Testimony Challenge Accepted

 I was challenged by Colby Dean to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Until recently I didn't give the Book of Mormon the appreciation it deserves. I've begun to read the Book of Mormon more consistently and more intently than I ever have and it has made a world of difference. When we faithfully study the Book of Mormon, we can learn the truthfulness of it. Reading and studying daily from the Book of Mormon allows us to recognize the positive difference it brings into our lives. Simply reading this Book brings more peace and comfort into our lives than anything else.

I feel the history of the Book of Mormon is also central to my testimony of it. Knowing and learning about the trials and the challenges the the early saints went through to publish and bring the Book into the world shocks and inspires me. The Book of Mormon was divinely brought upon the earth. There is no other explanation or reason that can sensibly explain why or how the Book was introduced to the earth, other than it was divinely backed and divinely powered.

The Book of Mormon can and will change your life. Message me to learn more

Crossing Borders

I got a good long call from Hudson today, finally.  January has been rough.  Chevy had a basketball game at 6:00 so I asked Hudson to call before then.  Ridge was upset when he got home and had missed him.  We are all missing HIM.  Hudson is in good spirits.  He has spent most of the week at the Linden Elders.  Mama Newsh  graciously took them all out to eat to Prater's Taters in Parsons, TN.  They serve REAL Idaho potatoes (Hudson even saw the box).  They put two potatoes on a plate and top it with meat, sauce and cheese similar to a chicken bowl.  Hudson said he had Bourbon Barbeque Beef on top of his, and it was about the size of a football.  Delicious! I told him he might have an idea for a new restaurant.  The Newshams also stopped to buy power ball tickets along the way?  Mama Newsh said if she wins she will give 1 million to each of her favorite missionaries and Hudson is on that list.

The Linden elders have been working with an investigator that is deep thinking the gospel.  He has a lot of questions that the missionaries are trying to answer.  One he asked was if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints requires marriage in the temple to be exalted then Jesus Christ can not be exalted as he has no documented marriage on Earth.  That is not something I have ever questioned, but Hudson says the missionaries are working on getting this man answers.  

While I was talking to Hudson he saw a possum walk across the back yard.  He stealthily slipped out the door and proceeded to kick it.  Two possum kicks in the bag!

Hudson was able to make it to the Bishop's house.  His kind wife drove him and Elder Herrick to the border a few minutes away to let them step into Alabama.  Unfortunately, the Alabama sign was gone.  It wasn't laying on the ground, it was just gone?  A few days later Bishop Allen drove them to another road that borders and they were able to get proof.  Unfortunately, adults don't selfie very well.

Hudson had a great Zone conference.  Apparently there is a family of members in which the dad owns a Costa Vida, the son a Sonic and the daughter a crumbl.  Needless to say they ate well.  Hudson, felt  a little like he was in Utah!

 

Hudson said he was able to play Vincent during Lydia's baptism change.  He feels like he nailed it.  For Pday the elders took a ride to Parsons, TN.  They went deep in the woods to Perryville.  There along the Pentacostal Campground Road they saw lots of art.  Murals were painted on most of the trailer houses.  Hudson said the vibe felt like most of the people living there were squatting.  There was a sign for art classes and a museum, but they left before getting involved in that.
 

pictures, totally forgot (Hudson email Week 19)

This has been a week that's been full of some super awesome experiences. Namely, we had Lydia's baptism this Saturday it was a super awesome experience to watch everything come full circle. The Wilson's both got super emotional and appreciative and Lydia was super appreciative as well. It was a good experience through and through. 

 

After the baptism we were able to actually get inside Josh Williams's house and talk to him. We were there for 2 hours, left super late, and all my clothes reeked of cigarettes. I had to wash everything, including my coat😂 it was a great experience and we got some classic Josh stories

 

A little earlier in the week we were able to some stuff with the women's shelter as well. We helped a mother and her 4 kids move into their new home. That was such an amazing experience and her kids were some of the happiest kids i ever met which really suprised me. She had 2 older boys both in highschool and both in football and it kinda reminded me of me and Chevy too an extent. They were still some of the happiest kids I met even while moving into their government owned home. It was an awesome experience for sure to help them move in and change their lives

Swords and Spiritual Experiences (Hudson email Week 18)

This week has been crazy and soo busy. We have been driving place to place to place. Thursday we started out spending the day with brother Bohn. He so graciously drove us out too pulaski to go meet some people. We were able to save some miles that way, he also helped us when we met with a guy named Joe who is also a veteran. 

Saturday we spent all day driving around trying to find a cemetery for this lady from Utah, we never found it.... but we accidentally stumbled upon the Wilson's home without even knowing it 😂😂😂 google maps told us there was a cemetery on their property and we were scared to go knock cause it was a saturday night and we didnt want to intrude. But as we were getting out, Katrina's mom came out and asked us how we were doing. There was a lot of confusion, they didnt know we accidentally drove up till 5 minutes into the conversation. But instead of intruding on dinner, we actually got some of their pizza😂 we found the Wilson's just not the graveyard

Monday we did some service with brother Slagle and then we kinda got carried away the rest of the day learning about swordfighting. But he taught us the basics for Germanic broadsword, rapier, and swashbuckling. I feel my swordplay improved quite a bit. All I know is brother Slagle was absolutely insane at it. He has a group he does it with weekly. One of the upcoming youth activities is actually going to be swordplay so we get to go help out on it again. Sooo fun

1st counselor in bishopric Brother Caleb Sageles

Yesterday was zone conference, that's always such a good time. I think it's just the social aspect but I love zone conference so much. President weaver also gives such amazing spiritual insight. Afterwards we had district dinner and the Zone Leaders tagged along we had some interesting conversations with Elder Oilar😂😂

 

                                                         

                                                           Anyone down to duel?                           

Changes

We are only 2 weeks into the change of only calling on P-Day and I am not liking it!  Last night Hudson actually "forgot" to call.  It is good he is doing so well not to think of home...but I don't want him to forget about us.  Hudson said that they had been so busy and had more appointments lined up today.  Brother Bond was driving them to Pulaski since they were over half way through their miles and it was only January 13.  They had five appointments set up.  One being a patriotic Grandpa and another a husband of a member.  He was hoping to get in on some good food while they were there as well.  The Linden elders have a contact that they have been teaching.  The contact was bragging up how good he had been feeding the elders and they that they should rub that in the other Elder's face.  Hudson simply said there was no way their mystery meatloaf and bag of rice was in comparison to Mexican Chicken at the Cheatwoods.

For P-Day the missionaries had another soccer game.  Hudson's first experience was not so great.  He kept wanting to grab the ball and he boxed out the Hermana's.  Too much football and basketball ingrained on his mind.  He came home with some stellar grass stains on his garment leg.  He asked how to clean them.  I gave him step by step instructions of how I cleaned his football pants for years.  He said he was surprised, but it worked and they were as good as new.  So proud to pass on laundry tips to my son.

Hudson says Lydia only has one lesson to go.  She is scheduled to get baptized on January 23, 2021.  Hudson is planning to play Vincent by Don McLean on the piano while she is getting dressed.  I suggested a hymn.  He said this would sound better.  He found a "Best of the 1970's"  songbook at the Linden's Elders house.  Since neither of them could read sheet music they said he could take it home.  He pulled all 300 pages apart, hole punched them and put them in a binder.  I thought that was an excellent use of his time.  In his spare time he has also memorized the First Vision.

Hudson invited me to join a Zoom meeting for the mission and investigators Sunday night.  It was crazy to see that many missionaries on the screen.  Over 165 people were connected.  The mission president and his wife made some comments at the end about the sacrifice the 240 missionaries are making to bring the gospel to this area.  They sounded very appreciative and heartfelt.

Hudson has started working with a tech deck.  I have to say I'm very sorry for his companion.

A little tidbit Hudson saw on Facebook.  I told him the world makes sense now.

(week 17 Hudson email)

Morning y'all saturday night, we met with a guy named peyton buie, who is a bible theologist, we had a
really good dinner at Brass Lantern with him and there was no bashing or anything like that it was super great honestly. He brought his fiancee which he just proposed to at the start of the year so that was fun as well. The most interesting thing though was the fiancee. She was awesome, she was a basketball player Martin methodist, she was really passionate about reading and Harry Potter, she was super attractive, she was actually I think more interested and open to the Book of Mormon then peyton. The only weird thing here then is their relationship. I dont mean to call out my boy peyton but he kinda looks like Bubblebass, he even told us in confidentiality that he "overpunted his coverage with her" I was shocked to say the least😂😂😂 but we gave him a Book of Mormon, he said he was interested but I think his issue will be having an open heart. 

Yesterday for lunch we met with two pastors from the nazarene church. They were stellar dudes too. We originally were only going to meet with one and when we were driving over he said that he was there with his friend. I thought for sure that meant back up and I thought for sure a bash would ensue, nevertheless it was an awesome time and now I know all about the nazarene church. Maybe they thought they were walking into a bash too. But they were awesome they were talking about knocking on members doors and the hostility they've faced at the door and then he said "you guys probably dont really have to deal with that dont you" I couldnt help but laugh😂😂

A couple days ago , on facebook, I stumbled into the lady who runs a shelter here in town and we talked for a bit and I asked if we could help and she got so excited, she said missionaries had helped before but they hadn't been around since. So we said we were glad to come help and we scheduled a time. Well we pulled up at the address and it's a massive and beautiful plantation home, with the words "the shelter" I was so confused. But so we get in there and just see offices, the whole time I'm looking for the cute puppies and kitties but I'm just seeing a normal looking office house. So we get inside and a lady comes walking down the stairs super cheerful, super friendly, and she welcomes us and stuff, as shes talking she says "here's the children's room, they're doing a case management in there right now" it all clicked that this was a women's shelter, which is awesome! I'm sorry puppies and kitties, but dealing with people may be a little more important. But so we go up to the office and we talk to the other lady, get a background for the whole program, set a service schedule, and then we get a tour of the house. She was telling us when they originally got the home, it was a ghost house and they had inmates come renovate it. She was saying she had to deal with inmates hitting on her for 3 months but it was worth it. The house was beautiful the inmates did a wonderful job. But they dont recieve any federal funding, besides the acquisition of that original house, everything is volunteer and it's all supported by a boutique store called crossroads. The store is basically a high end women's goodwill, it's what they use to fund the victims as well. So we drove out there to help a little bit, they werent really expecting us so there wasnt much to do. Next week though we are going to help at the actual shelter, we have to sign some confidentiality forms to know where it is, exciting exciting.

 (It actually snowed, a lot.)

The never ending storryyyyy la la la la la la la la (Week 16 Hudson Email)

This week has been the week of stories, as evident of the title. Last night we went to the Adairs home in hope of teaching their inactive friend, unfortunately she didnt show so we just had dinner with the adairs and talked about their recent senior mission. They served on the res in South Dakota. Super crazy and awesome insight on native american lifestyle, it makes me want to serve on a res. Apparently the Native Americans they were with claimed the Book of Mormon, they swore it was a story of their people, which was so cool, unfortunately they have a hard time committing to church so you win some and lose some. Brother Adair talked about seeing Indian spirits on his property too, super cool story, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing obviously but apparently he saw Indian Families walking single file through his property and he told them they could stay or leave, it was up too them, he hasn't seem them sense. Sister adair was with him, she didnt see any of it but she says she definitely felt it. Super cool stuff

(Hudson taking a picture while out checking on a self referral)

  We finally got in contact with Josh again and it was super great. I told Elder Herrick before the call to buckle up for the ride of his life, sure enough Josh didnt disappoint. He talked about through the VA he had 3,000 something milligrams of lidocaine after his accident. He wasnt taking any he said so they just stock piled in his storage room. This was all after his accident so while this was happening he couldn't really walk. So he hired some not so great people to come clean his home and she stumbled upon the lidocaine stash. Apparently news broke out in the neighborhood and multiple people tried to break in and steal it and one cracked out dude actually tried to kill him at 1030 am.... The guy broke in and stabbed him 8 times but josh had a leather jacket and a lot of layers and none of them broke skin, just bruised him when the guy tried to get his throat Josh bit off his pinky and while this is all happening Josh is pinned on the ground unable to walk. So Josh uses his 11 years of jujitsu and is able to slowly disable the man. The man kind of comes off his high, he realizes that Josh wasnt the one who "killed his son" and then the man tries to run away so Josh throws him off of him up into the wall and the guy falls back down. Josh is able to get up long enough to make a step for the porch, fall over, knock his beretta into his lap and then escort the man out of his house before he attacked again. Apparently in court Josh wanted to drop all the charges against him, even after he plead guilty, cause he knew Prison would just make him worse off. After the knife incident he dumped all the Lidocaine down the toilet and refilled the bottles with laxatives. Then later when his friend stole them, the laxatives sent him and his girl too the hospital, crazy story. And that wasnt even half of it we were on the phone for an hour and a half. I know the lidocaine stash is fishy but I believe he has too pure of a heart to use it. He definitely could of taken a better approach to get rid of it. But after everything hes talked about drugs and war and everything, in my mind there is no way he was going to use it. 

(Hudson's impersonation of Stevie Wonder)

 The Judds came by and upgraded our home, super nice, blackout curtains, warm lights, new desks, the works. They also discovered a painting in the closet and they just wanted to get rid of it. I thought it was actually a beautiful painting and through my quick wit and bartering skills I was able to save it. Now i kind of have an interest in paintings, my plan is to go to Goodwill and buy like 10 and hang up all around the apartment, just see how it looks

 Sorry for the novel, but maybe you got to experience a little of what my life was like these past few days😂😂

Working with a new companion

Hudson has been getting used to having a new companion.  With the change comes a new understanding of how each of them likes to do things.  Hudson is getting to drive the blueberry (the mission care is a metallic blue Toyota RAV 4).  I asked if he had forgotten how to drive since it had been so long.  He said, "nah, just like riding a bike."  Another change the companionship is making is to make personal visits to all self referrals.  The cars have a system in them that speaks if you are going over the speed limit or aggressively driving.  Hudson has come to greatly dislike that voice.  I suggested we get the GPS voice in the Curious George episode when they are going through the corn maize.  He agreed that would be much more soothing.

 Elder French preferred to email/text them back and decide if they should make a personal visit depending on how that went.  Hudson and Elder Herrick have had a few interesting experiences all ready by jumping in with both feet.  One such referral brought them to a trailer in the woods that was filled with junk all around it.  When they got to the door they heard fighting and profanity inside.  They knocked.  A man stuck his head out the window and asked them what they wanted.  They asked if the name of the self referral lived there.  The man started yelling at them about being F**** Jehovah Witness's.  They assured him they loved Jesus and he got the girl he was looking for.  After pushing her way out the door through large barking dogs she told the missionaries she needed someone to pray with.

Another self referral brought the boys to an upscale cul-de-sac.  Of course the house they were looking for was the only trailer in the area.  They met a man who was interested in the church.  His wife, however, a member with harsh feelings towards the church kept trying to get them to leave.  They left him a Book of Mormon and she complained because they already had one in the house.  The missionaries said 2 is better than 1 and left it anyway.  Hudson kept calling the man "wholesome".  He asked a lot of great questions and Hudson could tell he had been pondering about the church.

Hudson notes that a lot of contacts they have, will recite the day that they "discovered Jesus".  Born again Christians are a big part of the culture.  Hudson loves Brother Wilson who teaches in his ward.  He talks about the Pride Cycle and how we have to keep working, not just have 1 religious experience.  I agree with Brother Wilson we must endure to the end.

For District P-day on New Years they all went bowling.  You could bowl all you want for around $10.  Hudson said they were there for about 4 hours.  Crazy part is 3 of the 4 Hermanas attend college in Utah!  One goes to USU, BYU and SUU.  Hudson had a good long discussion on what they liked and didn't like about each.  He said the Hermana at SUU sold him more than the other three.  The Hermanas saw our family Christmas card and said Chevy looks like "Grookie" on the Pokemon card.  (that means he is cute)

Return of the King (Hudson email)

Hello all, and happy new years, I apologize for the lack of emails recently, but in my defense it is Christmas🤷‍♂️

   So we had transfers just recently and Elder French left, I'm still in Lawrenceburg and my new companion is Elder Herrick. It's been good with him so far. I dont even know where to begin, it's all been a blur with Christmas, we spent part of it here in Lawrenceburg at the Cheatwoods and part of it in Linden with the Newshams, great times all around. We also did crepes and a white elephant for the district, I am now the proud owner of a 1000 piece friends puzzle! On christmas there was also the bomb in nashville which knocked all of the missionaries service out. That was a definite mess. We didnt have anything and our church's was down and our library was closed with covid. It was bad all around, everyone else could apparently check in on their church's wifi but we couldnt so we went MIA, they made Elder Parkin drive down to Lawrenceburg just to see that we were home. We ended up standing outside the door of our library for the rest of the day until the service came back, fun stuff. Super crazy and different Christmas, definitely one I wont forget.

   Lydia is doing amazing! She was kind of nervous about baptism originally and we told her that we would let her decide the date and so this last call lesson we brought it up and asked her what she was feeling. She got super excited and said the 24th of January! She was so excited! It was amazing to see!! She was talking about how she was going to take off work and everything.  

(Hudson was contacted by the person in the mission that sends out new name tags.  She said that she made a mistake.  A sister had ordered a name tag and they had printed an Elder tag.  She went through the mission and found the Elder Nelson that had been serving the longest and saw it was Hudson.  She told him she would get the name tag to him free of charge.  Hudson knows of atleast two other Elder Nelson's in the mission.  He is also pretty sure they have been serving longer than him, but a missionary never turns down free stuff.  The punch line came when Hudson received it and it actually said "Sister Nelson"?  He does not know if this worker still gave the Elder Nelson tag to the sister missionary or what, but he wasn't giving it back!)

  I know I missed a lot of stuff so if you have any questions about things or the pictures, send me an email:)

 Southern facebook be Wildin