June 26, 2017 - 10 Months 😬 - Springville, NY

Hey y'all!

Can't believe another week has come and gone... crazy how fast time is going. This week was a good one, lots of canceled appointments leaving us to knocking lots of doors! It's the best, love missionary work.

Monday was a good day, since we struggle for things to do here on p-days we cracked out the ol' TV from the library and got a whole bunch of church movies and watched movies all day long. It was great. Pretty boring... haha it's a different experience being in the southern tier.  Monday night we finally made contact with the Cooper family,we lost contact with them for a little bit but now we are being fed by them twice a week! They are awesome and a cute little family, they're less active but show a desire to come back. Super exciting! We also had a lesson with Tyrone, we taught him the Sabbath Day and the rest of the 10 commandments.

Tuesday was pretty laid back, we did lots of service. The orchard
park elders were closing down there apartment and need help, so my
district  came up and helped them pack everything out. Then we came
home and changed and went to a lesson with a lady we met at subway
last week, her name is sarah. We got there and she had her bible
sitting on her porch and  so we thought it would be a really good
lesson, well she set us up... she is a reborn baptist and wanted to
save our souls... she brought up a couple different things about
jospeh smith, we threw it back into her face. Haha i was very mad and
trying very hard to keep my cool... it was very hard while i had
someone yelling at me for being part of a"colt" and not believing in
the right Jesus. She also brought up the fall of Adam and Eve and how
we believe it was a good thing, she yelled at us for that and called
us sinners, she looked at her 8 month old baby, pointed at him and
yelled "he is a sinner!" It broke my heart....  we tried explaining
how babies aren't accountable for there actions and there a live in
Christ but she couldn't rasp the concept. It made me grateful for the
knowledge that i do have. By the end we had giving things from the
Bible that support us and she couldn't figure out she started
literally shaking asking if she could pray for our souls... it was a
very interesting experience.  a less active lady, sister tevis called
and asked if we could help her move a cabinet into her trailer. We
helped her out then had dinner and finished the night off with some
tracting.
        Wednesday we had branch correlation in the morning, really
productive. We had our weekly scripture study with Dennis. I planned
my training for district meeting, president had sent out a talk by tad
r.callister talking about being a consecrated missionary and thats
what i gave my training on. We tracted church street, we met Tiffany.
We gave her a Book of Mormon and she invited us back! We had a lesson
with sister tevis, we taught about the Book of Mormon. We had dinner,
then went and tried contacting a couple people in Sardinia, no one
answered so we did some tracting and met Ken! He's an older fellow but
seems interested in the gospel, took a Book of Mormon and a return
appointment.
        Thursday was my MOMMMA's birthday! happy birthday mom!❤️ we had
dsitrict meeting in arcade this week, went really well. my training i
felt was powerful and motivated the other Elders. specailly my comp,
he is working harder since today and it has been cool to see. we did a
littlebit of tracting on park street then had a lesson with Katie!
shes so awesome, we taught her the law of tithing and she actually
really loved it. we talked abou the sites and planned a trip for the
next day with her, we were so excited then she texted us later that
day saying she got roped into other things and wouldnt be able to make
it... sad but we will get her there soon! we dropped by the buziak
family, and there are super awesome! john isnt a member but just got
diagnosed with pancraictic cancer... sowe droppedy to seehow his wife
was doing and she told us she wants to get templeready and receive her
patriachal blessing!! it was awesome! itl becool to see her gothrough
all the steps,so excited! we saw Tyrone and taught hmabout president
Monson, showed him some videos and talks given by him.
        Friday was agood day! we had a great weeekly planning seesion. best
one while ive been here in this area! i have been working reallyhardon
becoming a conscrated missionary every since presidnt sent the talk
out, and its been cool to see the little changes in me and the desires
that ive devloped just through prayer, working hard, and being
obedeint. god is good. we saw Tiffany today, the lady we met earlier
in the week, we taught her and her 2 kids the restoration. they seemd
to have liked it. we will see if they want to continue the lessons! we
brought Dennis with us to see Donna Eccles and we taught her the
restoration,and invited her to church! she took us and showed us her
baby goats.  we went to a retirement party, for an investigator we are
teaching. we ended the night seeing an investigator named Becky. we
thought she was very promising but shetold us shedidnt want to
convert...we were very sad... we set our boundiers and told her our
purpose and basically dropped her.
        saturday was planned out to be a super good day! we had 6 lessons all
planned and set in stone and only 2 went through for the whole day...
sowe ended up doing a lot of tracting, no such luck. we saw Amanda,
and the tarantinos. it was a slow day...
        sunday was great day! Donna came to church! she loved it! Katie had a
graduation party and Tyrone had to work.... we did somefinding in the
afternoon and tracted into this really weird guy who is a big jesus
fan. and he had a tree in his front yard and a coon was just chillin
and it was his pet and he showed us how he could feed it toca bell
burrittos. it was funny. we had a lesson with the leffler family, and
the miess family! it went well. the freedom branch is awesome.
        i hope you al have a great week! the church is so true, dont let
anyone tell you different. love you all!

Elder Blake Judy

June 19, 2017 - Preach the Gospel... and If Necessary, Use Words - Springville, NY

Another week full of miracles!! It was a HOT one.  Tanning nicely :)

Before I get into my week, I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to my dad! I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him! He's my hero. 😊❤️

Monday was a great pday! The gowanda Elders came to arcade and we
all got haircuts then went fishing at the owens house again! It was a
lot of fun! Gowanda Elders had to head back around 4 to make it home
and out preaching by 6 so elder shaw and i hung out at our little
stage one church building! So small the cultural hall is the parking
lot.... not a whole lot at all to do here for pdays... gotta be
creative! After pday ended we had a lesson with Tyrone, he's
progressing very well! We taught him the word of wisdom and he's
already leaving, rare in these parts. We are taking him to the sites
this week! Should be super good! After our lesson we packed an over
night o pack and drove up to Lancaster for our blitz with the zine
leaders! There apartment doesn't have any A/C and it was like 85 and
humid with 5 people in the apartment... it was a rough night.
   Tuesday we spent all day in Lancaster. Elder Beardall and i were
together! We had a such a good time, we put some hardworking. Found 4
new people for the to start teaching! It was awesome. Elder Beardall
was in my group that came out with me, he's an amazing missionary. I
learned a lot from him! We had a blast in the ghetto of Depew,NY. We
left there and saw an awesome sunset, stopped and grabbed a few pics,
we got back to our apartment and as we walked from our car to the door
we said hello to the lady smoking and she stopped us and wanted to
talk, she asked us why we are happy... she noticed we don't have a tv
and different things like that and was confused on how we were happy.
We whipped out a Book of Mormon and sat down and taught her a
restoration. And while doing so she expressed how confused she was
about all the churches and why we were happy but she was part of a
church and wasn't happy. We got into the priesthood and how its the
only way to relieve all of the father's blessings, and she started
cray and begged us to meet with her again. It was really cool! Very
humbling
   Wednesday we had interviews with president Evans! Always love
those. We had our weekly scripture study with Dennis Raines. He's so
awesome, reading in the pearl of great price right now! We had a
lesson in franklinville but we got there and they canceled... waste of
mikes, but we ended up knocking some doors on 3rd avenue and found
some people who would potentially be interested n the gospel!  We had
our lesson with Katie, shes so awesome! She had a very spiritual
experience, one I think that has and will continue to change her life.
She said she dropped to her knees after reading from the Book of
Mormon and started crying and was overwhelmed by something she
couldn't described so we read a couple scriptures t describe the hoy
ghost to her and she knew it was the Holy Ghost before we could stop
reading. It was awesome. In our closing prayer with her she basically
bore her testimony of how shes so grateful for the church in her life
now. It was so awesome. Katie has defiantly been one of the most
humbling experiences watching her com unto christ and be perfected
him.
   Thursday was great!! We had branch correlation and met a lady at
subway so sat and watched us while we prayed over our subs and wanted
to talk to us before we left and told us she use to meet with
missionaries and we talked with her for a little while and she asked
if we wanted her address, of course we jumped on it! Haha we have an
appointment with her tomorrow! She's a mother of 2 cute lil boys. We
had district meeting in Gowanda and the zone leaders came an gave a
training that was very motivations. I gave my training on helping our
investigators have the Book of Mormon, or the scriptures sink deeply
within there soul. It was really good i had it all planned out but
only used 1 thing that i planned the rest was all by the spirit. It
was awesome! After district meeting i gave a baptismal interview to a
9year old girl named cailey! She's wonderful and will be baptized this
coming Saturday! Love giving interviews, its a wonderful experience.
We had a couple lessons planned in Franklinville to finish off our
night but they ll canceled... i've had really bad allergies I think
this week or jus had a bad bug and i was feeling like garbage all day
so i decided to go get some NyQuil and clock out until tomorrow.
   Friday we did some planning in the morning of course! Can't forget
weekly planning... after we had an appointment with Donna. She's been
investigating the church for about 5 years on and off. She supper
awkward and doesn't seem like she will progress. We did lots of laying
down expectations and things of that nature but she didn't seem to
follow. We did lots of walking around arcade contacting different
people and talking to everyone! We met a guy in our area book named
Ben, he's down to meet with missionaries again and wants to go to
dinner and talk! So awesome! We planed on meeting with the lady we met
earlier in the week but she wasnt home... so we did some more finding
we tried setting up appointments with members but no one will text us
back... working on building trust is tough when your the only one
working at it... slowly but surely! We ended the night tracting in the
village of arcade.
   Saturday was a day that everything, literally everything fell
through... we spent most the day knocking doors in the heat and baking
sun. We did find one family that we will be seeing on Tuesday but that
was it! Lots of people gave us water bottles!🙏🏼 very much
appreciated! #BLESSED we had a lesson with the littles, there an older
couple and he is a pastor for a church but retiring soon and looking
for another place of worship! hey, why not?? there super friendly and
are open to what we have to say! we also saw Tyrone tonight and taught
him the law of chastity! he also took us on a tour of his farm. it was
awesome!
   Sunday was a great sabbath day, Katie came to church and it was
very spritual for her today. while singin' how firm a foundaion she
cried, and in gospel principles she was really emtional while we read
and discssed the family proclamation to the world! it was so awesome
to see her be overwhelmed by the spirit. shes so ready for baptism and
wants it so bad! just needs to get hitched. we did studies and had
dinner with the leffers, a recent convert family. there great! we did
some less active finding.. no such luck... we did have a lesson with
Becky, the lady we met earlier in the week. we taight her the
restoration and she eat it p but still is confused.. she was crying
the whole time while talking about jospeh smith and the restoration of
the priesthood. it was really cool. it was a great week!

The reason for my title is just the story about Becky, she asked why
are we so happy because she had been watching us since we got her and
by our kind actions and diffrent things she was touched and was
curious. The most powerful way to teach or reach out to people is
through our example. Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words.
Always remember people are watching you and your actions and we all
are representatives of our savior and of the church of Jesus Christ.
Show them what we are all about. I love all of you! I hope you have a
great week! Happy Father's Day to yall, i hope it was a great one!
Love,
Elder Judy

1- Elder Beardall and I on Excahnges
2- Sunset pic 📸

June 12, 2017 - Freedom is Ringing! - Springville, NY

Hey y'all!

Another week in the books! Western New York is getting pretty toasty. It was warm week. Not excited for the summer humidity....😬 and we are already half way through June... where is the time going?!? Can't believe some of my friends are preparing to leave here soon! Embarking on the greatest journey of life, something that prepares us for the rest of our lives. And to be completely honest, this is the most rewarding work there is. Nothing better than being dead tired at the end of the day and just Rest In Peace. And to see people change their ways and to come unto Christ and be perfected in him, mmmm nothing better!! Love every second of it.

Monday was a good p-day, we wet over to Gowanda and hung out with the elders there. We went to a bunch of stores and looked around, I had to go to the largest western store east of the Mississippi! Haha it wasn't too impressive... we went to. Pet store and looked around. We were bored. We hung out out at the church building and tried to email... the WIFI there was horrible so didn't get to do much. Hopefully today I'll be able to talk more! :) after p-day we had a lesson with Jodi Mason, she a less active recent convert... sad situation. We gave her a blessing because she went in for surgery on Tuesday. Then we had all the single adults meet at the church and we did a FHE, it was a lot of fun! We had our investigator Tyrone there. He's so awesome.

Tuesday was a dreadful day.... it was pouring rain and all our appointments canceled. In the morning we actually had a huge Miracle happen.... a member in the ward has a sister who is very interested in the ward and we got to meet with her at the church building and teach her the restoration! As we were explaining the Book of Mormon to her at the ed of the lesson she looked at me and said "you don't have to sell me on it, I already believe it." SCORE!! She has a had a series of dreams that has taken her from hating her brother for joining the church to wanting to know more, in those dreams a person is teaching her doctrine and she believes them, and we believe what she has been taught in her dreams! Pretty awesome! God works in mysterious ways...  our afternoon appointments canceled, so we sat in Mcdonald's and called people out of our area book to see if they are interested. Not much luck. We had a lesson with Amanda and her daughters, we read 3 Nephi 11 and helped her understand the language and meaning of words form the Book of Mormon. She is on date for the 1st but it'll most likely get
moved... want her to be ready not half doing.

Wednesday we had a good morning of visiting some of our retired folks. We got a couple that are pastors of their church but are retiring and are depressed with their gray haired congregation and want a church to go to after there retirement, sounds perfect! Haha we did some less active finding and got chewed out by some cold and hard
hearted people, hurts my heart every time to see a member be so lost. Then we had another lesson with Brandi, the members sister. We taught her the plan of salvation and she is eating it up. Still believes everything we say. She's so awesome. Even with the persecution from her father and husband she still persuing the truth. So awesome. Righteous are persecuted in all things. We finally got in contact with Katie, we didn't hear from her for a week... she scared us. I would've cried if we weren't able to contact her, she has so much potential and is doing
so well. She's so awesome. We went down to Rushford Lake and tracted there and had dinner down there as well. Then we had a lesson with Tyrone Mot. He said baptism is a thing he wants to persue!! So excited, we are taking him to the sites on the 21st! He's going to love it!!

Thursday we had district meeting here in Freedom, I gave the training on Finding people to teach, chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel! I mainly focused on the "no effort wasted" segment. Just cause that has helped me with the area that I just came from. I know that I didn't waste any efforts at all.  I think it went well. My district is pretty
cool. It's small, just 4 of us out here in the middle of nowhere! Haha  After district meeting we did some tracting in Arcade. No one was having it. The whole neighborhood was Catholic like always. Haha after dinner we drove down to Frankliville, about a 25 minute drive and we have 2 families that are progressing down there. We saw one of them. We just saw Jesse Sexton, we taught him the word of wisdom, he was kinda bent outta shaped because coffee and tea but we explained and he agreed to live it. It was a good day!

Friday was a day full of planning and then we went out to a little town called Sardinia, NY and we did some finding there. We headed out to Springville and helped a member and her nonmember husband move some furniture from their upstairs to the curb. Luckily we didn't get bedbugs... thought we were going to, nasty!! After service we did some finding out in the boonies of Springville, then exchanged! I went to Gowanda with Elder McCune.

Saturday was HOT. In the morning we helped out at a children's fair with a family history booth, in Silver Creek. The furthest you could get away from the mission home without leaving the mission! We handed out a couple bible and Book of Mormons! It was lot of fun. We did have a tent to sit under and the sun was bright and hot... and I got fried,
we sat out there from 10-3. It was a good time. Afterwards we contacted a bunch of potential investigators in Silver Creek and had a couple lessons. Then went back to Gowanda and had dinner. Then had a lesson with one of their most progressing investigators then exchanged back and made the trek back to Arcade. While on the drive home we called one of our investigators to confirm that he was going to come to church and he said he wasn't go to be able to make it because he had lit a cigarette while he was on oxygen, and to make things worse our last lesson with him was the word of wisdom. Haha idiot.  Elder McCune is an outstanding Missionary. He's been out 4 months and killing it! I was very impressed. He's also from Hawaii.

Sunday was an outstanding Sabbath day. Always love them. Elder Shaw spoke about tithing in sacrament meeting! I got off the hook! SCORE! Haha I sure they've already got me lined up for one in the near future. Tyrone and Katie both were at church today! It was so good. All the lessons here on Eternal Families. It was great! After studies a
former investigator called us and said that her brother is dying and is not going to make it through the night no wants to meet with its on Wednesday! Kinda sad but wonderful that it is pushing her to the gospel!! We had a lesson with a recent convert family and they fed us! The Leffler's! They have 12 people in their family. 10 kids... we went out with our branch mission leader and he took us to a couple of his friends houses to introduce us but they weren't home!! We did some tracting in Chaffee, NY and had a lesson with a less active couple theTitarantinos.

This week was awesome lots of things are happening in these humble villages in the southern tier. The lord is providing for his diligent, obedient servants. It amazing to be able to see the hand of the lord in this work. In my personal study I came across a verse:

1 Nephi 21:15-16 

15. For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, O house of Israel. 
16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; walls are continually before me."

With the events that recent accrued back home, this scripture will hit home for most. The lord has not and will not forget you. He knows each trial we face now and in the future. But what he can take us to he will take us through. He loves all so much and will not leave us behind he will put you on his back and carry you the rest of the way.
That's becoming perfected in Christ. Doing what you can, trying your best and letting him take the rest. Let him, he wants to. He wants to do it out of pure love. I know that for a fact. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,
Elder Judy

1&2 my sick district
3. A road we tracted in the boonies
4&6  Sunset on the drive home
5. Elder McCune and I at sunset bay on Lake Erie

June 5, 2017 - Let Freedom Ring! - Springville, NY

Another week has come and gone here in upstate New York! And what a week it was! One for the books!

Monday was a rad Pday, we got to go fishing at a members home! :)  super fun! Then we did some tracting in Springville to close off the night!

Tuesday was a day full of lessons! We had branch correlation in the morning! It was pretty productive! Then we saw our homie Dennis Raines. He's a member that we do a weekly study with! He's a special guy. :)  We had a lesson with our awesome investigators Katie and Taneeka! They are sisters and progressing really well! They're awesome! They are looking forward to baptism! Katie just needs to get hitched and she will get baptized!  We had a lesson with Amanda and her daughters Jasmine and Lily. We taught them the 10 commandments and showed them the hand signals for each one! They loved it!  We did some finding in Sandusky! We cleaned out all the potentials and formers there! It's ready to be tracted out here in a couple weeks! 

Wednesday was a special day for the Buffalo south and north zones! We got to have zone conference at the Sacred Grove!!! It was amazing! We got to do a tour then we sat in amphitheater in the grove and sang
"Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and "Praise to the Man" and I've never felt the spirit so strongly before. It was a moving experience. One I will never forget. We got to go into the grove by ourselves and seek revelation just as Joseph Smith and I went straight to the place I got an answer 2 years ago. And I asked God some more questions and the experience I had was one that is sacred to me. It changed my life. Two years ago and this past week. I'm truly blessed to be able to serve in this sacred place.

Thursday was another spirit filled day! Being the district leader I get to interview candidates for baptism and the Gowanda Elders had 2 that were ready for the interview, I had the privilege to interview both and it was another humbling experience. Bruce was the first man I interviewed and through out the whole interview the spirit was there
and I could feel god's love for him.  And god's approval for him to be baptized. The second man Micheal, we both were bawling through the interview. He's a remarkable man. Has quite the story. It was a truly humbling experiences. Later that evening we had a lesson with Jesse Sexton.

Friday was our planning day! We planned for about half the day then went out and had a couple of lessons. It was a great day!

Saturday all our appointments fell through so we spent the day finding less actives and potential / former investigators. We also had a going away party for Anthony! He's moving to Utah today! Gonna miss him!  Afterwards we did so,e finding in Springville before we had a lesson with a part member family that lived in Arcade.

Sunday was a great fast Sunday! I love fast and testimony meetings! Specially in smaller branches. It's wonderful! The people are great! It's a humbling experience just serving in an area like this! We had a lot of lesson after church and ended the night with out branch president and his family! They are super awesome!

Sorry this is all thrown together.... I had a good one typed out and it disappeared.... love you all and have a great week!

Love,
Elder Judy