February 27, 2017 - 6 months, 18 more! - Victor, NY

Howdy!

This week was great here in the cradle of the restoration! Hope all is well in Idahome!

First off- mom I need somethings....
• a smaller shoulder bag.... mine is huge.
• another journal, I don't care if it's like the one Nate has or another 3 ringed one. Perhaps a Book one
• and finally an iPad case with a key board? Not bulky tho.... small slim
Hopefully that isn't to much to ask for! Your the best momma! 

Monday was a great P-day! We spent it in Palmyra with almost the whole zone again! It was a lot of fun! Like always. It so cool to be so close to the grove and hill. It's so awesome! All of our appointments after Pday fell through so we had to act fast and ended up seeing a couple members and reaching them the restoration! It was so awesome and the spirit was felt.

Tuesday we spent the morning calling potentials and former investigators and also members to set up nightly appointments so we could ask if we can teach there friends. Haha we went and tried contacting some potentials on foot in the town if Fairport but had no luck. It was a rough morning for missionary work. We went to go teach David Meyer the restoration! And he told us that he had read all the way up to Alma 12... this man is retired and all he has done is read the Book of Mormon and family history. It's crazy! The lesson we had with him was really spiritual and we invited him to go tot he sites with us in Thursday and he said yes! A old man let us in while tracting and I taught him a quick 2 minute restoration and asked if we could share the plan of salvation with him sometime and he said no... but we got him a copy of the Book of Mormon and a pamphlet! At least it's in his house.

Wednesday was our service day! We did service at saints place again! This time we stayed at the house and helped organize there and they had a lady who got a new desk so we helped them with that. Well the new desk was really heavy... like super heavy! Haha and we had to take it up some stairs that had a 90 degree turn in them. So long story short I had to lift it above my head to get over the railing while Elder Griener watched. Haha made me mad. But I got it up the stairs and into the office! We did more tracting after service and had scripture study!

Thursday we met with David at his house and he drove us out to Palmyra! We went to the grove first and after the tour before we entered the grove I read Moroni 10:3-5 with him and invited him to pray. Well as we were walking up to the grove he stopped and said he already believes in the Book of Mormon. He knows it can't be made up.
So that was so awesome to hear! But he said he has baggage.... he was brought up of another faith and he was told to never join the Mormon church, so we gotta help him jump that hurtle in his life. But over all we had a really good time at the sacred sites!

Friday was my 6 month mark! And it was a stressful day of planning... right now we are covering 2 areas and to play it safe we did 2 weekly planning sessions one for each area. We don't know if they'll split the area or keep it combined so we decided we rather be safe than sorry! So we spent 4 hours planning..... that was terrible! Haha then we were told that one of our apartments is being moved so we had to clean up the apartment and prep it for the pack up on Friday.  We went over to a less actives house to burn my tie! He gave me lighter fluid and a propane torch. It was pretty sweet. Haha defiantly a memory made!

Saturday we did service at the victor library and then we came back to the apartment and started the pack up. We did that most of the day. It's going to be nice to be out of that apartment. It was such a dump. We taught a drug dealer after we finished packing so that was cool. He will be at church as well! Haha we had a couple member appointments to finish that night!

Sunday was a great day! At sacrament meeting the members seemed to finally catch on to what we have been encouraging them to do! Missionary work! And we finally saw a couple members bring there friends to church! It was awesome! And Brother Broadbent blessed his baby and invited us to be in the circle so that was cool! After church we had missionary meetings and all that good stuff! We had dinner with the Ross family! There super cool! Afterwards we had couple lessons with members! We got a referral from one of the families! So that was
awesome! And Sunday night was the night we found out about transfers, I'm going to Fairport!  My area got split! And Elder Falter will be my new companion! He came out with me so we both have been out 6 months
and he's super cool! It's going to be a lot of fun! So excited for this transfer!

Well there's my week for y'all! I know this church is true! The Book of Mormon is true! There's no way a man of a 3rd grade education could make up a book like the Book of Mormon. It is truly translated through the gift and power of god. It is so awesome. I know Joseph smith was a prophet of god. He was chosen to be the mouth piece of the lord and the prophet to restore this to church back to the earth in its fullness! I love this gospel so much and I can't wait to see what the next 18 months have in store! Love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Judy

February 20, 2017 - 6 Months?! - Victor, NY

Howdy!

I hope you all had a great week! Mine was pretty good! We saw some good things happen in our area! Starting to see the fruits of our labors! Little by little.

Monday was a pretty relaxed P-day, we stayed at the mission office all day and hung out with our district, President Evans came and hung out with us for a minute! It's always good to see president. We had a couple lessons after P-day ended and we got the opportunity to give a lady in the ward a blessing!

Tuesday was long.. we spent most the day trying to get in contact with former investigators and knocking doors. In the afternoon we went to go try and get in contact with a lady we tracted into a couple weeks ago and she let us in! She didn't have much time but she had questions we were able to answer for her! Now we finally have one
investigator in Victor! Later that day we went to the family history center with one of our investigators and he loved it! He's retired and so into it! It's awesome!

Wednesday is our service day at Saints Place! We got to go into the big city again! I love doing that. I wanna serve in the city SO bad, it would be a blast. Anyway we dropped of some furniture at a couple different places then we had our studies in the afternoon, we had a couple referrals from a family in the ward that we need to go contact and we went and did that but they didn't pan out... they told us go away. We did some tracting before and after dinner then had a lesson with Joan! She's an investigator who lives in Fairport and she's awesome! We taught her and her son about the 10 commandments.

Thursday was a day full of finding! And after dinner it was full of visiting members! We had 4 member appointments and we taught all of them the restoration! The members in this ward are awesome!

Friday is weekly planning of course! Then we had a couple less active appointments throughout the day and one member appointment after dinner then we went and exchanged! I went with Elder Marks to Penfield.

Saturday was a nice break, we had a ton of teaching appointments and we only knocked a couple doors. Haha it was nice to be able to have a day that was all teaching, but it was also the nicest day of the year.., it was like 65 degrees! And we didn't get to be outside much. Haha opposition in all things I guess!

Sunday was a great sabbath day! We had 5 investigators at church! And we taught a couple less actives after church and had a couple member appointments!  The family we had dinner with is a extreme couponer, so
we got to go into there "store" and take stuff! It was pretty cool. It's nice cause now I don't have to go shopping today! Haha

Well that was my week! Not a whole lot is happening other than finally starting to get new investigators! The lord will bless us as we ask specifically for things. If we pray specifically we get specific blessings. And I've been able to have my testimony strengthened on that throughout these past 6 months.thank you for all of your support!
Love all of ya!

Love,
Elder Judy

February 13, 2017 - 🚪👨🏼‍💼 - Victor, NY

Howdy!

This week seemed liked it just kept dragging on! Happy Valentine's Day!❤  Hope it's a good one for y'all!

This week on Monday we had some P-day so everyone in the Palmyra North Zone came to the Palmyra building and we played a games and hung out and had a good time! It was so much fun! Then we had a couple 
appointments that night and one was with the referral that we received on Saturday! We had set up a time at 8:30 to visit him! Well we got there and he said he had read all of 1st Nephi and 2nd Nephi! And he is big into geanology, and asked us question about that. We answered to the best of our ability and began to teach the restoration! We got to the principle of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry and the man stands up and says it's my bed time... he booted us out of his house! We asked if we could come back and he said no. Bit he said he would come
to church... it was so weird!

Tuesday we had interviews with President Evans! It was awesome. I told him about my struggles this transfer and he gave me some really good tips to read out of preach my gospel! It's helped a lot. We had another FaceTime lesson with lexy and hailey! They reward the Book of Mormon and now they are progressing! So awesome! And we ended the night by tracting an area in victor that's on the golf course, very very rich. No listened to us. Haha
Wednesday we had service at saints place again! Love going there! It's so much fun! All of our deliveries were in the 4th floor of the apartment buildings tho.., that stunk but it was a good work out! After studies we went out to go tract a little bit before dinner. One guy thought he could scare us by smacking his window as hard as could
right in front of us, it worked. Haha but he ended up inviting us back! Then we ended the night with learning more about family history at the center at our church building.

Thursday we had zone meeting in palmyra! It was awesome! The trainings were on effective scripture study and praying with faith. It was super spiritual and awesome specially since we were like 100 yards away from the sacred grove. So awesome. #blessed. We tracted  afterwards and we knocked on this door and we didn't even get to say anything and this guy say "I'm all set, I'm straight." Haha I couldn't stop laughing for some reason, it was super weird. I wanted to open his door and tell I was to. Haha then we played basketball with a bunch of nonmembers at
the church building! It was a lot of fun!

Friday is the weekly planning day! Elder Griener kinda just took over and wouldn't listen to what I wanted to do or what I thought we should teach an investigator so I just laid in the floor. Haha it's been tough. Real tough. We blitzed our area cause we have no investigators so Elder Marks and Peterson came and Elder Peterson and I stayed in Fairport and tracted some streets and Griener and Marks went to Victor to tract down there! We found 3 new investigators that day! Hopefully we can make something work out of all this! We have been working really hard. And it's hard to stay motivated because our area Book isn't reflecting it. It's defiantly a learning curve. It's been fun. 

Saturday morning we did service at the library and we tried calling members to set up appointments, no one likes us it seems like cause no one will answer our phone calls! Haha it's weird. But we got a couple set up and then we went and tracted until dinner. After dinner we taught the whiteheads and tried to get in contact with some potentials but didn't have much luck. Sunday was a great Sabbath Day! That referral that told us he would come... he came! It was really good to see him there. We got him introduced to all the family history people in our ward! And got him all set up with that. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling with him. He's a great guy! His name is David! We had dinner with Bishop Maxwell and his family! Then had finding for the rest of the night. I think we've called almost every potential in our area book. Haha and we tried to get in contact with some less actives but didn't have any luck again. It was an interesting day.

Well I love you all! I'm so grateful for all the support I get from each of you. I hope you all have a wonderful week! And I know this church is true! I've realized that I'm a true guardian of the grove, I'm serving 15 minutes away from were the church was restored. It is truly an amazing feeling. I love it. Yes it's hard, yes it's worth it. I wouldn't trade any of the experiences I've had for anything. I love being a representative of my savior, and brother Jesus Christ. Happy Valentine's once again!

Love,
Elder Judy

February 6, 2017 - Victor, NY

Hello! I can't believe how fast time is going! Except this week... it was a long one. Full of rejection and doors slammed in our faces! So awesome.

Monday was just like any other Pday, played basketball at the Palmyra stake center. It's kinda cool! We drove past the sacred grove every time we go there. And it's only 15 minutes away! So blessed. I have finally come to realize that I am a true guardian if the grove. I am bearing testimony of what happened literally were I am at. It's so
awesome. After our P-day ended we went to go see a couple less actives and tried to get in contact with them but no luck!

Tuesday we had zone conference and car inspections! Zone conference was amazing. President Evans gave an amazing training on how we can better ourselves through the Atonement. And the APs gave a training in how we can better use our technology and how to use it effectively. So now we can FaceTime our investigators and teach them that way and send emails and iMessages to them to keep daily contact. Pretty cool! Using technology for its real purpose! Haha the APs wanted us to call someone right there and ask if we could set up a FaceTime lesson, so we called the Schmul family. They are a part member family and we had there three kids in date for baptism. And I just got into the area 3 weeks ago and I still hadn't met the kids so I thought it would be a perfect way to meet the family. Well long story short we ended the phone call with 3 less investigators than what we started with. So we had 4 people on date now we have 1 and 1 progressing. So we are literally starting over halfway through the transfer. So awesome. And for car inspections the person with the cleanest car in the zone gets the golden plates. Well guess who got those? This guy! Haha detailing all those trucks is coming in handy!

Wednesday we did service at saints place! And the Pittsford Elders came with us! Elder Broadhead and I went out in the truck to go make a couple drop offs in the city of Rochester. I love going out in the truck and going into the big city and seeing all the crazy people. It's so much fun! I hope to be able to serve in the city before the end of my mission. That would be so awesome. We had a lesson with Thibisa, she is a recent convert and so awesome! And we shared a spiritual thought at the beginning of young men's basketball.

Thursday was the day that I realized that this area will be the death of my knee. Haha ever since we have had investigators drop us we've had to up our tracting hours to almost 3 hours a Day! Doing a lot of walking and the driveways here are steep! It's fun! Bit today we had an experience of a man who told us Jesus Christ was a pain in his butt. And that god isn't real and that when we pray all we are doing is wishing. All I did was laugh. Cause I know for a fact that what I'm doing is the right thing. This gospel could change that mans life, if he allowed it to. That's why I hate people agency, sometimes I just want them to accept it. Haha!

Friday was weekly planning and we spent a little time cleaning our second apartment cause we don't spend to much time there and it use to be a sisters apartment so there is hair everywhere. Nasty! We had a 2 o'clock appointment that fell through so we spent an hour or to trying to go find someone to go teach but no one would answer our phone calls! Not even the members! It was so annoying! We finally had 2 members answer and we went and taught them the restoration and asked for refferals. But had no luck and didn't get any. Brother ornt had us over for pizza and he was building a pen AR-15 while we sat there an age and chatted it was pretty cool. Haha Jeff is so funny. He's the most active less active you'll meet.

Saturday we did service at the victor library for a couple hours and it was awesome! A lot of people asked me were books were and I had no idea. Haha so I told them it's was my first day here. And I got to talk about who I was with a couple people so that was awesome!  Then we taught Joan Downey the gospel of Jesus Christ! She's awesome but crazy busy. She would be jumping into the faint if it wasn't for her son. Her son is holding her  back a lot. Then we tract for about 3 hours and only got 1 return appointment and I think the people where just being nice. But we will go back! Haha it's been rough. The Sutton family had is over for dinner! Their super cool! We did service for a less active in the ward then went and taught another member family the restoration!

Sunday was awesome. Sacrament meeting was a great fast and testimony meeting.  We had a lunch appointment with our ward mission leader, brother Milne and his family! There from South Africa! Super cool people! And then we did studies and had a dinner appointment with the Whitcom family, there sweet. Haha the mom is an extreme couponer and has a room chuck full of anything and everything so she let us dig through it and take stuff so that was cool. Then we did a mini exchange because an elder in our district was sick but they had a couple lessons so elder Griener stayed in and I went out and taught a couple lessons with elder Peterson.

Well everybody that is my week! Not to exciting. Not a whole lot going in here. But I know through faith and making this area mine p, having a goal and obtaining it, the work will start to progress. I've already been able to see that. Through faithful fasting and praying. Saturday I fasted for the work in my area and Saturday night we got a refferal from church headquarters and then Sunday we got another refferal from church headquarters. Small and simple ways is how our lord and savior works. I love him. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve him with all my might, mind, and strength. And being exactly obedient so the windows of heaven will be opened and blessing will pour upon us. This gospel is so amazing. And it's so true. I love and miss you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love,
Elder Judy