August 29, 2016 (Talk about Blessings!)

Hey everybody!

         This week has been a really good one! We started out the week pretty normally, we were able to meet a girl named Liz that we set a date with the first time we met her. She was so prepared! She was just sitting on her porch practically waiting to have the gospel taught to her. She is really cool. We have been going to a group home to teach a few of the boys in there. They all have a story and it is humbling to listen to them. They can be a little crazy though, it is always a good time there. They like to play basketball so we play this game sometimes where we all take a turn and if you make it you can ask anybody a question about the gospel and if they get it wrong they are out. They are all pretty smart though, I was surprised at how much they knew. We are still working with the twins and we just need to get their fathers permission to have them baptized. We are so close! 

      This week was really special, we had stake conference on Sunday and Elder Costa of the Seventy came and spoke. We also had a meeting on Friday with just the missionaries in the Brandon and Lakeland Zones with Elder Costa AND Elder Foster, another member of the Seventy. It was a huge blessing to be taught and trained by two General Authority Seventies and our mission President. The main theme of the meeting was member missionary work. They want us to work really closely with the members and make relationships with them. I feel like some changes are going to be taking place pretty soon here. I think member meals are going to be allowed again without the rule of having an investigator or less active and we also don't have service hours each week which is in the handbook, so we will be getting those too. It will be interesting, I'll keep you all posted.

      My companion and I are still working really hard in our area, but having some fun along the way. We were at a less active members house this week that has some Star Wars cardboard cut outs. You will see in the pictures, but we did a few poses with them, it was fun haha. I am glad to be serving where I am. Every area brings new experiences and challenges that will help you grow. The Valrico area has treated me well so far. It has been great. That is really all for this week, hopefully next week will be even better. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!

Love Elder Hudson

Zone conference with the Seventies

 These pictures were taken at a less active members home.  The let us have some fun!

August 22, 2016

Hey everyone!

           This week has been another good one, we have met a lot of awesome people this week as we have been doing a lot of tracting. Just last night we met a young family with a 9 month old son. They let us right in and were super nice. They are Catholic and are very faithful. They were so open to our message though and accepted to read and pray about the book of Mormon! They were the last people we saw too, it was a great way to end off the day. We also got to go out with our mission President this week in our area. He has been going out with the missionaries to get to know the area better and the missionaries. It was pretty cool! We had a lesson with a set of twins we are teaching named Abdier and Abner. They are 11 and have been taught for a while. They are super smart though, President Cooper was impressed with how much they knew. The only reason why they aren't baptized is because of their dad. He has not said one way or the other yet, we are praying for a miracle with them. After their lesson we went and did some tracting with him. He was actually excited to go knock some doors haha. We found two really cool people with him. He is very good at making people feel good about themselves and is a great teacher. It was fun to go out with him. President Cooper is awesome. 

        We did some service on Saturday morning for a less active member Brother Flakes. He just had back surgery and is recovering. He is supposed to rest but he is up and at it, he wears this big back brace thing that looks like Banes vest from Batman. He is pretty funny. We mowed his yard and trimmed his bushes for him. He was very thankful, he tried to pay us but we told him we cant take money so he is gonna make lunch for us next week. I wish we got to do more service, we only get to once in a great while. 

       My companion and I are still getting along great, we like a lot of the same stuff. He is a funny guy but is a really hard worker at the same time. So far so good in the Valrico area. We are on car share with another set of Elders, so this week was bike week. We switch off every other week. Biking isn't too bad, you just get really sweaty. It has been super hot this week, I am looking forward to it cooling down. Oh and I realized this week that I have passed my year mark of turning in my mission papers! That is so weird, the mission is going by too quick! I hope I can make the most of it. I hope you all have a great week and accomplish everything you set out to do. I love you all! 

Love Elder Hudson

Deep into the valrico area we find streams and cows

August 15, 2016

 Hey everyone!!
 Man this week has been crazy! A lot has happened this week, I guess I'll start off by saying....I got transferred! I got put in Valrico with Elder Drumright. He has been out for 6 months. I have known him since he first came out so when we found out that we were going to be companions we were pretty excited. Valrico is not far from Apollo Beach, just about a 30 minute drive. I am still in the same district and my last companion Elder Ashcraft is now the district leader. He is pretty nervous and stressed but I know he will be a great district leader. I am sad that I only got to serve with him for one transfer, he has probably been my favorite companion so far. I feel like I did good in Apollo Beach though, I definitely left it better than I found it. It was a great area to serve in and I am definitely going to miss all of the people there. 

       I got to Valrico on Thursday morning and so far it has been great. I guess Elder Drumright and his last companion weren't very obedient so he is grateful that I am here to help him be more obedient and diligent to further the work. I really hope that I can be the leader I need to be for him. He is a great missionary and loves the work. He is a really great teacher too, you can tell by the way he talks to people about the gospel that he really believes it and has a strong testimony of it. I am looking forward to serving with him. I have some high hopes for the Valrico area. Me and Elder Drumright are both pretty goofy though, so be prepared for some good pictures ;)

      We taught the coolest couple this week. The husband is from England and has a very thick accent, he is awesome. I guess they had met with the wife earlier in the week and set up a time to come back and she said that her husband might not be very open to it but she will give it a try. We got there and got to know them a bit then taught them the restoration. The most amazing part of it was when we shared Joseph Smith's account of the first vision. I love sharing that with people, I always feel the spirit so strongly. We just paused for about 5 seconds after sharing it and the spirit definitely touched them, you could see it just by the way they looked. They committed to read the Book Of Mormon and to be baptized. It was so good!! Best part of the week by far. 

      There are a lot of new missionaries in our district, we all played basketball today at the stake center and then went to Ford's garage for lunch. It was a pretty cool place, I'll send some pictures. It has been a good day so far. I feel like this week is going to be really good. Elder Drumright and I are going to kill it! I don't think I am forgetting anything...if I am I'll put it in next weeks letter. Thank you all for what you do and who you are. Keep being you. I hope you all have a great week, I love you all!!

Love, Elder Hudson

Ward mission leader, Christian

Lunch at Ford Restaurant 

Nutella Bread, YUM

August 8, 2016

Hello everyone!!
 So yeah this week has been pretty great, just like the rest of them. We taught a lot of less actives this week. We have just been going through the list we have and seeing what we find. Some of these people are really nice and some of them are really rude. We went to visit this one guy yesterday and when we got to his house he opened the door and started yelling at us at the top of his lungs. I pretty much ignored him and asked him what his name was to make sure it was the right guy, he just kept on yelling, so we left. I really don't understand people like that, I guess they have their agency. 

       So we have been having a lot of success lately. We have a lot of investigators that are progressing and have dates set for baptism. We have some really cool investigators! One guy we are teaching we met while he was playing that new pokemon go game outside. We have found a lot of people because of that game now haha. It was pretty funny because we started talking to him ans he said, "give me a minute guys I've almost got this Pokemon." He had his volume up full blast too so the whole street could hear it. Long story short he is actually a really cool guy. We were teaching him and telling him about what we do and he said he wants to be a missionary haha. We set a date with a guy that has been coming to church for like 3 years but has just never committed to baptism. His whole family are members and he has been taught by many missionaries over the years. He actually said yes, that is a huge thing!! The date is for September 3rd. I hope I will be here for that. 

       That reminds me, transfers are this week! I will find out today if I am staying or going. Then tomorrow I find out where I am going and who my companion is if I get transferred. I'll update you all next week! I honestly hope I stay at least one more transfer. We will see what happens though, wherever I go it is where the Lord needs me and I can accept that. 

       Well, me and my companion are still getting along great, we have a good time together. It has been a fun transfer. Nothing else too exciting has happened lately, I'll keep you all posted on whats happening next week. Thank you all for everything you do, I love getting emails from you all, so keep writing me! I love you all!! Be great this week and do something nice for somebody else. 

Love Elder Hudson

Strange sign

2/3 lb. hamburger.  Yummy!

feeling silly

More silliness 

August 1, 2016 (Mosquitoes for days)

 Hello Everybody!!

 So this week has been pretty normal, nothing out of the usual happened. My companion and I have been doing a lot of tracting and we have decided to switch up our finding approach because we are getting tired of tracting everyday. So we have been doing a lot more member missionary work lately. We have been going around to members and less actives and sharing a message with them then asking if they know anybody who we could share our message with. We have seen some great miracles this week from doing this. For example, yesterday we were biking back to the apartment for dinner from a members house and when we got outside their complex we saw a man who was in a wheelchair and he was waving to us. We rode up to him and got talking. He was the funniest old guy you could ever meet. We were able to teach him about the restoration of Christs church and the Book Of Mormon. He was so willing and ready to accept the gospel. We committed him to read the Book Of Mormon and to be baptized when he comes to know its true. We set his date in September. He just popped out of no where! I know that the Lord placed him in our path so that we could have this interaction with him. It was pretty neat. 

         I got to say, the weather here is pretty crappy right now. The mornings are nice, but when the sun comes up its insanely hot. It is usually in the 90's but with the humidity in feels like 110, and the mosquitoes area always out and they are horrible! Its pretty crazy, I'll put on my 100% deet insect replant  and within 15 minutes I've already sweated it all of and the mosquitoes attack. I have never sweated so much in my life just from waking. They like to go for the ears for some reason too...which is extra annoying. That is another reason we have changed our finding approach a bit haha. It is all part of the mission though, there is opposition in all things. There is a lot of interesting bugs here, a lot of spiders too. It is a fun place to live ;) 

         We have been full bike this week because we ran out of miles on the car. It has been alright though, we have tried to have members to most of our appointments so we don't have to bike. I kind of like riding my bike anyways. My companion and I have been having wheelie competitions, neither of us area very good, but we are getting better haha. It is pretty fun being a missionary, if you make it that way. We went ham-mocking last P-day, I finally got to use my hammock on my mission! I was pretty happy about it. We went to the beach for it, I also got a jar of sand. I feel like since I'm in Apollo Beach I might as well get some Apollo Beach sand. It was a fun day. 

         Well, that's all for this week. It has been so great serving a mission. It has changed me and has grown my testimony so much. I hope all of you can have missionary opportunities to strengthen your testimony's as well! I love you all and hope your week is great!