Alexandra!! 6/24/13

Dear family and friends,

Well! A million things happened this week! I always have too much to share! haha.

Yesterday, Alexandra Arelus was baptized.:) and it was the most beautiful experience I have ever had. The service was just wonderful. There were nearly 50 members that came, Sister Anderson gave a great talk, and Alexandra had asked me to sing "More Holiness Give Me". The Spirit was so strong, and she was full of light. Alexandra was ready to make this promise with the Lord-the smile on her face when she came out of the water said it all.

I know that Alexandra's decision to be baptized was motivated by revelation she recieved from the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to know Alexandra, to be her friend. She will forever hold a place in my heart. I love her so much.

The rest of my week all led up to the baptism, so the rest of this email might be pretty anti-climactic haha.:) BUT ACTUALLY! I got to sneak in a little trip to Brussles, Belgium for a day! haha. All of the missionaries I was in the MTC with had to get their legality taken care of, so I was lucky enough to get to see them all again! It was the best! I loved talking with Sister Johns, Sister Henson, Sister Holmes, Sister Hafen, and Sister Finneran again. I love them so much! I am so grateful for their love and support. It is so incredible how quickly we all became the best of friends. Brussles was pretty great too.:) haha. Waffles and all!

Yesterday, Sister Anderson got a call from the Assistants, and she found out that she is training! Man alive she is going to be the best trainer in the world! I am so excited for her. We were a little sad, though, because we have really gotten to be the best of friends this transfer. We went through so many incredible experiences together...and it was really hard news to realize it's ending. She will continue to work miracles in Angers, though, and I am so grateful she gets to stay. There are so many people here that she still needs to find, and I am confident that she will find them. Her blue (i.e. greenie haha) is so lucky!

Wow! I just barely found out that I am getting transfered to......BLOIS!!!! and I get to be companions with Sister Breea Linton!!!!!!!!!! (this is not a joke haha) That is exciting! I did a mini transfer there last week! and actually traveled to Belgium with Sister Linton haha so I have already seen the city a little bit, and it is beautiful! And being with Sister Linton will be the greatest.:) We joked with everyone before the mission about maybe being able to serve together, but I never thought we'd actually get to.:) haha. I am really excited.:)

Well I cannot wait to tell you about all of the changes coming up in the next week. I've got to finish up strong here first!

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers this past week! I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love.:)

Remember you can make a difference, wherever you are. Find someone to serve. And always always remember to smile.:)

Love, Soeur Laura Lee Judd

Zone conference 6/17/13

Dear family and friends, 

Wow this week was full of incredible experiences. I am so excited to tell you all about it! 

We got to have a giant Zone Conference this week, and it was so great to be able to see so many of my friends from the MTC and from last transfer. And of course it was such a treat to see President and Soeur Poznanski. The discourses and thoughts that they shared with us were so inspired, and every question or doubt that I had going into the conference was addressed. Sister Anderson and I kept looking over at each other throughout the meetings with tears in our eyes and smiling at each answer we recieved to our prayers. I am so blessed to serve as a missionary under the guidance of President and his wife. I look up to each of them as some of the greatest role models in my life, and I hope to lead a life similar to theirs. 

Sister Anderson and I had so many incredible opportunities to teach this week, and we have been so blessed! In our Zone Conference we were taught to follow a pattern of finding where we visit a family in our ward, pray with them, and then contact and knock doors right around their neighborhood. As we followed this counsel, we were blessed more than ever before. Doors were opened and hearts were softened. It was an incredible spiritually building experience for both us as missionaries and for the members that we visited. 

For the past couple of weeks we have had so many incredible experiences teaching Alexandra. She has been so faithful and commited through this entire process, and her willingness to obey all of God's commandments has been an incredible thing to witness. Although she knew the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, the hardest thing for her up to this point was being able to get work off for church. This past week, however, after the occassion to fast and pray, Alexandra was able to come to church with us yesterday. The Spirit in all of our meetings was so strong, and her face was lit up the entire time. Truly, truly, she is ready to enter into the covenant of baptism. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers this week. Pray that she will be able to have the Spirit with her and that Sister Anderson and I will be able to get everything pulled together for her. Her baptism will be this Sunday, just following our sacrament meeting. 

Thank you all so much for the support you give to me. I am so grateful for the strength I personally recieve and for the strength that those we teach recieve through your prayers. I know that this work is the Lord's. Every once in a while I lay down at night and think, "How am I doing this?" But really it is not me at all. It is the Lord. Through Him all things are possible. What a blessing it is for me to simply be a helper.:) 

I love you all with all of my heart. Remember that you can make a difference, wherever you are. Find someone to serve. Always remember to smile.:) 

Soeur Laura Lee Judd

Incredible week 6/10/13

Dear family and friends, 

Wow this week was so increbile!!!! and I cannot believe how quickly it went! Man life is good here! 

I know that I havent been very good about writing general emails...sorry! So i will just take the chance to tell you as much as i can about some of our amis.:) 

I believe I told you a little bit about Alexandra Arelus, right? She is the young Haitian girl that Sister Anderson and I met on the tram a couple weeks ago.:) Well she ended up coming to church that day after we met her, and then later that night we fixed a baptisimal date with her on the 23rd of June. Since that rendez-vous, we have met with Alexandra nearly every other day since then, and she is just eating up everything we teach! We taught the Word of Wisdom early on, thinking that that could be a potential difficulty, but she accepted the teaching right on the spot by saying, "Well, I know that God knows what is best for me, so if He has commanded me to not take these things into my body, then I will obey Him."

She then took us into her kitchen, and we watched her dump all the tea she had down the sink. A couple lessons later she told us that she had been thinking a lot about repentance and how a part of repentance is apologising to the people we have wronged, so she had decided to call her x-husband and apologise for all of the things that she had done wrong and asked for his pardon. Later in that lesson she prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for the chance she has to repent and be forgiven. Most recently, we went over to Alexandra's house to make milkshakes and teach a little lesson, and she had invited one of her friends over to meet us and listen to what we had prepared. Her friend Hermione was super sweet and open to our message and loved praying with us, so she gave us her information and hopefully we are going to begin meeting with her this week.:) Wow I cannot believe everything that has happened with Alexandra! (now that I am writing this all out I apologise for not writing it to you earlier!!!) But I hope that reading a little bit about her now brings a smile to all y'all's face. It is such a blessing to know Alexandra and to be a tool Heavenly Father uses to make miracles like this happen. She is truly prepared and can already see the blessings that the Gospel brings into the lives of those who live by its teachings. I am so grateful for all that I have learned by teaching Alexandra. I have learned SO many things...recieved so many blesings...but the greatest of all is the increase of charity the Lord has allowed to grow in my heart. The love I have for Alexandra, for all those that I teach, has grown so much, and it is such a special feeling to feel a similar love for them that Heavenly Father has for them.

 

He loves all of us and desires our happiness. I know that the greatest joy we can find is through living and loving the teachings and example of Jesus Chirst. Through Him all things are possible, the greatest mysteries are uncovered, and we have hope and promises forever to come. 

This past week, Sister Anderson and I were also able to begin meeting with a woman named Marie Dudry. She is an older French woman, maybe in her 50s or 60s, who was contacted by the missionaries last year, but kinda fell through the cracks. We saw her name several weeks ago, and had the strongest feeling to visit her, and when we did, it turned into an incredible opportunity to comfort and to share. Despite all of the trials and lonely feelings she has had in her life, Marie loves God and desires to respect His commands.

We were able to present the Plan of Salvation, which she was very open to, and then we invited her to come to church. The next day, to our greatest surprise, she joined us on the front row in Sacrament Meeting. The members were so incredibly kind and loving towards her, the Spirit of the meeting was so strong and comforting, and she was really touched. Then, after the meeting, a little girl in our ward was baptized, and Marie was able to stay and witness it. She was touched by the fact that we are baptized by immersion and marveled at how that it truly a symbol of death and rebirth, and I think that her witness of the confirmation was also really fortifying. It was such a blessing to have her at church, and even though she probably didnt know what everyone was talking about (actually she has no idea what anyone was talking about haha), she felt the Spirit. I am really excited for the next opportunity we will have to teach Marie and to fill her with the joy the Gospel can bring. Please keep her in your prayers for comfort and a softened heart.

Anyways... that is a lot of information at once! But i hope it helps you understand a little bit more about how things are going here.:) They are moving fast.:) and it is such a joy to be a missionary in this mission, in this area. Truly there are people prepared here, and we are finding them. Please continue to pray that we will be able to find more people to teach. Pray for us to have to strength to open our mouths to share with those whose hearts are softened. Thank you so much.

As I reflect back upon the feelings I had with Marie during the baptism she attended this week, I am reminded of my own baptism and other occasions I have had to make sacred convenants with the Lord. I am filled with so much joy and also with a greater strength to keep these promises as I remember the actual events, and so I encourage you all to do the same. Reflect upon the covenants you have with the Lord. I testify that they are true and sacred. Guard them and keep them holy, and I promise that the Lord will always keep his part. 

I love you all so much. I respect and honor all of the things you have taught me, and I will forever be grateful for the example you have all been to me. I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the guidance and peace I recieve by following the example of Jesus Christ. I know that He leads this church and that it was fully restored by Joseph Smith. I know that each of us have a plan created, a path to follow, that can lead us back into the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We can live with our families forever-that is a promise the Lord has given us as we obey His commandments. I know that anwsers are found through the Book of Mormon. I know that the Lord answers our prayers. If you are not sure of that quite yet, try it. Pray to know, and I can promise you that He will answer. 

Remember that you can make a difference anytime anywhere. Find someone to serve. And always always remember to smile.:) 

I love you with all of my heart, Soeur Laura Lee Judd

No time 6/3/13

Sorry I only have time to send pictures today! I am trying to get out of town soon. But I love you all with all of my heart!

 

Soeur Judd

The French make up holidays! 5/21/13

Ma famille et mes amis,

Well I am really sorry for the little delay in the email, but the French really like to make up holidays so they dont have to go to work haha.:) So I am sorry I should have let you know last week that we couldnt email until today...but no one ever tells us about the holidays. I should just assume that every store, every restaurant, and every internet cafe should be closed once a week (cause that is seriously how often this has been happening since my coming to France haha) but that would be a little overboard...:) haha.

I dont think I could actually be any happier than I am right now sitting in a little French internet cafe, eating a chocolate almond croissant, and sitting next to my new companion, Sister Anderson. Life if so good.:) 

I wish I had the time to tell you all of the incredible stories from the week, but i will have to save some for next week cause WE GOT TO GET TO WORK!:) haha. But know that I am alive and well and happier than ever before!:) 

Remember that you can make a difference-wherever you are. Find someone to serve. And always always remember to smile.:)

I love you with all of my heart!

Soeur Laura Lee Judd

New Companion Soeur Anderson 5/27/13

Ma famille et mes amis,

Bonjour! Wow it was so good to hear such great news from all of you today! It makes me happy to read what you all are up to.:) 

Things here are going so great! Man I love being a missionary!!! 

Sister Anderson and I have been working from the Area Book (meaning old investigators and inactives) a lot this week, and we have seen so many miracles. I'll share a couple with you in particular...

So we were out in a beautiful little area of town and decided to stop past to see the Relief Society President. We gave her a quick call, went over to share a little spiritual thought, and ended up being able to teach her and her husband who has been inactive for about 15 years. From what I had read, he had meddled a lot in anti-Mormom literature and has been inactive ever since. BUT! We acted like we had no idea (we can get away with that as fairly new, young missionaries haha) and shared a little thought from Elder Hollands talk from this past General Conference. We bore a brief testimony on belief (if not yet knowledge) of the Savior, His Atonement, how the He can heal us. The Spirit truly testified of these truths, and it was incredible to be the instrument in the Lord's hands during the lesson. At the end, we asked Frère Morot if he wouldnt mind choosing someone to say the closing prayer, but he ended up saying the prayer himself. It was one of the most beautiful and sincere prayers I have ever heard since being here on my mission. It was incredible to see him perform that act of faith. We left leaving no engagements or return appointment-just kept it as a friendly pass by.:) But to our greatest surprise (and to the surprise of Soeur Morot as well!!!) we saw Frère Morot in Sacrament Meeting the next Sunday with his arm around his wife.:) It was truly a miracle to see.

Another experience we had happened on Saturday night. We had planned to make three or four pass bys of old amis, but NO ONE was there! It was pretty frustrating cause we felt like we had planned out our day by the Spirit, but at the moment we didnt know if we were supposed to be where we were. Grudgingly, we got onto the tram to go home, and I saw a really cute girl sitting a couple seats in front of me. She kept looking at me!!! haha, so I winked at her (haha yeah mom i wink at people like you do all of the time!!!) and she smiled back at me! Then a couple minutes later, she looked at Sister Anderson and waved at her! We looked at each other all surprised and, without even saying a word to each other, knew we needed to go talk to her. Even though it wasnt the stop we were planning to get off of, we got off at the same stop as this cute girl and went to go talk to her. Her name is Alexandra, and she just moved back to Angers from Paris, but turns out we had actually tried to call her earlier that day!!! She had taken some of the missionary discussions before but was lost when she moved to Paris and back. We asked if we could meet with her the next day, and she actually said that she was thinking about coming to church! (Oh my, by this point we were practically crying for joy!!! haha). We said that sounds great! explained a little more about Sacrament meeting, and told her we'd see her there. Then...the next day she came to church!!! It was so great to see her there.:) and all of the ward members were so so sweet to her. We also got the opportunity to visit Alexandra later last night and watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with one of our strongest members. The Spirit was so strong, and Alexandra opened up to us so much. She has such a strong testimony of the Savior and his Atonement, and hearing her story with meeting with the missionaries a couple months ago was very touching. The Spirit was so strong, and the feeling was just right, so we extended the invitation for Alexandra to be baptized, and she accepted.:) It was so special. Truly, the Spirit guided the lesson. What an incredible opportunity it was to merely be the tool. We have only a couple more lessons to teach, which is good cause Alexandra is in and out of town during the week, but she is scheduled to be baptized on the 22 of June.:) and we are all really looking forward to that.:) 

Well these are just two of countless other things that happened this past week (man i cant believe all that happens in just one week!!!!), but I hope they give you a little taste of what it is like to be a missionary in Angers, France.:) It is not easy! but it is so worth it.:) I am so grateful to have this opportunity to serve a misssion, to serve the Lord and to serve these people. I have never ever been happier than I am now. 

Thank you again for all of the updates and stories.:) I hope you feel the same after reading these emails every week (even though they are sometimes short). After all,  we're not too far away at all.:) 

Remember that you can make a difference anytime, anywhere. Find someone to serve. And always always (of course;)) remember to smile.:) 

I love you with all of my heart.:) 

Soeur Laura Lee Judd

Transfer #2! 5/13/13

Hey family and friends!

This is Rahel and Anna (two recent converts)

I do not have tome to write much, but I just wanted to let you know that I will be getting a new companion this week! and her name is Sister Emily Anderson!!!!! I have never actually met Sister Anderson, but I  have heard lots and lots of good things. :)

This is my second transfer in the field .... so I am still a young one! And Sister Anderson is actually only going into her 3rd transfer ... haha! We are going to be a young companionship, but I cannot wait to begin serving with her! Look forward to some crazy fun stories next week! Haha.

Remember that you can make a difference, wherever you are. And always remember to smile.
 :) Love, Soeur Laura Lee Judd

On top of the Anjou Chateau!