Hello Family and Friends!! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas this week!! More about Christmas to come later in this email :)
Let me tell you about something that I've learned this week. There is a recent convert here whose name is Sister Beth. She is in her early 20s and was recently baptized from a set of missionaries before me here in Calumangan. But she hasn't been to church for months now. Well ever since I've been here Sister Beth has given every reason in the book why we cannot teach her/visit her, no matter what time we walk by her home. She has a small son who she always uses as her excuse.. it's been difficult for me to keep coming back and coming back and coming back and trying to help Sister Beth come back to church. We've slowly been trying to get to know Sister Beth (since my last companion here as well) and we finally saw a huge change in Sister Beth this week. We were finally able to teach Sister Beth this week when we stopped by her neighbor and started to help them do their laundry. Sister Beth was there in the room and we were able to better connect with her within this time that we were doing the laundry. Well by the time we were finished they let us share a message and Sister Beth really opened up. She shared how these past couple of months have been so difficult for her with so many personal challenges and she feels like there is something really missing in her life. She really cried and just let it all out we were there to listen. It was amazing to help her realize where the Lord has been reaching out to her, trying to help her remember the things that she should be doing to keep her covenants with Him. She apologized for never giving us her time but expressed her gratitude for us not giving up to reach out to her and teach her. She explained that there were days when she wouldn't let us teach and that next week was even harder than the last. She felt like she was at her breaking point but knew that she needed to come back to church and agreed to come to church the next Sunday and we went and picked her up because she was so shy to go by herself. Later that day after church we visited her again and I'm not joking she looked like a different person! She wasn't scowling like usual. She wasn't mad at her little son. She was laughing, joking, smiling, excited to invite us in, sharing spiritual experiences in the lesson and WE were really the ones learning from her! I was so taken-back from the stark difference between the Sister Beth that I used to dread trying to teach and the Sister Beth that was so kind and big-hearted and full of faith! One of the things that touched me the most from this experience is her sharing the way that she was touched from the talk that I gave in sacrament meeting and how she knows that Heavenly Father has sent us to help "rescue" her. She felt "rescued" or "freed" by coming back to church and renewing her covenant with our Heavenly Father. I don't have the time to explain all that we can possibly learn from this simple story about Sister Beth but let me just tell you... I don't ever want to give up visiting these people no matter how much they make it seem like they don't want us to "bother them" sometimes- because Heavenly Father is working on their hearts.. we all need to reach out to others! We don't know how Heavenly Father will surprise the receiver AND the giver in the life that can be touched and changed through persistent reaching out!
My outlook about Christmas has really been changed this Christmas!! I don't desire expensive gifts like past Christmases have been wasted about.. and yes of course I desire to be with my family this Christmas but even though I am so far away from you all I still feel love this Christmas. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve this Christmas. To share with others about Jesus Christ because this is the reason why Christmas has changed for me! One of the biggest lessons that I have learned on my mission is about the LOVE that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. Well that's what Christmas is all about.. isn't that why we give gifts? Isn't that what we feel when we receive gifts and spend time with family? Well the greatest and most perfect love is from our Savior Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate on Christmas :) That's why I still feel "love" this Christmas and it's is multiplied through sharing this message with others. Especially those that don't have the means here to have "Christmas".. but we all can feel love and peace this Christmas no matter how meager our means are.. through remembering Jesus Christ! And the best way to show our love back to our Heavenly Father is through obedience. That's the other huge lesson that I have been learning on my mission. Obedience is the way to receiving blessings and the way to show our love and gratitude to our Heavenly Father. The people here have little to nothing and yet realize how much they have to be grateful for to God: life, health, children, a home, faith, and many more simple blessings that we all should never overlook. I am humbled this Christmas to finally learning the meaning of Christmas. It's about love! I love you all so much and miss you all like crazy! And I look forward to the many many Christmases that we will have together in the future!
Please send pictures from Christmas! (Pictures are THE BEST!!!)
Love you all so so much!!
I am SO looking forward to skyping this week!!
Keep the faith. I am so grateful for all of your prayers, love and support! It means the world!
Sister Judd
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