1st Transfer: Week 1 ~ "a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY....without a doubt."

We received our individual emails today then I caught Mackenzie on the computer and we were able to chat for quite a while. She's serving in a poor area and is writing from " the attic of some business that has computers... no air conditioning just some little fan. I'm so HOT. " Here's some of what she had to share: 

Ello my Mumma!!!!! (Jamaican talk) hahahaha!! I came here and it is sooooo hott! I MISS ALL OF YOU!!!! 
My companion is Sister B and she is Jamaican. She is very funny but kind of quiet some times. We have a good time. She has a conversion story similar to mine. She can't drive so I drive this big black truck. It's not stick shift thank goodness. The roads are not even roads. It's ONE ROAD with one car going up and the other coming down. The roads are different of course. We drive on the left. The roads are very dangerous but don't worry I'm being safe. There are mostly gravel roads with some paved. When we go up the mountains there are no railings and the cars come down like 100 miles per hour. So lucky that we are not dead yet. Actually there was an old american couple here a couple of days ago and they died from a car accident.  It's really bad here. The country is so poor but its going okay.
They call this area a "tourist area" but its the poorest in my eyes. The tourist area is fenced round. It's very beautiful....just not a rich part. Very poor area. We go up in the mountains a lot for our investigators. They have really yummy food here though :) This place makes me so sad some times. This country is a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY....without a doubt. I've taken a lot of pictures but I need a cord to download my pictures. Me and my companion live with lots of bugs. I sleep with the spiders and sometimes roaches but whatever..still sleepin' good. We live in the forest. That's what Jamaica is....a huge forest along with stray dogs and stray goats everywhere. There's a lovely rooster that wakes us up every morning. Our neighbors are one little family that says they will bring us some fruit as they grow them. We have a microwave thank goodness. There is no air conditioning anywhere...just a fan. Hair up all day every day hahah!! Cute hairbands every day. It's sooo hot here. Every time I drive I put my face in the air conditioning. "me no like de humiditeee mon" ROFL. No warm water all cold which is perfect. Thank goodness for the tourist area! They only have Pizza Hut and Burger King here that's american food. It's funny. We went to the grocery store and they are not labeled like they are in America.  It was a building with no air conditioning and its the color blue. Also the members houses have no addresses so we go by color of the houses. We seriously have to park far from the house and walk up the dirt path in the jungle to go to their homes. Its like the other side of heaven movie....for real.. no lie. We live pretty close to the church but its not a church building. It's a rented space that they bought out. It's above a store. The church is one single room and we go up into the attic for classes.
Every night as we go up the mountains to different little houses, the streets are packed with people smoking weed and partying. The smell gets into our car vent. It's so strong and smells so nasty. All the people here walk on the streets so thank goodness I haven't killed anyone yet. Music is blasting all of the time but I'm loving the people here and I am getting used to it. The people are nice. Everyone honks here but they're not being rude. It's "friendly"....just to say "hello" or "here I come" ahhahaha. 

Okay, so my area is a big area. We cover a lot. We have an investigator and his name is S....he is 22.  He is amazing!  I had an amazing and spiritual experience with him. I could relate to him so I bore my testimony. He could feel the spirit very strongly. I call him my brother in Jamaica. He always calls me and Sister B just to see if we made it home okay and to make sure we are safe. He is the best. 

My companion and I had a great spiritual experience. We had a lot of cancellations and so we said a prayer to see who we should go visit.  After we said the prayer immediately Sister B and I said at the same time....Brother W. I HAVE NEVER experienced that in my life. The holy ghost was so BIG and strong in that moment. It was incredible. So we went to go see Brother W. He had the flu and was not feeling good. I met this young 15 year old mother named K and her mother was keeping her from baptism. I immediately started to ask her mother WHY? and she told me the reason. K's mother said to me "see finally a missionary who is listening to me, that's all I want" and I felt sooooo good! I bore my testimony about baptism and now her mother is going to come to church one Sunday. That was my very first day doing lessons :)  I've already had amazing experiences.  I love my companion. 
We visit this church member her name is Sister H and she thinks everyone is out to get her its so hilarious. There are some wonderful families here. We have this family..... Sister N......I just love their family. Most women here are single mothers. Their kids are just soooo cute I love them. Such a sweet family.  I gave the kids some stickers and they wanted to try out my hand sanitizer hahaha! They didn't know what hand sanitizer was. They saw it in a pretty casing and the little boy said " wut dis" and I said "cleans de hands" and he said "me want some" ahahaha so I gave him some. And I gave the children stickers. They are the cutest babies. It was awesome. We went out with them for service and went into the bush with machetes and burned grass so she can plant seeds. It was crazy it looked like a forest fire. It was ccrrraaazzzyy. We didn't do service with the elders but we are hangin out with them today. We only have 2.  The Elders, us,  and the senior companions. That's it. So all together 6 of us in our district. There are only 170 missionaries in our mission.  It's so rare to be called here.. its crazy. But we are getting some other missionaries soon.

(The food) is safe but everywhere you will see people selling fruit out of the vans or on the side of the road. K gave me some star apples. Very interesting fruit! Let me tell you something I love it here .. just because of the people. Yes its hard to get used to, but I'm already LOVING it so no worries :) The members here were hesitant for me to come because I am American. They always say that the american missionaries are scared to sit on their couches or chairs because its outside and they don't have a lot of nice things but I don't hesitate. You know how I used to always look around to see for bugs? Well.. I don't care anymore. I sit down and let whatever wants to crawl on me do that. We have a lot of bugs in our little house and I just step on it and keep showering or keep sleeping.. whatever. I am putting all of me into this work I just don't care anymore. I will be so different when I get home.. i have only been here for 4 days .. and I have learned so much. 

Sister B said they have hurricane season which is in June. So BEWARE we will be getting hurricanes! I'm already used to the talking here. Everyone that is Jamaican speaks patois in a quieter tone so its hard to know what they are saying but I understand now and can speak some too.  It was very hard at first. I was like what are they saying?! but I completely understand now. Sister B is helping me out with that lol so I might be talking funny when I get home. This brother over here, Brother H, he is the best! He said that he is gonna teach me patois some more. HAHA! I just love the people. They be so chiiiilll..... Our jug of water is hilarious. In the front it says "WATA" I took a pic and will send it to you once I have the cord. hahaha. All of them say mon after every sentence for example... whaagwaan i love de weh u tak mon. It's broken english. And instead of saying "I" they say ME. For example me like de way u poo yo hair up dat way mon. Which in standard english is "i like the way you pull you hair up" LOL!! I LOVE YOU and I MISS all of you!! I will be going shopping. I will buy some souvenirs and send them to you. I am staying strong and keeping Heavenly Father in my mind.. this is the LORDS work not mine.. so i will try to keep pressing forward. LOVE YOU

Safely In Jamaica!!

Today we received an email from the Jamaica Kingston Mission. It had a couple of pictures that were in a word document so I can't post them:( and then we received a letter to tell us where Mackenzie is serving.

Her first area looks to be absolutely gorgeous. Her companion is Sister B. We can't wait to see pictures and hear of her adventures there. Waiting for Monday!

Mackenzie's Farewell Talk

I just noticed that Mackenzie didn't blog about her farewell talk, so I thought I would:).

On Sunday, January 26th Mackenzie gave a beautiful talk in Sacrament Meeting. She was privileged to speak with our mission president, President Slaughter. She was very nervous but did an absolutely perfect job. She shared her very inspirational and moving conversion story and it touched many who were there. Her testimony is solid and it is her foundation for all she does. I'm so lucky to have her influence in my life. 

Click on the link below to read and enjoy:)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_LE1XoIFuZmTHVUcFJDRWpYWG8/edit?usp=sharing

Our Phone Call

Yesterday before Mackenzie left for Jamaica she was able to call us from the Dallas, TX airport. That was their first layover. They would have another in Miami, FL before flying to Jamaica. They wouldn't arrive there until 8:00pm. Such a long, tiring day.We knew she was going to call so we waited anxiously by the phone. She called around 12:20pm and we were so excited! I answered the phone to hear a sweet, "Hi Mom". I could tell she was feeling under the weather. She said that she was excited to get to Jamaica but she was sick. Her nerves had made her stomach nauseous and she sounded absolutely exhausted. She said that they had to be at the airport at 4:30am but their flight didn't leave until 8:00am. Mackenzie has always gotten sick when she doesn't have enough sleep. That may have been some of the problem but I think more so than anything she was nervous about the plane ride and what was coming next. She's like me in that respect. We don't like to fly. She said that she really liked her district in the MTC. there were three Elders and the three of them. She thought the Elders were hilarious. I was so glad to hear that it was a great experience for her. She said that she learned many things although the role playing was a little much:). She said that while they were in the SLC airport some man came up to all six of them and gave them each $40.00 to spend in the airports throughout the day. She said that she got a small taste of the spoiling that Adam got for 2 years. She thought she might want to stay there:). She was able to talk to Nephi, Lauren and Adam as well although I will admit that I pretty much hogged the phone. I didn't even realize it. After we hung up Nephi made a comment and I felt bad about that but I was loving hearing her voice. We were able to talk to her for about 30 minutes which was so much better than the 10 minutes we thought we had. Can't wait til Mother's Day!

Some Pics:)

Mackenzie forgot to take her camera with her when she emailed so I contacted the mother of one of her companions. She was gracious enough to send me a few pictures to get us by:).

Mackenzie and her two companions

At the Provo Temple

Her District

2nd MTC Email:)

Hey Mom!!! My first day at the MTC was great, it was a lot of fun. I had a host come up to me and she was from Brazil and she showed me around and it was great!  My companions names are Sister Barlow and Sister Schwendiman. They are awesome companions. I met my companions the first day at the MTC. The food is edible, and some times really really good. We get a lot of ice cream on sundays!! WOOHOO. SUGAR RUSH. Role playing is so awkward but I am used to it. The first day I got here I told them that I am not looking forward to role playing and they all laughed and guess who they call to role play all the time? ME! YAY i'm the chosen one!! haha they all laugh and my teacher Brother Frost says I kill them role plays! So in other words, I'm BOSS. haha time does seem like it is flying by but some days I get kind of home sick. I miss my little Lauren and I miss all of you. But I am here to do the Lords work so its all good! A sister training leader is just a leader who helps and guides new sister missionaries and make them feel welcomed and show them around and help em. Just bein a leader. I received my temple recommend which is awesome, and I am going to the temple today after we do our laundry. (Surprise huh?! I am actually doing work and laundry!) Yall should be so proud. Tell dad he will be shocked. We have only had brother Foster from the quorum  of the Seventy talk to us and it was pretty good it was on Prayer. What I have learned here is that we don't teach the lessons, the spirit does. One powerful talk that I heard was from Elder Bednar and he was talking about the characteristics of Christ. He said He turns outwards to others NOT INWARDS. The natural man always turns inward on themselves which is why we are an enemy to god. It really made me sad because it is soo true! So this is my goal, is to do my best every day to turn outwards and love my investigators like my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ does. I am doing the work for them, I am their instrument. So whatever the Spirit needs me to tell them I will DO IT. My district is awesome!! there is only 6 of us, they don't even have JAMAICA shirts for us here. They have every other mission but ours its like they haven't even heard of it before. We always ask elders and sisters in the MTC where they are serving just so we can tell them that we are going to Jamaica. They are always like "Woahhh Jamaica!! we never heard of it thats sooo cooooooool". HAHA the Elders in my district are the best. We are like a big happy family. we always say that we are family because we pretty much are. We left home and we are serving the Lord. There is Elder Kurtis, Elder Guthrie and Elder Jackson and then ME, sister Barlow and the other Sister name that I can't even spell. I was going to send you the pictures from the MTC, but I am doing Laundry and forgot my Camera!!! AHH I am sooo sorry! I will send you pictures when I am in Jamaica I promise. I will be able to call you while I am in the airport on my way to Jamaica. I bought a phone card today, so I will be calling you guys from the airport on Tuesday. We fly to Dallas, Texas and then to Florida, and then from Florida to Jamaica. So its going to be a LONNG day!!! we won't get to Jamaica til 8PM. So its gonna be long. What phone number should I call you on?? 701-330-7961? right? Anyway, make sure to have your phone on you so I won't waste any of my min. on the phone card. Okay well I LOVE YOU, and I will be waiting for you reply while I do my laundry hahaha. LOVE YOU GUYS and also, I thought it was adorable when you told me about Lauren in my makeup drawer. what a cute baby sis I have. I miss her soo much but I MISS all of you the same. alright well tell me about what you guys have been up to. Oh and also I forgot to tell you but we have "investigators" here that we teach as well as role playing. Our investigators are Ryan, Barbara, and Emilia. They are awesome and we always get told we are awesome missionaries. We have only been here such a short time and yet we have learned so much and know how to teach very well. Its great. I promise I am staying safe haha! Mom please don't worry, BREATHE. I am great and will be great for these 18 months try not to worry so much and take care of yourself and get good rest and take your medicine. I love you so much my mother! and thank you for all the packages and emails they really have helped me out so much, I gave a talk on sunday. (They don't tell you who is talking til you are there) so again, I was the chosen one. So I gave a talk and I used a story that you sent me which worked out perfectly into the Atonement. Thanks so much for that, I am always sooo happy to receive things from you! Its awesome. SO mom please don't worry the Lord will take care of me I promise. I am obedient and I am doing the best I can everyday, yeah some days are hard but I can lean on my Heavenly Father and my Companions. I am here to help hasten the work. So please do not worry. LOVE YOU!

I responded to her first email and this is her response:

Thanks Mom, I love you so much!!  I didn't receive my makeup yet, but I did receive a box today actually so that might be it. I am very happy, everything is going good so no need to worry bout me :). Oh and by the way I just sent You, dad, Lauren and Adam a letter today so you guys should be getting them soon. Make sure to read my letter to Lauren. Well I love you and am so glad everything is doing good. I saw that you can still be in the house since its not sold! Which is great!! good well keep me updated on dads jobs or anything if he found a new one. Tell everyone I love them and I am just now finishing up my Laundry, aren't you guys just so proud?! HAHA!! well Love you Mother, oh by the way where did you put my Medication? If I don't find any could you please send me my medication right when I get to jamaica? i am afraid I don't have them.. but I'm not sure. Maybe they are in my carry on i don't know. well alright mom love you thanks for all the emails and the boxes my district was like "WHOA sister Judd has a lot of mail!" and i gave the elders some puppy chow they said they love you for that. HAHA!! the elders also kept coming up to me "sister judd can you help me with my laundry please" sister judd..blabla etc!! haha I feel like their mother! its soooo fun. Elder guthrie is 18 and the other 2 are 19. they are awesome elders love my whole district. okay mom i love you i should probably go.. glad everything is going good for you! be watching out for my call on Tuesday!! love you!!

A Surprise Email!:))))

We hadn't heard from Mackenzie so we kept watching hoping her P-Day would be that day:). We never expected it to be on a Saturday. We were surprised when we received her email on Saturday around 12:20pm. We were soooo excited and relieved to know she was happy:). 

"hey my family I am not supposed to be writing about everything that has happened yet because its not my P-day but they just wanted us to email you guys to let you know that i am still alive, haha! I am doing awesome here in the MTC it is a lot of work but its fun. I have 6 missionaries in my whole district. we all are going to the Jamaica Kingston mission. We are the only ones going to that mission in the whole MTC. We just figured that there are not a lot of missionaries there in our mission, Sister Barlow and another sister are my 2 companions. I am a sister training leader and Thank you for all the letters! you have been helping me out very much thank you! and tell brittany thanks for the cupcakes! alright well I love all of you and tell Lauren I love her so much as well I miss you guys but I am focusing on the work!!! LOVE YOU!!

-Sister Judd"

Missionary Training Center

Mackenzie's plane was to land in Salt Lake City at 10:15am. She had one layover in Phoeniz, AZ but I don't think that lasted too long. Brittany lives in Salt Lake City so she was able to pick her up at the airport. We were so thrilled!!! but no one was more relieved and grateful than Mackenzie. She didn't have to report to the MTC until 12:45pm so she had a little while to be with her sister. Their plan was to go to lunch, but Mackenzie's nerves got the best of her and she wasn't able to eat. Britt got her to the MTC a little early which gave them some time to sit in the parking lot and chat and observe what was going on. At the appointed time Britt dropped her off.  Britt called me a little emotional (as we all were) and let me know that Mackenzie got in just fine and she had ordered her cupcakes. That really touched me. That was the sweetest thing. I'm so grateful that Britt was there for her and took just as good care of her as I would have. My heart was at peace knowing that Britt was going to handle everything. I'm so grateful for her and guess what? she's mine for eternity too!!! I'm so blessed!:)

Setting Apart and Departure

What a whirlwind the past few days have been!

Mackenzie and I had shopped until we literally dropped. We had shopped extensively for the entire month of February and we were exhausted! To go into one more store made us both cringe so we called it quits on Friday (the 7th). We did laundry over the weekend and Monday we began packing. It was an all day process but we finished Monday night and felt good about all of our purchases. However, after packing everything we were a little worried about the weight of her bags. Tuesday morning (March 11th) when Nephi was home we thought we would ask him to weigh her luggage. It was a very good thing that we did because she was about 15 lbs over on one of her bags. It took us a couple of hours to get her bags packed to where they would pass regulation. We were trying to hurry because Mackenzie was scheduled to get set apart at 7:30 that night. We ended up leaving around 3:30pm.....about 2 hours later than we had hoped. We knew it would take us about 3 hours to get to San Antonio.

Mackenzie and Lauren on the way to San Antonio

We arrived at our hotel around 7:00pm and hurried to get ready so we could make it to her appointment with President Slaughter at 7:30pm. We had worked hard and were hoping to avoid the last minute rush so we could more calmly enjoy the evening. Although we fell short of that goal, her setting apart was a wonderful experience. The blessing she received was a beautiful one and suited just for her. I was so grateful that we were able to be a part of such an amazing occasion. Before we left with our missionary, President Slaughter told us of our rules. No TV, only uplifting music...in other words no music, and she always had to have someone with her. She always needed a companion and anyone could be that for her with the exception of Lauren:).

After Mackenzie's setting apart we went to dinner at Red Robin. Mackenzie then requested that we go to the temple to walk around. She wanted to show Lauren the temple at night. We headed over there and it was beautiful. Our little Lauren was pretty active so we weren't able to get the pictures that we would have liked. We then headed back to the hotel. Adam was Mackenzie's companion while Nephi, Lauren and I ran to Walmart. AMAZING! Months of shopping and at midnight the night before she leaves we were at Walmart. We just had to pick up odds and ends; toothbrush holders, travel size hairspray, etc....we picked up some gum for Mackenzie because she's rarely found without gum in her mouth and we thought it would be good for the airplane. We mentioned that missionaries weren't to chew gum but they could in their own apartment. Do you know she wouldn't chew gum? So cute! She was not going to chew that gum. She wants to be "exactly obedient".

We didn't get in bed until after midnight and Mackenzie had to be to the airport by 4:30am. So much for a good nights sleep. My kids will tell you that I try soooo hard but always fall short. Frustrating. We finally fell asleep at probably 1:00am and Mackenzie had to get up at 3:00am. Nephi, Mackenzie and I left around

4:30am and got there about 4:45am. We were so worried about the weight of her bags and held our breath as they were weighed. The first one was 46 lbs. but that wasn't the one we were worried about. The biggest one was 50.5 lbs. WHEW!! That was close! The guy at the counter made the comment "Someone knows how to pack". If he only knew..........

Mackenzie's plane was scheduled to depart at 6:15am and by this time it was well after 5:00am. The line for the security check point was insanely long so we immediately got in line. The line went way faster than we had anticipated so we were to the front before we knew it. It was time for our quick goodbye.

There she is in line waiting to go through security
(she's in the red sweater) 

While I was emotional, I didn't feel the extreme grief that I thought I would.  I physically and mentally handed her over to the Lord and an extreme peace overcame me. I gave her back to Him to watch over her and care for. Things that I'm not able to do for her He can. It gave me a small glimpse of what He must have felt as He handed her over to me. He trusted me as I trust Him. I'm very nervous to send her to Jamaica but trust that she will be fine and I will lean on that peace I felt at the airport. It was hard watching her go through the security gate and know that I wouldn't see her for 18 months but the sweet people of Jamaica will love her. I know that. Who doesn't?:)

Nephi and I left with heavy hearts but so grateful that she accepted the invitation to serve. Her life will be eternally blessed as well as those she will come in contact with. She let us know that her mantra every morning would be "Go hasten the work Sister Judd!". She vowed that would be her pep talk every morning. Did I say we're proud of her? and she's ours for eternity. We're so blessed!:)

It's Coming So Fast!

Mackenzie asked me to keep her blog up to date while she's gone so here we go......a mother's perspective:).

Last Sunday was a very hard day for Mackenzie. It was her last Sunday to spend with us for 18 months. She felt so many emotions. She was nervous, excited, anxious, and sad just to name a few. She was asked (at the last minute) to bear her testimony in sacrament meeting. It took her a minute or two to agree and once she did she was a nervous wreck. She made the comment that she agreed to bear her testimony because she knew these experiences would happen on her mission. No better time than the present seemed to be her mind set. She shared her knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and her knowledge of a latter-day prophet. She shared her gratitude for the atonement of Jesus Christ because she has felt that redeeming power in her life. She shared her knowledge that our Savior lives and loves us. She related one of her favorite scripture stories of Helaman and the 2000 Stripling warriors and the faith that they had in their Savior. She proclaimed her commitment to gaining eternal life. It was so cute. She said, "and hopefully I will make it to the Celestial Kingdom". Then she corrected herself, "I will make it to the Celestial Kingdom". It is that determination and commitment that will make her an amazing missionary. She did a wonderful job and we were very proud of her. A great beginning to what we know will be an amazing experience not only for her but for the Jamaican people as well. We look forward to hearing about her adventures there and the lives that bless hers.