 

Sister  Judd

March 15th Luau Dance and Elder Nielson

Kia Ora Whanau (family in Maori) 

 

This week has been magical! Last week of my first transfer! so crazy! it's been raining the the past three days and i absolutely love it. i love wearing my rain clothes and walking around in the rain talking to as many people as we can. we realized that if people are willing to walk in the rain they will be willing to listen to our message. so we've talked with heaps of people the past couple days. it's been great. we asked Heavenly Father to give us heaps of people and i was like "uhh dude it's raining how is that going to help?" but it did and we were able to meet so many amazing people.

 

Barbara is getting baptized this week!! i think she might be even more excited than we are! she is so cute and i love her dearly. She asks us everyday if it's her baptism day yet and we have to keep reminding her that it's on sunday, because she just wants it to be now. she even has her clothes already folded up and ready. She told us when we were reviewing the baptismal questions with her that the reason she wants to be baptized is because she wants to follow the commandments and she knows that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are there for her and will help her no matter what. she has the strongest faith i have ever seen and she keeps it strong no matter what.  

 

We also met Sammy. We taught her the Restoration the first time we came to her house and she loved it. she wanted the lesson to be over so she could read the Book of Mormon. She just recently heard that her Grandfather had a stroke while he was in Samoa and he was the one that raised her and he's on life support so it's really hard for her. She's having a really hard time coping and she doesn't know what to do. We shared with her about the Atonement and how the Savior can help her feel comforted as she's going through this alone. We invited her to pray and ask Heavenly Father to give her comfort and help as she is going through this hard time. we shared some spiritual experiences when we have used the atonement during hard times and as much as those times were difficult for me i am SO glad i went though them so that i could help someone who needed it. 

 

This week we met with Elder Nielson of the Seventy for Zone Conference. it was so wonderful. Him and his wife are such great teachers and they care about missionaries and this gospel so much. i learned so much from them but one thing that stood out to me was Elder Nielson's message on how the Lord loves broken things. he shared this saying with us: 

 

Broken Clouds to make rain 

Broken ground to make grain

Broken grain to make bread

Broken bread to always remember Him 

And a Broken Savior to pay the price for all of us. 

 

This is such a powerful message and when we are broken we can turn the the Lord and He will ALWAYS help us. What a blessing it is to know that no matter what we are going through The Savior has felt our pains and all of our emotions so that we don't have to go through it alone. Just like with Sammy, the Savior felt what she is feeling and she can ask Him to take it away. And he will. I know it. 

 

I hope yous had a fun week and you were safe! have a wonderful week and always remember that you're never alone. 

 

Kia Kaha

Sister Judd

March 8th Baptism Miracles and Cheesecake

Kia Ora Whanau (family in Maori) 

 

This week man! So crazy! 

 

we had a baptism! Tati and Tawhiri are nieces of a member in our ward and she texted us last week to teach them. they are solid and were so excited to be baptized. Tati is 9 and Tawhiri is 11. My first baptism and i couldnt be more excited! love this amazing work. 

 

Barbara. oh Barbara. she is so wonderful, i think i told yous about her last week and how we have to yell at her to teach her and it is the funniest thing ever. a couple days ago she asked sister clarke to say the closing prayer and she started it and yelled "DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER" and it was so funny. she had to stop and tell Barbara that she had never yelled at Heavenly Father before so it's really weird. She was sweet about it though and told us that He understands and He's not upset with her. and the next day i said the prayer and had to start over because it really is hard yelling at him. so i guess that's another thing i get to check off the list. 

 

the past couple days have been crazy for us becasue we have all of these solid investigators that we teach during the week and then comes sunday none of them attend church. people's agency makes me SOO frustrated and i wish i could just make them come. i guess that;s how Heavenly Father feels about everyone one of us and i have to just worry about 5 people. it's just so upsetting because we know that if they come to church they'll feel the spirit and understand why we want hem there so badly. but satan also knows why it's so important and he's really good at getting them to change their minds. man, i hate that guy. 

 

Manuwera is such a funny place. it's definitely not what comes up when you Google New Zealand. I'm in South Auckland, the very tippy top of the Hamilton Mission where it borders the Auckland mission. i love it here it's just not what i expected. very suburban and very interesting. let's just say we hear sirens all day and night. i can just hear dad's voice in my head saying "your idea of sketchy is going to change once you're on your mission" haha well you were right dad....like always. but i love good ol' Manurewa. there are are so many people here are waiting for the gospel they just don't know it yet. Finding the ones that have been prepared already to hear our message is the best part. 

 

this week i had my first bike/skirt incident and it was a doozy. as you can see in the picture that i sent it got stuck in the brakes and then created a GIGANTIC hole. it was so funny because the area that we're in has a lot of members that live close by and there were so many people that saw us trying to get my skirt out of the bike. sister clarke loved it. i'm not sure my skirt enjoyed it that much but it was pretty hilarious. i guess it was bound to happen right? 

 

i love being able to write you guys every week, it makes me miss you so much but i love getting tell you about my week. i hope yous stay safe and have a wonderful week! don't forget that there are people all around you who are looking for answers to their questions and you are able to answer them! rely on the spirit and pray everyday! you'll feel closer to Heavenly Father and feel His love always.

 

Kia Kaha

Sister Judd

March 1st Bednar Looking Into My Soul, and Rugby

Kia Ora!

 

hey fammo! this week has been busy as! 

 

The start of the week was amazing but i'm leaving it for the end because it was so magical. 

 

but here's some fun facts about my lovely land of the long white cloud (New Zealand). 

1. they call dessert pudding. so when we're at a dinner appointment the member asks "are yous ready for some pudding?" and then brings out like ice cream or cake or whatever. i was so confused the first time because she brought out ice cream and i was expecting chocolate pudding. 

2. they don't call it dinner it's called tea. So a member will say "sisters, we're having you over for tea tomorrow" and they mean dinner, it's all so confusing!

3. the ice cream and chocolate are SOO GOOOOOOD! the ice cream is super rich and just so good and i can't even explain the chocolate because it's just so good. 

4. they call McDonald's Macca's and it's so much better than home. so is the KFC like it doesn't even taste like KFC just really really really good chicken. it's seasoned differently and the chicken is from here i don't know if that makes a difference but it's good.   

5. fruit tress everywhere! peach, pear, apple, fig, and of course kiwi fruit. i tried fresh fig from the tree a couple days ago and it was so good. super sweet. and the apples here are far out. not as good as honeycrisp but still sweet as. 

 

okay so this week has been miracle after miracle. We met a new lady, Barbara, and she's Fijian/Indian. she's the sweetest and she's 70. she's getting baptized on the 21st and she doesn't even want to wait that long. she's ready. she cam to church yesterday and just kept telling people that it was her home. except when i say 'telling' i really mean yelling because her hearing is really bad. like we have to yell at her when we teach. it's been the weirdest thing saying "JOSEPH SMITH SAW HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST" If it were a normal situation the spirit definitely would not be there but because Heavenly Father know her circumstance the spirit was there. but i can for sure check off yelling in all my lessons off the list. 

 

I'm getting really really good at rugby. every we go to people's houses we play touch because we're sisters and arent allowed to be tackled but it's so fun. oh, speaking of Maori traditions, on saturday Sister Clarke and I went to go see one of our investigators, Terry, and when we got there a huge party was going on. we started talking with the teenagers and they figured out that i haven't seen a Haka or anything Maori yet she they did 2 Haka and some traditional songs. they did the one that is in forever strong and let me just tell you it is definitely better in real life. i recorded it but it's too long to send but we all did the Pukana which is the terrifying face they do during the Haka so i'll send that with the email. it was so cool being surrounded by the Maori culture. Another thing i figured out is that there's Judd's that are Maori. they live here in Auckland and down south as well. Sister clarke is actually related to them. so dad, you should look into that because apparently a lot of them live in the states. 

 

anyway, David A. Bednar. such a cool experience. we got to go see him on tuesday and it was one of the best days of my life. When he walked in i could feel the spirit so strongly. he had us read and study three talks of his prior to coming and he taught in a completely different way than we were expecting. he had microphones passed around and asked us questions. one of the questions he asked was "what did you learn from reading these talks?' i didn't even think i was gonna raise my hand but i did and he saw me and had me stand up. when i was given the mic i looked at him and it was the most craziest thing. he looked right at me and i just felt like he was looking right into my soul. he was paying close attention to everything i had to say and the spirit was just helping say everything so fluently and precise. he then talked about what i said for quite a bit and thanked me for my wonderful spirit. GUYS it was the most intense moment of my life. i really do think that as an apostle of the Lord he could see me better than i could see myself. it was such a spiritual feast. he is such a powerful speaker. really really short (like as tall as me) but when he speaks it's like hes 100 feet tall. 

 

funny moment: we needed just 2 more people to talk to this week to reach the goals president set for us to speak to 100 people a week and yesterday we had 98. so we sat in the car and prayed to heavenly father that we can find just 2 more people and when we looked up we saw two people walking down the street. they were like three blocks down though, AND we had ten minutes before we had to be home. we looked at each other and booked it down the street. we ran and and ran to catch up with the people and once we got to them we were out of breath and all sweaty they thought we were freaks and asked why we were going running in dresses. we totally embarrassed ourselves but it was too funny. 

 

i hope yous have a wonderful week and remember to talk to people! there are people surrounding you that may need questions answered and because you have the gospel you can give them those answers! 

Read DC 84 and think about what you can do! 

 

Kia Kaha! 

Sister Judd