6th Transfer: Week 1 ~ A Crazy Week! and Trunk or Treat!

Don't cry statue..
the gospel is here!  

So this week was crazy! We had a crazy experience but it is now the joke of the week and we laugh about it almost every day. On Thursday night (right after Sister Oman and Sister Bailey kicked me and Sister Dill out of their room because it was 10:30pm) we went into our room when all of a sudden we heard a GUNSHOT right outside our window!! I immediately looked at Sister Dill and we were thinking the same thing. We ran into the other sisters room again and I said "DID YOU HEAR THAT?!" and Sister Oman stood up and said "THAT WAS A GUN SHOT!" and Sister Bailey said "YUH MON!" hahahaha!! and so we turned off the lights. I kept the bathroom light on so we can at least have a little bit of light and they all said "Sister Judd turn it off!" I said "NO WE NEED LIGHT!" Then they said that it has a window and the person could see we have the light on! So I turned it off hahaha. Sister Oman started to tear up and told me to call Andrew (a recent convert) because he was all about the street life back in the day. So we called him and then he called President Ferdinand. They said they were on their way to our house. While we were waiting for them to come we were all freaked out! When the AC in the house came on I said "Sister Dill! Hurry turn off the AC! It's too loud!" and when the fridge came on Sister Bailey said "that stupid fridge!" and Sister Oman saw my clarisonic blinking light (because it was charging) and she said "Oh my gosh guys what is that in your room?!" and I said "Sister Oman, that is my clarisonic" and she said "turn it off!" We were all freaked out because we thought this guy would hear things then barge into our house. When Sister Oman would get up we would all get frustrated and one time I whispered yelled at her and said "Sister Oman what are you doing?! COME BACK AND SIT DOWN!" Then we called President Brown and Sister Bailey got frustrated because President Brown was whispering and she couldn't hear him so she gave me the phone. President Brown told us to call the cops. When we hung up with him I called Andrew and asked if we should call the cops. Both President Ferdinand and Andrew told us "NO, don't call the cops because there are people posing to be cops and they will come to your door and harm you guys." So then that freaked us out! So we just waited for them to get to the door. When they came I said "LOOK THROUGH THE PEEP HOLE!" and then we were saved!!!!! *superhero music* We ended up sleeping all together in one room that night, it was kind of funny. Sleep over! I forgot to mention the spiritual part of our experience. We all prayed together and after we prayed the Spirit really helped us not to be scared. We knew that everything would be okay. President Brown called us the next morning to check up on us and he said that he stayed up praying to Heavenly Father and He got a really calm feeling. He received a confirmation that we would be okay that night. I knew that Heavenly Father was aware of us and kept us safe :) So after this experience I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father knows ME and he knows the situations that I am in. It really opened my eyes. I have such a wonderful Mission President. It was so scary at

This is us at our missionary
fireside last night:)

the time but now when we talk about it and laugh because about it. Looking back we all sounded hilarious! We were scared over every little thing we heard. I laughed for days because everything I whispered to Sister Bailey that night she would respond (as serious as a heart attack) "YUH MON!" Hilarious! That made the experience twice as funny! It also went into my journal last night:). But anyway...we are okay so no worries. We just have to be cautious here because a lot of things are going on.

On the brighter side of things we had Trunk or Treat! and the four of us were super heroes! I

Super Heroes!

was Captain America, Sister Bailey was Superman, Sister Dill was Batman and Sister Oman was Green Lantern. So it was a blast! All the little kids were like "Captain America!" I even saw some little kids dressed as Captain America too. It was a fun night! 

Ruben left for his mission on Saturday which is wonderful! We have been working with him and helping him to prepare for his mission. He is so prepared! 

Well mom I love you very much and am so happy to know that Adam, Brittany ,Chandler, Lauren and my Dad and my mom are doing good!! I love you all!! Thanks so much for sending me a box I will be happy to receive it.  Love you mom!!! Take care and be safe!

-Sis Judd

TRUNK OR TREAT!

Me and Sister Dill by our doors! I was a little sweaty after decorating... we were trying to rush and the AC wasn't on. Ugh.....

Me and Karla with the beautiful door that I decorated:) Karla is preparing to serve a mission. I love her.

I saved a Bahamian baby. With Karla! 

Lisa and her little baby Dre!! I love Dre, we are best buds. I told him that he would be besties with Lauren too.

The cutest little boy! Dre!

Young women! posing in front of our decorations. Sister Bailey and I did a horrible job on the spider web. We didn't know how to put it up.

I found these 2 little boys eating candy in President Ferdinands office! HAHA!

Camillot finally bought me a box of pizza! whoop whoop!

I make Sister Bailey laugh. This picture makes me laugh all of the time!

5th Transfer: Week 6 ~ Wonderful Missionary Experiences!:)

Some awesome kids!

So this week nothing super crazy happened with the exception of this man hopping the fence to get into the church parking lot to get to this mashed up vehicle we have from a past missionary who wrecked it. He was taking parts out of it but thank goodness President Ferdinand was at the church. He took a machete and went up to him and said "who allowed you to be here?" and the other guy brought out a machete too and President immediately started yelling saying "Get off my property!!" and ran him off with his machete. It is a hilarious story!! hahahaha! but other than that.. we just taught like we do all day everyday which is wonderful :)

We did have a trade off and I was with Sister Bailey in her area. I just loved the kids that she teaches! They are her recent converts and one is an investigator. They are awesome.

We haven't seen Reo since that first visit we had with him months ago. We don't teach Rhada and Narissa they both are not interested but on the bright side of things we do teach Jerome, Debra, Fabiola, Diane, Anne, and Beverly. It's going pretty good. We now have 3 investigators who have accepted baptismal dates. Now it's just getting them to that date but we will see how things go.

We have really gotten close to the members of the church. Even the men here say "You 2 missionaries are the bomb" in their haitian accent. It's so hilarious! but it's nice to feel appreciated and loved. Every time we go to church everyone is so excited to see us. I just love the people here. It's like a giant family that we have. Its wonderful.

How do we do this?

Funny story that happened this week. So... I woke up with my car having a super flat tire. A nail was in it and drained all the air out so I couldn't drive the car anywhere. Sister Oman (the brains of the group) took out the manual and started to learn how to change a tire. It was hilarious!! A bunch of sisters stranded on an island trying to change a tire.

Transfer calls were on Saturday. All of us are staying here in Nassau so no changes. Me and Sister Bailey are like sisters. I told her last night, "Sister Bailey, what if we went to the

Almost got it!

same area again?!" and she said, "I know I was thinking about that to!" Then she said she would hate it. HAHAHAHA!! She has rude sarcasm like me! Oh my goodness she makes me laugh. I would love to stay with her. I would be so sad if we went to different areas. She is like family!! I came in this morning and surprised the sisters with a little snack and a little drink for them. Sister Bailey was like "oh my goodness thank you soo much Sister Judd" and they all gave me hugs. Sister Bailey almost cried as I was giving her rice krispy treat. She is just so
spiritual!

I got it off! I was so excited!
I'm not anorexic. I promise!

I have been reading in the New Testament now and my favorite chapter is Luke chapter 15. You have to read it! It just shows how much the Lord loves us so very much even those who go astray. It made me happy to know that when there is a lost sheep and he is found the heavens rejoice! It brought me happiness just reading it! It's a great chapter. Aren't the scriptures addicting? We have one hour of personal study... I wish I had longer.

I loved hearing about your camping trip! I forgot to tell you! Last P-day we went to downtown Nassau.

Downtown Nassau

You would have thought we were celebrities. I guess they had a church trip or something because we walked passed these older people and they were like "MISSIONARIES!" They were all from Georgia too. I even met the mission president in Georgia. I asked them if they knew the Seawells and they definitely did. It was crazy! As we were walking they would mouth and point " the missionaries!" so we would just stop and say hey. It was so funny.

I forgot to tell you this but you might think this is exciting! I have been e-mailing my friend who was my host in the MTC. She is from Brazil and was called to Japan! So we have been emailing

Sister Dill with Shanae and Jordan!
They all loved the flowers in their hair.

each other back and forth and sharing mission experiences. We each send 2 pictures in the e-mail. It's so fun! I just love her... we got along so fast! :)

This picture was taken after Sister Dill's picture. They all said "Hey what about our picture with you Sister Judd?!" so I took a picture with them. The baby's name is Shawn and every time I go over he clings to me. I always have to tell him that he can't sit on my lap :) He tries all the time. Poor little thing. I love my girls.

Shanae, Shawn and Jordan

Lisa wants me and Sister Dill to help her decorate for Trunk or Treat this week. We will be having one on Friday. This will be the first time that they have had a Trunk or Treat in Nassau. Woohoo! Lisa found it on pinterest and she wasn't going to do it until I told her that that's what we do back in the states! and then she put it into action! So we're all so excited for that and we will help her decorate. Some people celebrate Halloween here in the Bahamas but Jamaica does not celebrate it at all :). We won't be giving out anything. We will just be taking it from the kids. Just kidding...

But anyway, I have to go now my time is about up. I love you all my family and I love you mom thanks for e-mailing me every week. I am so glad you all had a really fun week and had so much fun camping. Good luck on the Activity Days and on the Halloween party! I bet they all are going to go well! I love you mom, you are wonderful! I keep you all in my prayers 24/7.

TELL THE FAMILY I LOVE THEM AND MISS THEM ALL! TELL LAUREN THAT I AM SO PROUD OF SEEING HER CATCH A FISH!!! OKAY BYYYYEEE LOVE YOU!!

5th Transfer: Week 5 ~ Walking, Walking and More Walking........

So this is the joke for the week... every time me and the sisters would go out, walk around, and do the work I always said "what a perverse generation!" They all just laughed and thought that was so hilarious and told me to put it as my subject for my weekly e-mail. So I did :) It's really funny how as missionaries our sense of humor has changed. Now we quote scriptures at each other and we think it's so hilarious. I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon. There's just so much humor in them...HAHA!

Food after walking for almost 2 hours
to this dinner appt.

Well, as for this week it was so HARD walking for those 2 days! I was going to die!!! Never in my life have my feet hurt so bad. Never in my life have I been looked at so much. As we passed people and tried to talk with them they just kept on going and didn't care about what we had to say. We would get laughed at on the streets and everything. Men would just say inappropriate things to us and make these nasty sound effects. So yes, perverse generation! Even when we tried to get on the buses we had no idea how they ran. We have so many different buses and they all go to a different area. Just to show how small this island is... every bus apparently goes around the whole island before it gets to your destination. Even if you're pretty close to where you need to go. I started to joke

Me with Brother Bullard and
 his grandkids:)

around with Sister Dill and I would say "Welcome to our wonderful bus service where we will drive you around the whole island and bring you to your destination at the end of the day!" It was ridiculous. So we just stopped using buses and walked everywhere. It took us one and a half hours to reach every single appointment. Thats how far we walked just to get to one appointment. And the sun was just burning our skins off with no wind. I felt like I was near the end of my life! It was a trial and the only thing that kept me going was the Savior's Atonement. He went through so much but yet, he accomplished his mission and so will I. Oh! We got our car back!

We planned on going to the beach
but instead we got soaked! 

A really amazing thing that I saw happen this week was that our recent convert Andrew (Lisa's husband) needed help with his talk for this Sunday so we helped him make an outline. He then wanted to put a specific scripture in his talk but he forgot where the verse was in the scriptures. I told him to describe what the verse was talking about and he told me it was about the Savior telling the people to follow him. So immediately I knew it was in the New Testament and I opened up the scriptures and went directly to the scripture where the Savior is telling his disciples to pick up their cross and follow him. He looked at me amazed and said "Yeah thats the exact scripture!" and I told him "well, the Spirit is quite amazing isn't it?" he just laughed! I was even amazed. The Spirit just

Drinking my slushie in the
rain on P-Day!!!

brings things to your remembrance and guides you in accomplishing the Lords work. It's amazing to me. That was a cool experience. I am glad you all got to watch Elder Hollands talk. I absolutely LOVED it! He is very powerful in what he says.

(Do we keep the commandments out of our love for the Savior and our Heavenly Father or because we want to recieve blessings?) I really strive to do my best out of my love for Him. The way we start doing things out of our love for Him is by praying to Him daily. That will help us to gain that relationship with HIM then

I was soaked in this picture...oh well!!
 Life of a missionary! 

everything we do will be based on following our Savior's footsteps. We will be able to walk as He would if he was in our situation. It's crazy how it

works. As long as we develop that relationship then we start seeing others as the Savior sees them. When we can do that our ways will begin to align with his. So prayer is a wonderful thing. Heavenly Father sees our weaknesses it's just up to us to talk to Him and tell Him what our weaknesses are. Then we need to have faith in Him knowing he will help us through them. Having the privilege to pray shows me how much He loves us individually. We need to show Him we love Him through not only our actions but the desires of our hearts as well. So

They were catching fish

thats something I need to continue to work on each and every day. I found a scripture today in Luke 6. I think the verses are 31-38 but I am not to sure I forgot my scriptures. It just talks about how we need to improve ourselves. Our Savior loves each and every one of us and he even counsels us to do good to others and when we do, it's as if we are doing it to Him. So even if we have people that we don't get along with, we need to show them patience and love. We don't need to judge them, because we are not the JUDGE. God is. That is His job. I think that as long as we work on loving others, we are showing our love for the Savior because we are growing to love his people. But anyway those

Shanae was so scared to touch my hair.
She thought it was fragile.

are just my thoughts. Hope it all made sense. I just kind of threw words down.

We also extended 2 baptismal dates to 2 investigators this week. They both are very excited and we will be working with them towards their date in November. :) They are Fabiola and Ann. I just love them!

I hope you all have a wonderful and fun time camping together! I wish I was there but I know the Lord wants me to be here doing his work! Well I cannot wait to get to talk to you next Monday. Thank you so much for all you do for me.

All done! We had the best time.
 After the lesson of course:)

I love you all and stay safe!!! BYE MY

FAMILY LOVE YOU ALL!! :) 

-Sister Judd

Sister Bailey's Birthday! (October 10th)

 We decorated Sister Baileys door at night!  

Then I decorated our little apartment with the things you got me for my birthday last time :) When she came home she was so surprised! We even got her a cake. We have a nice little apartment.

Sister Dorval surprised Sister Bailey with a "Surprise Party" in the Library at the church. hahaha! 

5th Transfer: Week 4 ~ No Car and Conference

So this week has been wild! As you see by the subject title we no longer have a car! Woohoo! I don't know if I told you this, but when we had a flood here in Nassau, Sister Woolf went over a speed bump and broke the stuff under the car. I just took the car in so they can fix it and we don't get it back until Wednesday! So that means.....walking and taking buses tomorrow! Pray for us!

I forgot to tell you that along with our English class I have been teaching Lisa how to play the violin :) She wanted to learn so for her birthday her husband bought her a violin. I am now teaching her how to play it. She is a fast learner. She always makes sacrifices for us

My violin lesson with Lisa and her
cute little boy Dre.  

missionaries. She has a little family and she is so very young. She is busy with work but she always finds the time to serve us. She cooks for us, and she comes out teaching with us and she is all about missionary work. She has signed up for us 3 times this week so we can be fed. She is amazing!

We have 4 new investigators this week. They are awesome. Their names are Beverly, Kevin, Esther and Jerome! Beverly and Esther are referrals and Kevin was a referral from a tourist. He is a taxi driver. Then Jerome we found in our area book and picked him back up. Jerome is awesome and is so very prepared! So I am excited to work with him. He has 2 sons and really wants to know the truth so he can raise his 2 sons in what he knows to be right. So I am excited for Jerome. He is a nice guy! I had a spiritual experience with Jerome that I forgot to tell you about. He has so many questions. He has read the Bible and so have I. He started talking about the Savior and when he was crucified and the 2 thieves, one on each side of him. The one was not to nice to the Savior but the other one next to him, had compassion on him. The Savior told him that he would be with him in paradise. Continuing on.. Jerome started to say that, that tells him that now he can go out and do whatever he wants and he will be able to be forgiven and live with Heavenly Father again. As I was sitting there... Mom.. it was the craziest thing! Talk about the Lord putting words into your mouth. My mouth just opened and I began to talk but I was not the one talking. The Spirit was filling my mouth with words. The Spirit was so strong in the room and his question was answered. He didn't say anything else about the matter. He wants us to keep teaching him. He is awesome! He is really prepared! I just know and can feel that He will accept this gospel. The LORD wants HIM to come back unto him. What I said in that room... I myself would have not thought to say. It was wonderful.

Me and Sister Dill outside our little
apartment before conference 

CONFERENCE was absolutely amazing! I teared up the first session of conference. It was so spiritual. I loved the talks where we had translators. I loved Elder Hollands talk, Elder Bednars talk and...well all the talks were amazing! It really made me start thinking that following the prophets counsel, no matter what the law may be or go on in this life, is necessary. So that is telling me that something bad is coming soon. I looked at Sister Oman and said " I think they changed the age for missionaries not to only hasten the work, but for the young women and young men to learn what will be necessary to be great mothers and fathers to the children who will be coming into this world. They will be going through so much tribulation because they will be in the LAST DAYS. The time is near!" I feel that something HUGE is about to happen. It's going to get bad. We just need our faith to be strengthened so we can be prepared for what will be coming but we don't need to fear. We will know that we will dwell with our Father as long as we follow the prophets counsel and live righteously. So this conference was amazing. It opened my eyes. I am grateful for a living prophet and apostles in these days! Thats for sure.

My favorite talk was Elder Holland's. He talked about the poor and needy. It made me tear up to hear of the LOVE that he has for the people as well as for our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson. I don't know about you, but I have seen so much poverty, to the point where I have gotten used to it. I have little clips in my mind and some ideas about how America is... but the thing is, what I think may look nice may not be the same for you. With us walking around here in these areas we see so much poverty. So much. We see them helping each other. Even when they have NOTHING they still try to give and to help their neighbors and friends. So MUCH I see people walk past someone who is in need of help. They just pass them by like they are nothing. I loved how Elder Holland said We are "HYPOCRITES" if we don't help those in need. We make assumptions like "They did this to themselves". We ALL NEED HELP! So let us help each other! Lift up the arms that hang down, lift up those with feeble knees! HELP one another and show our love for them by SERVING them! That is HUGE for me. The compassion that Elder Holland had was touching for me. In Jamaica I saw the poverty every single day and even here in Nassau....I've gotten used to it. At times people walk past and ask for a dollar. I even find myself blowing them off. But during that talk I remembered an experience that I had back when I was little and still living in Japan. We were in a pet store. A woman dropped all this dog food on the floor. I stopped what I was doing and went over to help her pick it up. It is NOT in my nature to blow those in need off. It is NOT in my nature to give what I have to the poor and the needy. Satan was working on me in that area and now the love that I have for people even surprises me. By being out here in these needy areas and being on a mission doing the Lords work, the love that I have for people has grown so much. My patience has grown so much. I have learned so much and now I know why the Lord needed me to come out on a mission. To not only help those in need of hearing the gospel but for ME to change by serving others and showing my love for them. I love this gospel and I love my brothers and my sisters. I strive to serve them in any way that I can. And as a missionary that is MY challenge to all of you my family :) To find someone that you can serve this week. It is fun! It's loads of fun! :) But that was my favorite talk !

A couple of days ago, I thought about my reaction when I was being called to the work! They didn't call my name or anything but I knew at that exact moment that I, Mackenzie Judd, was being called to the work. I was reading my patriarchal blessing the other day. I always read this part but it didn't really sink in til now. It says that "I will be lead and guided by the Spirit in accomplishing the things that my Father in Heaven has planned for me to do". I knew at that exact moment I was being called to the work because the spirit led and guided me and confirmed in my heart that my Heavenly Father was calling me at the exact moment. It was an amazing experience, one that I will never forget.

Patriarchal blessings are amazing but they don't just tell you the future and what is to come. It's a guide for you to help you accomplish the things that Heavenly Father has for you to do. As you act in righteousness and strive to do the things that your Father in Heaven has for you to do in this life, you will find happiness in this life and in the life to come. :)

Me and Onise! She will be starting her
papers to serve a mission!

I miss picking up kidsssss.. I just kneel on the ground and hug them that way. I have found myself really loving children since I have been out on my mission.  I can just see the Lord laughing at me because I remember myself as a youth. Children kind of annoyed me.. but now.. MANNN how I love kids! Shows me that Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself. I have not been able to give out stickers lately because we have been working with grown adults but when I see a little one then I will give them stickers. :)

Me and Sister Dill found a Daiquiri stand. They are between 1 and 5 dollars. We try to get one every time we pass by. They fill you up.

 An ants nest up in the tree. Isn't it huge?! We have ants the size of dinosaurs here....

So this is my last picture. It makes me laugh everytime!! This was us this morning.. we randomly had what felt like a hurricane this morning and so Sister Bailey put trash bags around her shoes hahahaha! So did everybody else that we passed by. LOL

Hey MOM! My time is about up so before the sisters get here to come pick us up.. I just wanted to tell you BYE and that I LOVE YOUUU ALL!! Take care of yourselves!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU ALL BYYYYYEE MY FAMILY!!!

HAVE A FUN WEEK NEXT WEEK! I can't wait to hear all about your camping trip the following week! BYE MOM! LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHH TELL EVERYONE THAT I MISS AND LOVE THEM ALL!! BYE!!!! :)

-Sister Judd