Monday, November 23, 2015

Hola Everyone,

This week has been pretty good. There were many things that happened and it was a good old fun week. So first off, I got cleared to drive the car this week, which was great. It was actually pretty interesting the first day I was driving, since I hadn't driven in like 6 weeks, but after the first day of driving it all came back and I am driving like normal.

Another thing that happened this week was that Elder Clark of the Quorum of the Seventy came to stake conference and while Elder Miles and I and the Sisters were just sitting around waiting on our dinner that was at the church, he came up and shook our hand and talked to us, which was pretty neat. He was a great speaker and I learned so much from him, like how as we study the scriptures, there are many blessings that come from it.

Also while we were sitting at the church both on Saturday and Sunday, we were able to find two new investigators and we have lessons with them today and tomorrow.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve and that I have been able to help others either come back to church or by teaching them more about the church. It was really neat to see Matteo who was the first person that I had a lesson with; come back to church and go to all of the activities that we have during the week. He has truly changed over the weeks that I have been here and I know that that is because of the Spirit that he has been able to feel when going to church! I know that there is an incredible Spirit that comes from going to church and that as we do so we are blessed. Thank y'all for all of your support and love!

Love,
Elder Rudd



So on Wednesday we went out on Splits and I went with Matteo which was great in and of itself since he is coming to all of these events. Anyways, we met a homeless man and he told us that it was his birthday and that he was 44. He also said that he has read the entire Book of Mormon and that he had a few questions. Matteo helped me understand some of his Spanish and then at the end he asked if we would sing happy birthday to him so that's what we did. We sat there and sang happy birthday to him on the street and that was so great. It made our day!!

I love y'all and look forward to talking to you next week!!!

Love,
Elder Rudd

It looks like there are more hills

in California than Florida.

If I could only remember what I had to learn

for the cooking merit badge

A little goofing off.

Vista Zone

I found a little bench just like is at home.

Beautiful sunset

Hello Everyone,

This week has been a much better week. My prayers were truly answered. From the very beginning of the week too. On Monday night we were able to talk to someone who was interested in learning more about the gospel. We went to this one house expecting to find one person and instead we found another person that was interested in learning more about the gospel. This happened twice to us this week. The first time we went to go and see a Sister named Christina and instead we found a guy named Eddie who said that he was interested in learning more about the gospel and invited us back to teach him more. We are going to have a lesson with him tonight! The second time this happened was when we went to find a guy named Antuan and when we knocked on the door another guy named Eric answered instead. We were able to meet with him on Sunday and teach him The Restoration. He has such a huge testimony that God is real and that He has a purpose for him. This is because he was in this car accident where he was drinking and got ejected from the car 70 feet in the air and when he came down he ruptured his kidney and broke a couple of bones. The best part about this is that he took that as a sign from God that he should stop drinking and should not become an alcoholic like his father. I have a feeling that teaching the Word of Wisdom will be pretty easy!

So did you know that it rains in California? Well it does! It turns out that it is El Nino season so we have been getting a lot of rain here. Oh and it also gets pretty cold at night and in the morning when we are running, like cold enough that I can see my breath. Lol. Lets just say that there have been a couple of nights where after we were done proselyting for the night, we went out and got some hot chocolate.

So yesterday was my first Zone Conference and I was privileged enough to be able to hear from a General Authority for my first one. It was Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy. He was such a great teacher and I learned so much from him. We learned about Revelation and how important it is for each and everyone of us to receive revelation for ourselves on how we can become better. 

I know that the Prophet is called of God and that as we listen to his councils we can come closer to our Lord and Savior. I also know that through daily prayer and scripture study we can become even closer with our Heavenly Father and the Spirit. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and to teach others how they can come back to live with their Father in Heaven.

Thank y'all for all of the emails and support.

I love y'all so much!!

Love,

Elder Rudd

PICS:

Hey Everyone,

This week has been quite an interesting week. It started off with carving pumpkins for out district activity which was pretty fun. I carved LDS into mine ( I was going to do the angel Moroni but that would have taken way to much time to do). Then we got to go to FHE later that night. That was so much fun being able to meet all of the people in the ward and having the opportunity to play games with them. The best part about FHE was that one of our investigators came and was able to interact with a lot of the members. Hopefully Lili and Frances will be coming to church now that they are a little bit more comfortable with the people there. We also had the opportunity to go to the San Diego temple which in my opinion is the prettiest temple I have ever been in. I am so grateful I was able to go there and feel the spirit so strongly.

So when I said that my week was interesting, what I really meant was that it was a bit tough. We had 10 lessons planned this week and every one of them got cancelled about 10 minutes before we were going to be there. 

One thing that happens when things aren't going the way you think they are going to go, you start praying a whole lot more and that is exactly what we started doing. In a way our prayers were answered though. Now they may not have been how we were expecting them to be but I feel as though they were. We were able to contact many people on the street and let other missionaries that covered that area to follow up with them and hopefully teach them. 

After this long week I was reading in the scriptures and I read a couple of passages, one of which was 1 Nephi 3:7 and the part I liked the most from that scripture was that the Lo
​rd will prepare a way.  

I know that as we strive to do what is right and always work hard to find those that are searching for the truthfulness of the gospel, then the Lord truly will prepare a way. As we listen to the still small promptings of the Spirit we will be guided in the way that we should go so that we can find those seeking the truth. I am grateful for all of the trials that I have had because I know that I have grown stronger because of them.

Thank you for all of your emails and support. 

Love,

Elder Rudd 

                                            Watching The Testaments on Halloween night

                                                   Halloween Night's Dirt Pudding Dessert!

                                              These are the missionaries of the YSA ward!

                                                     Mirrors make some cool photos!

                                                                   The area I cover!

                                                                 San Diego Temple!