And now, my beloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye ought to be beloved

To those I love with all my heart,

Sunshine and happy days! Springtime is the BEST. We went to the temple today. Which you know what that means: Miracle Monday! Once again, I have a testimony that miracles ALWAYS happen the day before the temple. Sister Sanchez and I are considering sharing this theory with President Mullen so we can go to the temple every transfer. Or every week...Shoot, I could use a miracle day like this once a week. 

But ok, ok. We do see miracles everyday. Even little things like people answering their door and letting us inside. But yesterday was topping the charts.

Melissa got baptized on Saturday which was so great and happy but that left our teaching pool pretty shallow. As in nobody. We didn't have any investigators in the Bowdish ward. So we've been praying pretty hard that we can just find SOMEBODY. In both English and Spanish truthfully cause we've been struggling. We went on exchanges last week. Did I tell you Sister Tippetts got transferred to an English ward here? SO happy to have her! And so she's the traveling sister up here and so we went on exchanges with them. I just love her so. Anyway, I'm giving a lot of back story just to tell you that on exchanges we walked a lot. The sisters only have a few miles to drive their car each day 'cause their area isn't very big so they walk a lot. The sun is shining so it feels great to be out talking to everyone. I walked more on my exchange than I have my whole mission. I was loving it! Of course, because we cover all Spanish speakers in the entire Valley, we are driving everywhere. We are constantly in the car. It can drive me crazy sometimes. So we decided yesterday that we'd park our car and walk more. Especially because we were trying potentials in our English area. Wouldn't you know that the day we decide to walk more it's ferociously windy and freeeezing!? But we walked anyway.

And we walked right past a garage sale that we would've zoomed past in our other circumstances. So we stopped to talk. The lady selling happened to be a less-active member and she wasn't too excited to talk but the guy buying came up to us. 

"Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons?"

"Mormons"

"Ok. I'll listen. What do you want to tell me?"

"Do you have time right now??"

"Yeah, let's go to the park."

Thankfully the park was about ten steps away. We sat down at a picnic table and the first thing Dusty told us was that he had a 3 year old daughter who means everything to him. He hadn't been able to focus at work that day so he took a half hour for lunch. Then he stopped at the garage sale and he'd been there for about an hour just mulling around until we showed up. He knew God sent us to him so he decided to listen. We taught him a powerful restoration lesson and promised him the peace and blessings that come from the Book of Mormon. He gladly took a copy and nodded his head in agreement. It was all making sense. Then we invited him to be baptized. For May 25th.

"If I know this is true by then, I will be baptized."

He'll know it's true. Because it is. There is a real peace in the Book of Mormon. He will feel the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and he'll change his life. 

Just like that. 

And we met him at a garage sale that we only stopped at 'cause we were walking. 

God is amazing at orchestrating these things. I see His hand, and His love everyday. I'm so grateful to be here and to be His missionary. On top of that miracle, we had: some members invite us for dinner on Thursday to teach their friends, a less-active we've had the hardest time getting a hold of let us in for a lesson, and Gloria Cooper couldn't get enough during our Plan of Salvation lesson and prayed right there to know if it was true. It was a really great day.

Typically week 3 or 4 is the miracle week of the transfer but we're up to week 6 and I know it'll be full of good things. It may be because it's probably the last week Sister Sanchez and I will be together. I have no idea what'll happen. I have no idea what I want to happen either. I'm willing to go where God needs me. But also that means send all mail to the mission office until further notice!

Well, I love y'all! The work is good. It's tough but good. I love my mission more and more everyday. I love this place. I love President and Sister Mullen just so, so much. I know God is there. He loves us. He knows us. We matter to him.

Keep up the good work, y'all!

Love,

Hermana Em

Awake, my soul! rejoice, o my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

hello hello hello!

Lots going on right now. I don't know if I told you or not but this was a 5 week transfer so it's done and over. What?!??! I've been out 6 months tomorrow. CRAZY how time flies.  Sister Sanchez and I are staying in Spokane Valley! The Lord loves us a lot 'cause we are working hard and seeing good things happen. He trusts us here. And I really feel and know that. Anyway, we went fear busting again this morning. Good fun. 22 SISTERS came into our mission today. Only 6 are visa waiters so that means 16 are staying! And 4 are spanish speaking. SO great. Sometimes I get a little sad that I'm over on this side of the mission and not on the west side with all the other Spanish sisters and maybe I even had the thought late yesterday night, "Did God forget us? Did he skip over Sister Sanchez and I? How come we are here again? In the exact same place with no changes?" I love change. I really do. And change on a mission can be both bad and good. And I was hoping/expecting something different this transfer because that is what I want. What Hermana Emily Judd wants. But God knows best. And He didn't skip over me or Sister Sanchez. Probably just the opposite. Because He has seen how stinkin' hard Sister Sanchez and I have tried to earn the trust of members and meet people to teach. It's a blessing to stay here again because I may get to finally see the fruit of the labors. 

I love the Valley. Yesterday we were driving through a hilly countryside and it was majestic and beautiful and I thought back to before my mission when President Palmer sent me a letter and told me that the Washington Spokane Mission encompassed the lyrics to America the Beautiful: "Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain!" And it rang true in my heart and I just thought, "How great that I am here. How great it is to be a missionary here." Every missionary has a different experience. No one mission is the same. And mine is so great. Because God knows me. He knows what I need and I am learning all the things I really need to learn.

I'm at a loss for what to tell you about this week. Lots of good things happened. Sister Sanchez and I continually comment about how much we are learning each day. We really help each other to find new things out about the work and ourselves. We've been pretty good about asking members to come to our lessons but this week we made a resolution to ask a member for EVERY lesson. We will do what ever it takes to bring members. There has been this gap where we teach awesome families but they never come to church. And they need fellowship. We've been hesitant to ask our Spanish members because many of them live in Downtown Spokane about 30 minutes away and we only have about 5 members here in the valley and we ask them over and over and over and over. But finally we decided to involve all our members in the branch. Part of the reason missionary work feels so wonderful and great for missioanaries is because it's a sacrifice for us. We sacrifice our time and families and talents to be missionaries. If we allow our members to sacrifice time and gas to come with us, they will feel the joy of the work too. I've seen miracles come from it already. Some days go by and I think, "wow, I really get missionary work now." I didn't know anything my first transfer. Oh man, I was lost. But I really am starting to get somewhere now. And I have a year left of learning.

I was SO excited on Saturday. I knew Hannah and Jacob were going through the temple and it touched my heart all day. I read "Preparing to enter the Holy Temple" during my personal study and I was filled with joy and love of the Lord. The temple is the house of God. There is nothing that testifies more to me that God loves me than the temple and eternal families. I am so grateful to be here serving and still I am able to feel connected and loved by my family. I imagined the scene in heaven where we will reunite and rejoice together to be with our Heavenly Father forever. Is there a sweeter message than that?

I haven't sent pictures in a long time so here's what's going on peeps:

Best Mission!? Hello! Today as we were sharing experiences from our Fear Busting, different missionaries talked about the miracles they saw as they testified of our Savior and fulfilled our purpose and one of the new Elders said, "wow, this is the best mission!" And I know it's true. I love my mission. I love my mission President. This is the best place to be ever.

 This is my district from last transfer. Elder Hobbs, Elder Legarra (my MTC brother! and we are still staying in the branch together. I'm SUPER happy!), Elder Sherwinsky, Elder Molyneaux, Sister Sanchez and me. Good times.

Sister Sanchez and I! I don't think I've sent home a picture of us two. Aren't we the cutest? I really think that because we are both so small, people's hearts are softened to hear from us. Chiquiditas hermanitas!

This is us TODAY. With the sisters we went fear busting with, Sister Wood and Sister Rasmussen.

This is Elder Magana (from Mexico, we came out the same time and he is such a GREAT missionary!) , Elder Whiting (my zone leader here in the English area) , Elder Lohan ( from Great Britain and SUPER funny. He quotes movies in his funny british accent and I love it!)

Love you all so MUCH!

Hermana Em

Day 132: Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we

Dearest dears,

As soon as I logged off last week I realized that I forgot to tell you I was going to the temple today so my P-day got switched to today. Sorry! I am just dying for Jacob's call. I was certain it would come last week! I'm thinking he's going to Chicago Spanish speaking. Or Peru. Those are my guesses. But truly I don't care where he goes, I just can't wait for him to be a missionary! It is the best privilege in the world and I know it will bring me endless comfort to have my little brother out serving the Lord along side me :) This week was full of sunshine. Both literally and spiritually. 

This is it. I feel it. The week of miracles. Not to say miracles don't happen everyday but things are really starting to happen here in Spokane Valley. Out of the woodwork we are finding less-actives and part-member families. We've found a lot of potential in both of our wards and I just feel a lot happier.

Yesterday was beautiful! Sister Sanchez and I are hopeful that Spring is coming! The snow has been melted for the last week or so and it's just been all around more pleasant weather. Still cold, but much more pleasant. It probably also helped that I bought some better boots last week. (to my family-thanks for that $50 visa card. I bought some water-proof, insulated boots from Kohl's--they have Kohl's!--and so now tracting has been much better without soaking socks!) I remember Sister Hicks telling me that the Monday before temple day always is a day of miracles. This is my second time to the temple and my second witness to this.Yesterday was full of miracles and blessings and tender mercies.

So a couple weeks ago I told you about Liz. We tracted all day and hit our 20 QGCs and then all of a sudden she opened the door and let us in. Anyway, it's been hard to meet with her since our church tour. She's been out of town and really busy but we had an appointment set up with her yesterday. Well, she wasn't there. Typical. But we had planned all our back-ups in her neighborhood and even our next lesson was her next door neighbor so we were in the area for the time. And so we were around when she pulled up with a car full of groceries. We could tell she was stressed out and probably wouldn't want to have even a short lesson with us but we went up anyway. She was trying to get organized in her home and after a weekend of traveling, and a science fair project for her daughter, and her son has Autism, she was just swamped. 

People aren't super keen on service done for them. All people, no matter where you go. It's hard to let someone serve you and even more specifically, it's super hard to let someone clean your house. But somehow the Lord just softened her heart and she let us come in to clean. We felt like Ammon taking care of King Lamoni's sheep. 

"Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words."

We knew that serving and helping Liz would earn her trust and allow her to see that as missionaries we are truly here to help and uplift her. And so we got to work. We put the groceries away and the dishes away and washed the dishes in the sink and wiped the counters and it was amazing! There isn't a greater high than serving someone else. Especially someone who needs it. She was so grateful and feeling so relieved. We kept telling her that as missionaries, all we want to do is serve and help others and so she felt better about letting us help. But it was miraculous because she just opened up to us. She told us all about her husband (who is deployed in Iraq right now) and her children and her dreams and hopes. And after we cleaned we sat down and casually showed her a mormon.org video. The girl in the video is a dancer from London and she talks about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is all about change. How we apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change our lives. It was perfect. The spirit was there and it just felt so good. Sister Sanchez and I are just thrilled and excited. Afterwards Sister Sanchez said to me, "those who are prepared to hear the message, will always let you in to serve and let you in to teach." I know it's true. And I know the Lord is putting those prepared and ready to hear the message in our path. 

We have been visiting all of our members here. After tracting a lot with no success we realized that the only way to find people to teach is through the members. Family and friends, do you hear me? You matter SO much to help in the success of building the kingdom of God! We have been trying to have quick 15 minute visits with just about every family. And we've had referrals from everyone! It's been amazing. I feel like I was a chump before my mission. I never had referrals for the missionaries because I was too scared to share the gospel with my friends, but seriously! If you pray for an experience, for a name or opportunity the Lord will bless you. He will give you comfort and confidence to share the gospel. I'm so grateful for the members here. They really get it. People are always sending us to their friends or they make plans to have us for dinner with some friends or they want us to teach their less-active family members. I really, truly believe the only way to work is to work with the members. And perhaps, not every referral we receive leads to something greater, but I know that there is a reason the Lord wants us trying certain people or certain areas. Last week, the Z. family gave us a referral for their Hispanic neighbor, Lorena. When we tried the first time, she wasn't home. We always try to knock the houses around referrals so we knocked those on either side of her, but I had a feeling we should try across the street. I hesitated so we didn't. Then the next time we went to try Lorena, she was home. And not interested. But I had a feeling again to try across the street. It's funny to knock in nicer areas, because most times the people are happy and content with their religion and family. Nothing has compelled them to be humble so they are generally not interested. That's how I was feeling about this house. But we knocked anyway. And we met Jonathan. Super nice guy and interested too. I don't know what it will lead to if more than just a good contact and a good taste in his mouth for the missionaries but it was just a testament to me that the Lord knows better than us. Perhaps the reason He inspired the Z. family to tell us about Lorena is because He knew the only time we would probably knock their street was if we had a referral. 

Well, I always know there is more to say but just never enough time. I am happy. I am loving being a missionary. Last week we spent an hour watching mormon messages on LDS.org (President Mullen lets us spend a few hours a week exploring LDS.org and Mormon.org so we are up to date) and we left feeling so spiritually high. I know this gospel is true! I know it with my whole heart. I love the Book of Mormon. I know that we have a living prophet. Our loving Father in Heaven still speaks to us today. I feel so close to my Heavenly Father as I serve as His hands. I just feel so filled with His love and spirit. It's an honor. It really is. 

Welp, I love you! Watch the mormon messages. Especially the one about Dads. And mormon.org people. I'm not sure if they've gotten a new art director or if different people create all these videos but right now, the latest videos are just stunning visually and spiritually. I am convinced more and more as I serve my mission that God is an artist. And it inspires me. I am itching to get home and create more. If there is one thing I am certain of for my post-mission life, it's that I can't wait to make more with my heart and my hands. I loveeee it!

A letter from President Mullen

A letter from Hermana Em's Mission President:

Dear Brother and Sister Judd,

I was pleased to welcome your daughter, Sister Judd, to the Washington Spokane Mission this week.  I’m happy to report that she arrived safely.  I had the privilege of meeting and associating with her the day of her arrival and note that it is evident that she comes with a great desire to serve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Sister Judd understands the role of the Holy Ghost in accomplishing the work here in the Washington Spokane Mission and has committed to live worthy of that power.

After prayerful consideration, I have called Sister Hicks  to serve as Sister Judd’s training companion in the Moses Lake, Washington area.  It is our objective to call only the best missionaries to serve as trainers and I believe that your daughter is in excellent training hands.  We expect that your missionary will serve in this area for the next 6 to 12 weeks as she begins her mission.

I have attached photographs of your missionary and assure you that Sister Mullen and I will love Sister Judd.  Our great desire is that her time here will further establish her on the path of righteousness, as well as bless the many people she will serve.

Attached are the new updated recommended guidelines we have for parents.  These guidelines are based on many years of accumulated missionary experience, especially those guidelines concerning personal contact with your missionary. Sister Judd needs your good example.  I sincerely request that you consider them for the benefit of your daughter and her fellow missionaries.

Thank you so much for sharing Sister Judd with us. 

Sincerely,

Donald E. Mullen, President

WASHINGTON SPOKANE MISSION

The mission has a website!