Monday, April 18, 2016

Life in Fallbrook is Great!

Hey Everyone!!

 

This week was great! I am so happy to be in my new area! The people here are great and they are all super involved in missionary work which I love!!

 

So my new area is a full time biking and walking area, but that is totally fine and quite honestly I really like that. I am able to talk to so many more people and am able to see so many more cool things. Plus, I don't have to worry about getting in a car accident.

 

So my first day here we had dinner with the Bishop and his family and bishop invited this homeless man over for dinner and this man did not look homeless at all! He actually had a really great story about how he came from a nice job and moved here to California because he wanted to be closer to his daughter and since jobs here are so hard to find he hasn't really been able to get settled in since what money he does get he gives to his daughter. He is such a sweet man and I am glad that we were able to be a part of dinner with him. We then were able to share a really spiritual message with them about how we go through our trials for a reason and that every thing works out perfectly if we are following God's will.

 

So we are biking here a lot and I love it.  I forgot how nice it was to be able to ride a bike!

 

We also will be having a baptism on April 30th! Her name is Rachel and she is AWESOME!! She is so ready and she loves the gospel so much!

 

Also in my last area, I was teaching a girl named Rachel and they were able to commit her to baptism as well! She was actually the one to bring it up and ask them about it, which makes it even more awesome! I am excited to be able to go back for her baptism.

 

So an interesting contact the other day...I stopped to talked to this guy and I was speaking Spanish with him and he said to me as I was telling him the I was a missionary, "do you want to sell me your bike?" and I was like "No, I want to share a message about Jesus Christ." I guess the only thing he wanted was my bike because he left when I said that. There were however some other people that we were able to set up a time with to share our message with and will be doing that this week. People here are just so friendly compared to Vista.

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve here and am grateful for my Lord and Savior that helps me through each and every day. I know that we have a prophet on the Earth today that leads and guides us just like in times of old and I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I can never deny that because of the Spirit that I have felt that has confirmed its truthfulness unto me. I am so grateful for the Spirit in my life and I hope that each and every one of us will always strive to have the Spirit with us because I do not know what my life would be like without it.

 

Thank y'all for all of your love and support!!

 

I love and miss y'all!!

 

Love,
Elder Rudd

Vista Zone

(A few days before transfers)

 

 From Back Left to Right:

Elder Grosebeck (DL), E. Madero, E. Saxey (DL), E. Mangus, E. Wilson (ZL)

E. Rudnning, E. Steiner, E. Le Tendre, E. Quinney, E. Urey, E. Rudd (DL),

Sister Denny, Sis. Benware, Sis. Middleton, Sis. Call, E. Ellis (ZL)

 

Out walking in Fallbrook

Elder Parkinson (new comp from Delta, UT) & Elder Rudd

 

Fallbrook Selfie

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 11, 2016

4th Transfer Has Come to an End


Hey Everyone!!

I hope y'all had a great week and that you were able to enjoy the little things in life.

 

So we also got a new vehicle on Monday night...now we have a 2014 Chevy Cruze.

 

I had a pretty good week. It was pretty uneventful since Elder Urey got sick and we had to stay inside for the past few days. Before he got sick though, we were able to teach Joie, Justin, and Monti and help them to come closer to Christ. We taught them about a reason why we have trials in our lives and how they make us stronger and they totally agreed with us on that. 

 

We were also able to meet up with this guy named Anthony and talk to him about God's plan for him. Oh, also if you have never seen the Mormon message, "The Hope of God's Light", I strongly recommend watching it, it is such a powerful video that brings the Spirit so strongly!

 

So for dinner one of the nights this weeks, we were supposed to go with this member from our ward to the Yellow Deli, but the day he took us was actually their Sabbath.  So we decided to go to their celebration, which come to find out is in the middle of nowhere and we ended up getting lost on some dirt roads in the middle of the night. It was a very long escapade and one that I do not plan on doing ever again. We ended up just turning around and going back to our apartment to get food. 

 

I know that this Church is true with all of my heart and I am so thankful for all of the experiences that I am able to go through. I have learned so much in the past 6 months and have been able to come closer my Lord and Savior. I know that the Book of Mormon is true because I have read it and have asked Heavenly Father is it was true and I got the answer that it was through the Holy Ghost. The promise in Moroni 10:3-5 is true and if you take the time to read the Book of Mormon and sincerely ask if it is true you will come to find that it is truly Another Testament of Jesus Christ. 

 

I hope that y'all have a great week!! 

 

I love and miss y'all so much!!

 

Love,

Elder Rudd

 

NOTE: Transferring to Fallbrook 2nd Ward (bike area) tomorrow.

 

 

All happy emailing back home on P-Day.

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 5, 2016

How's it going everyone!

This week was a great week. We saw so many miracles happen!

First off we were able to have a lesson with Rachel and answer many of her questions. She also came to 8 hours of General Conference. We both have a feeling that she is going to be getting baptized. She loves the church and how loving all of the members are to her. She also loved how she got many of her questions answered when she went to an institute class.

General Conference was amazing as well and I feel like it is so much better as a missionary because you can really receive so much revelation from it. 

After the first session of General Conference, we were able to go out with Erik Atienza and we decided to stop by Daniel's house. There we were able to have a lesson with him and Erik was a great member missionary. He really emphasized how important it was that Daniel come to church with us.

Now the craziest thing of all that happened this week...we got in a head on collision with a pickup truck and walked away without one scratch on us!! Missionaries truly are protected. So the story goes like this...we were driving to go and see a potential investigator and as we were driving down Townsite Dr. this truck came out of a road and came into my lane, so I braked thinking that they would correct themselves and then go into the other lane. Then they sped up and I realized that we were about to get hit. So I braced myself and put my arms in front of my face and then it happened. I can barely remember them hitting us other than the lights coming at me and then I think we got knocked out for a couple of minutes. Then Elder Urey and I wake up to some loud ringing and smoke in the air from the air bags going off. I turn to Elder Urey and ask if he is okay and he says 'yes'. Then he asks the same to me and I said 'yes'. Then I told him he should probably call 911. We then got out of the car and looked for the truck that did this to us.  We are guessing that the driver of the truck might have been drinking and driving, because they were gone. Then the Fire department and the police showed up and we told them that we were okay. It is crazy to think that we got in a head-on collision and were able to walk away from it with no injuries at all. I have such a greater testimony of how much the Lord truly does have His hand in our lives and that He will protect us. By the way our car is totaled and that really stinks because I liked that car. Oh and we are perfectly fine as well, I am glad that we were able to be the ones to get in the crash because we were talking to this lady after the accident and she said that she was about to leave and if it had not been us then it most likely would have been this older woman with her little children in the car. 

I know that this Church is true and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to serve here in the California Carlsbad Mission. There is no place I would rather be! I am so thankful for a prophet that is here to lead and guide us and I know that he and his Apostles words truly are there to help us improve and become better.

Thank you for all of your love and support.

I love and miss y'all!!

Love,

Elder Rudd

Truck vs. Car 

 

Ouch!

 

 

Thankful for air bags!

I sure hope the cops locate the truck that hit them.

April Fools prank before

meeting with the Zone Leaders

Monday, March 28, 2016

Hey Everyone!

 

This week was a pretty great week. We had so much fun and saw so many miracles.

First off, we were able to meet this girl named Tiffany and were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation. We feel like she has been truly prepared because she said that she has talked to missionaries before, but it wasn't until she met us that she really wanted to learn more. 

 

We also were able to go to a baptism this week for a little 9 year old boy named Angel. We invited our investigator Rachel to come and she was able to attend. She was originally only going to stay until 7:00, because she was going out with her friends, but when we told her that it would be a little longer and that they were going to be conferring the Holy Ghost on him she said, "I can't leave now, I have to see this." The next day, we got a text from her thanking us for inviting her to the baptism and telling us that she felt the Spirit there. It was such an awesome experience for her!

 

This week we were also able to meet with Areli for the last time, because she moved to Escondido. It was a great lesson and she always has such a special Spirit that radiates from her. I will miss being able to meet with her each week.

 

So on Saturday, we had an awesome service experience. It all started off with us stopping by a potential investigators house. As we were walking back, we stopped to talk to this guy named Anthony, who was sitting in his moving truck. He talked to us a little bit and we then asked him if we could help him move.  At first he said no, but we insisted and he allowed us to help him out. We then started talking to him and we got on a conversation about how this world that we live in is so messed up and how it is the family unit that is one of the most essential things. He has had some pretty bad experiences with some of his family which was why we were helping him move out. We then were able to talk to him about Family History because he said that as far as he knew back in his family, was his grandfather and that he would love to learn more. We were then able to give him a paper about our family history center locations. It was great to be able to talk to him about that because it is not that often that we are able to. We then helped him move and he had so many cool things! His grandfather was one of the Fortune 500 CEO's and when he passed away, he got quite a lot of collectibles. He even gave us a couple of things, such as a surf board, two boogie boards, and some old military artillery cans. It was a great experience for Elder Urey and I. At the end of us helping him, he said, "Y'all are a God send, you coming and offering to help is probably the first thing that has been positive in my life in a long time." He told us that he would love to have us come over to his new home and have dinner with us and hear our message. Sharing the gospel is so easy as we are good examples and we are serving others, for when we are in the service of our fellow men, we truly are in the service of our God.

 

So, with General Conference coming up this weekend, I wanted to share a quote that someone shared in Elders Quorum yesterday. It is "the problem with the old crow is that he has the wisdom about how to fly and where to go but does not have the energy to do so. The problem with the young crow is that he has a lot of energy but has no direction as to where to use it." What that is talking about is that the Prophets and leaders of our church are the old crows that barely have the energy to stand but they have the wisdom that can help us young crows know where to focus our energy. As you watch General Conference this weekend, I would invite you to take notes and listen to what the Prophets and Apostles have say and head their council. They have lived through what we have and they know how to best help us. 

 

I hope y'all have a great week!!

 

I love and miss y'all!!

 

Love,

Elder Rudd

 

 

Vista YSA District

(Hard to believe transfers are almost here again)

Sis. Call, Sis. Shaw, Sis. Middleton, Elder Rudd, Elder Ellis, Elder Wilson, Elder Urey

 

A couple "rewards" for helping someone move.

Elder Rudd said he was thinking they could be "carry on" items when he returns.

Elder Rudd's Dad has other ideas about trying to get them back to Florida.

Chickens greet the Elders at many of the homes in Vista.

I think Elder Rudd would prefer being chased down by a chicken,

instead of dogs (like several weeks ago).

 

Moving M&Ms for one of the "Minute to Win It" games

Trying to get an Oreo from your forehead

to your mouth is a lot harder than you would think.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Hey Everyone!!

This week was great! So, on Wednesday we had a really neat experience. We picked up this new investigator named Rachel last Sunday and we were able to teach her. She had some pretty deep questions for us and had done her research on what she thought was true about our Church, but by the end she had learned the truth about what we really believe.  We started off the lesson teaching the Restoration to her. It went well and we were even able to teach this guy that was sitting next to us at another table. She had this question about eternal marriage and it was so great because we were a little stumped because of the way she was wording it, so the guy that was sitting next to us gave us a scripture from the bible and it helped her to better understand what we were trying to teach her. That man then thanked us for letting him listen and pretty much bore witness to Rachel that the things we were teaching were true. This man was not a member of our Church.  I think that he just felt the Spirit as we were going over The First Vision and knew of its truthfulness. Then Rachel said to us, I was thinking about just reading The Book of Mormon, cover to cover. We did not even invite her to do that yet and she said that she would do that! It was such a neat experience and we are going to be meeting with her sometime this week as well. She even said that she will make sure to watch General Conference this week too! 

Some other great things that happened this week is that I was able to give a baptismal interview for this awesome lady named Johnna. She was baptized in the 10th Ward the other day. Afterwards, we were able to hold some of their puppies, they were so cute.

We also got to go and help a family out with their tree and moving some cut logs out of their driveway. It felt so good to get my hands dirty and a little rough again. I miss working with stuff like that but I know this is where I need to be right now. 

All of our investigators are doing well! We have a meeting with Joey, Justin, and Monti tonight after FHE and are excited to have a lesson with them.

We also got a new investigator yesterday named Evan who said that he wanted to learn more about the church and so we will be meeting with him on Wednesday.

I hope that y'all have a great week!

I love y'all! 

Love,

Elder Rudd

Johnna's puppies

Johnna was recently baptized in the 10th Ward.

Elder Rudd getting some "Mission Approved" love.

Monday, March 14, 2016

President Announced a Period of Jubilee

Hey Everyone!!

So this week has been an AMAZING week!

So this week we had what is called a zone review in our mission where our mission President comes around and speaks to all of the zones. During this zone review, he announced a mission wide period of Jubilee which is where everything goes great and everyone is able to start new. In the scriptures it talks about there being a Jubilee year every 50 years and during that year, everyone is forgiven of their debts and they see miracles happen. We saw so many miracles this past week.

So on Monday we were able to have a lesson with Joey, Justin, and Monti which went pretty well. They are some of the coolest people I have ever been able to teach. They really enjoy us coming over. Yesterday we had a lesson with them again and Joey is going out of town and said he would not be back until next Monday and so he wanted to have our next lesson then because he did not want to miss having us teach him.

Another Miracle that happened was that we were able to teach Daniel twice this week as well. He is an awesome man and is progressing towards baptism on March 26th. He is so excited to get baptized!

So one of our recent converts, Lili, called us the other night around 8:45 right before we were going to start heading home and asked us if we could come and meet her at the Vista Villages because some Christian minister was just bashing on her and she had some questions for us. So we went right over and had a lesson with her. She is such a strong person and knows that this church is true and really what she was asking us about was just, how she can respond better to them without responding in a way that is defensive. She knows the truth and she just wants them to know too. She is so great! She even invited her friend to church as we were sitting there at the table with them. I love it when members do missionary work all on their own.

We also were able to meet with this guy named Troy. So funny and awesome story, so I was going through our old potential investigator sheet and I felt like I should stop by him. So we did and he said that he had spoken to missionaries like a year ago and he had been waiting for them to stop by but every time they stopped by in the past, he was never there. He is such a cool guy that has had a lot happen in his life that has helped him grow closer to God. We will be stopping by his place next Saturday and hopefully have another lesson with him.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve here and am grateful for my mission President that was inspired to have a Period of Jubilee for the next 3 weeks. I am so excited to see all of the many miracles that will happen as our mission is obedient and is able to see the hand of God in our lives. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the exact same church that Christ established when he was here on the Earth and I am so grateful to be a part of it.

I hope y'all have an amazing week!!

I love and miss y'all!!

Love, Elder Rudd

Running in the rain this morning

(part of daily exercise)

Elder Rudd & Hermana Young.

SMALL WORLD!

Sister Young's family currently lives in Marion, NC (home of Elder Rudd's Aunt Lara). 

Sister Young's family previously lived in St Cloud, FL (home of Elder Rudd's Uncle Lee).

So, her family was in the same ward as Elder Rudd's Aunt Lara & Uncle Lee.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Has it Really Been 5 Months?!

Hey Everyone!

 

This week was a pretty great week! The highlight of the week was for sure being able to go to the temple! We went to the temple on Wednesday and it is great to be able to go to the temple because it gives me that spiritual re boost that I need. So on the way to the temple we got a call from the second councilor in the bishopric's wife asking if we could give Bro. Remsburg a blessing because he had just had a heart attack. As I heard this I immediately thought about my dad and my grandma that have both had heart attacks. That one hit home for me. We let her know that we could not, since we were already on our way to the temple and had our bishop go over to give the blessing. He is doing well and is at home resting right now.

 

We also had a lesson this week with a former investigator named Gabby and her mom Sue. We were able to have a really spiritual lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation and how they will see their son and brother that they lost 6 years ago. Their whole view on us and on God completely changed after we had the lesson with them. It is so amazing to see how the Spirit can have such an impact on those that truly want to know the truth.

 

So I have also had a couple of Spiritual experiences this week. The first one was when I was going to a potential investigators house and we knocked on the door around 7 PM and as soon as I knock on the door I get this sick feeling like we needed to leave there right then. I decided to wait a little bit longer and then the same feeling came again so I told Elder Urey that we should go. We walked down the street pretty fast and then once I got in the car I told Elder Urey how I felt and he said that he felt the same way. Though I do not know why the Spirit told me to leave, I do know that because I followed the promptings of the Spirit, I was most likely kept from harms way.

 

I have a testimony of the Spirit and how it can influence our lives for the better. The hardest part for me was recognizing whether or not I was feeling the Spirit or if that was just me. I realized that as I acted on the promptings, I began to get more promptings and am now better able to recognize when the Spirit is prompting me to do things. My challenge is for y'all to try and recognize the Spirit more fully in your life and when you get those promptings to act on them.

 

I hope y'all have a great week!!

 

I love and miss all of y'all!!

 

Love,

Elder Rudd

 

San Diego Temple Trip

Vista Zone Photo

(missing a few Sisters that had already entered the Temple)

Elder Madero,Elder Steiner, Elder Groesbeck, Elder Le Tendre, Elder Talbot, Elder Wilson(ZL)

Elder Running, Elder Mangus, Elder Quinney, Elder Saxey,Elder Rudd, Elder Urey, Elder Marchand
Sister Benware, Sister Prather, Elder Ellis(ZL)
 

Those that were already inside were Sister Call, Sister Middleton, and Sister Shaw.

San Diego Temple

(The flowers changed since the last visit)

San Diego Temple

Elder Rudd

2nd San Diego Temple trip since arrival to California

Selfie at the San Diego Temple

Truck covered with Corona bottle caps!

The Word of Wisdom lesson may be a challenge.

Cheaper than a paint job?

Elder Rudd's new found friend - a slug