October 15, 2012 Letter

Hola. Buenas Tardes a todos.

Fall has hit us here in Massachusetts with cooler weather and rain too. Although I have to say that i've really liked it so far. The leaves are finally cooperating and turning orange, yellow and red.

I have to tell you about this week, because it was a monumental one for me. In as much as missionary work goes (i.e. minus the meetings and things) it was the worst week of my mission so far. It started with cold chilly weather out of nowhere. My companion and I continued to troop it out and make our best effort but the worst aspect of the week was that everyone cancelled our visits with them. We had around 10 cancelled appointments. 6 or 7 of them were in a row. Because of that we were only able to teach a few investigators, and spent a lot of time trying to plan backup plans for our backup plans.

However, the important thing is that I persevered. I think Elder Swasey and I got closer and more unified as the times got tougher. We never complained about the situation or gave up. It was a learning experience for me and the loss really goes to our investigators. They could have been spiritually fed. We'll see if the "pattern" continues and now we go on an up-sweep. It would be nice to receive a shower of blessings now after climbing this bumpy hill.

I wanted to talk a little bit about stake conference and then go into some details about my investigators, since there seems to be interest in that.

Stake conference in Weston was amazing. I felt the spirit very stongly and thought that all of the talks were excellent. Of course, it's always a blessing to be able to hear from a living apostle. Elder Andersen was there and spoke to us! My mission president gave a great talk about missionaries. The many ways that we can help the members as well as our importance in the last days. Elder Andersen also touched on the topic of the last days. He said that our church is a standard to the world, and our standard is perfect. As the morals of the world decay, the standard seems to be higher and higher but it really is the same. It's so true.

Right now I have a good pool of investigators. Two teenagers preparing for baptism, Yobo and Osagu. Two spanish men that should be baptized already, Jose and Tony. Natalia, who I taught in my last area. Michael, the ex-marine from Hawaii and a few other people around the edges.

Yobo and Osagu are preparing for October 28. Pray for them.

The reason why I havent been completely open about my investigators and their baptismal commitments is because a lot of those efforts have only died out and i dont want to get anyone's hopes up for nothing (my hopes have been up many times.)

I actually did have a brazilian experience. I contacted a referral over on Mass Ave that turned out to be some brazilians. This one man, Edval, was pretty interested and we tried to teach him in spanish while he spoke spanish and portuguese. Unfortunately, his friend kicked us out of the apartment and made him return the book of mormon that we gave him. That was just another part of the horrible week.

I like what Dad said about becoming perfect in Christ. He really is the ideal example for us. Sometimes I wonder what to do to become a better missionary and the thought pops into my head to only become more Christlike. There's a reason why Preach my Gospel has a section on the attributes of Jesus Christ.

Best wishes and Godspeed to all of you. Take care of yourselves.

-Elder Ludlow

Post Conference Letter October 9, 2012

Hello all of my brothers and sisters,

Yesterday I wasn't able to email because of Columbus day. I did have the opportunity of going to the temple though, which was a great experience as usual. Every time that I do temple work it's a huge bolster to my spirits.

Well, it's post-conference week. It was an excellent conference. I don't want to compare it with others, but i feel like this conference was especially powerful. Now we decide what we want to do with what we learned. Remember that a sermon without action is like a fire without heat.

The announcement at the beginning of the session was definitely a highlight. Wow, a change to the mission age. When I heard President Monson give the announcement I almost couldn't believe it for a few seconds. The other missionaries in the room (the only people there at the time) and I gaped at the screen openmouthed for a moment and then let our excitement out. It would be a huge boost to have more sister missionaries in our mission. Also I was reminded that now i might have some 18 year old companions in the future. Of course, my thoughts went to Josh and I wondered if he would be leaving sooner now. It sounds like he will.

There were many good talks with spiritual food to be feasted on. I really liked Pres. Uchtdorf's first talk, the "oil of conversion" and "lamps of testimony" in Elder Bednar's talk and Elder Holland's explanation of Peter's Primacy. That story is one of my favorites.

Does anyone else feel that every speaker was inspired? I don't want to make light of special callings, but our church leaders are like spiritual superheroes. And now they are trying to save a world that is in darkness and confusion. I didn't know how bad things were while living in Utah or even in Jerusalem. Out here in the mission field, i see wickedness everywhere.

One topic that was repeated is helping the youth. The youth are the future of the world and the adversary knows that. Those of you that are young, make sure that you have a sure testimony and conversion. 

It's my belief that things are not going to get easier here on out. There will be some very difficult times coming up. My companion mentioned today that we often fall into the trap of feeling secure and totally fine. We should make sure that we watch our pride. To finish, let's boost each other up! We have friends and family all around us that can be a support. Everyone encourage your team mates!

Wow today's email was almost all preaching. I'll have some good stories for next week. 

Until then, take care.

-Elder Jared Ludlow Jr.

The Misty Breath of October

The misty breath of October has descended. There really is like a strange rain/mist going on today in Boston. I've got my blue rain jacket on and Patriots t-shirt. Im sad to say that fall still hasn't really arrived. Im slightly disappointed. There are a few trees that have shown their colors but not many. 

     A lot of amazing things happened this week in the work. Yesterday we had two new investigators. One of them was a man named Pedro that we were talking to on the street and we asked if we could accompany him to his house and talk for a little while. He accepted the offer. There was a feeling of distrust/disbelief from him but it was cool to be able to meet his family and give them a Book of Mormon

      The other investigator came to church on sunday with his wife, who is a member. We were able to teach him last night and he absorbed the lesson of the restoration, repeating it to the most minor details when we asked him what he learned. He served in the Marines at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii and his wife went to BYUH. Their names are Michael and Melody.

      Something that i thought I would share with you: It's really unfortunate, but the city of Boston is not very good at keeping the Word of Wisdom. Everyday I see the terrible consequences of smoking, drinking and doing drugs. This week I ran into a lot of drunk people and the smell has seemed to linger around everywhere I go. These drunks completely lose their decency and do weird things in public. Of course, as missionaries we automatically attract attention and they gravitate to us. One man dressed up like a cowboy pretended to shoot my companion with his hand. I've seen some drunk people dancing in the train. It's just sad that they ruin their lives in such a way. Don't drink!

        With Halloween approaching I decided to learn some spanish words for spooky things like Calabaza (Pumpkin) and Espectral (Ghostly) Just something fun.

        This week transfers happened but there weren't many changes for my district. We will be welcoming another Haitian speaking elder to our apartment which will be fun. (There will be 5 of us.) Elder Swasey and I are excited to able to spend another transfer together. Our companionship isn't perfect, but we have a unity in our purpose and desires that drives us forward. He is really good at speaking spanish, so i'm learning the language better than ever before on my mission, although there is still a lot of knowledge lacking.

         I was happy to hear that BYU has really good defense this year. It obviously made me think of gospel parallels. Are we defending ourselves from the bad things that are going on in the world? Are we defending our religious rights as people are striving to tear down the moral standards that we have? There will be difficult trials in the near future but as long as we are built upon the rock of the gospel, we will be strong. Helaman 5:12. I also enjoyed hearing that my family is reading around John 14. There are really good scriptures there about becoming servants of Jesus Christ and unifying with him. 

        I would like to thank my family for being the best. I really don't deserve the amazing family that I have. My prayers are extended out to you. I think often about my grandparents, cousins, siblings, parents, everyone. You are the biggest blessing that I have. Im really grateful for all of the little things that you do for me.

        My friends are cool too.

Adios a todos.

-Elder Ludlow

P.S. Pics: Half colorful tree, a dead snake by my shoe and my district at the picnic we had last week after district meeting

September 24 Letter

Dear People,

It's a gorgeous day in Boston and I just wanted to send another wonderful email. It is such a pleasure to do this every week. I apologize for sometimes not being consistent!

I have had some good experiences since i last wrote. As usual, the missionary work feels like it goes up and down like waves but when I take a step back right now and look at things, they're going pretty well. Unlike the BYU cougars, which is unfortunate. It's ok though, because the Red Sox didn't do very good either.

When I heard that my family got another vehicle i surprised myself by not feeling bad about it at all. Im happy for my brothers and maybe everything will run smoother now. It looks like a really nice car.

There was a zone conference on tuesday with Elder Haleck of the seventy speaking to us. It was in Franklin and it was a spiritual feast. We passed by Gillette Stadium on the way there (Where the Patriots play) which was on my mission bucket list. Elder Haleck spoke about working with members and shared some profound stories from his time as a missionary and mission president (in the same place, Samoa.) The picture of me with a wooded background is there next to the church. 

Last P-day was also my first time at Harvard square. We walked around a little bit and went to the bookstore there. It's a neat place. I still haven't been to very many of the historical sites around Boston but im planning on doing more next month.

Something really exciting for me is the diversity of people that im starting to talk with on the streets. We get approached by random people all the time but recently a muslim came and talked to us for a while. I have actually met quite a few arabs and spoken in arabic with them. Even at subway! At the same restaurant i chatted with some israeli's that were visiting the US. They were a super friendly couple from Tel aviv. Immediately after that another couple from Jerusalem stopped us outside and asked us for directions. Ohhh the city life.

I haven't started teaching Natalia yet but she has come to church twice in a row now and our plan is to start this week. Most of our teaching has been with really solid long-time investigators that are finally starting to approach baptism. There are a few of them. So we haven't taught very many first lessons lately, or picked up anyone new. 

Best of my wishes to Grandma Ludlow as she goes through more recovery. I love all of my grandparents and salute them for exemplary lives and the great letters I receive from them. 

Remember to be doers of the word and not hearers only! When we come before our Savior and say "Lord, Lord" but haven't done what he asked us to do it will mean nothing. Live the gospel and let the spirit thrive in conversation, action and meditation. I encourage you to let the holy ghost lead one of your prayers this week.

Avoid the pride virus! I have seen pride everywhere on my mission, and it's bad :/ Humility and charity are the best antidotes. This is a serious disease in the world today.

Love always,

Elder J. Ludlow Jr.

Birthday Thank You

Hello everyone,

 

I would like to start out by thanking everyone for the things that they sent for my birthday. I appreciated every little thing that i received. It's an inspiration to me, having such great family members and friends.

 

My birthday was an interesting day. In the morning I happily opened some packages and letters that i got. From then until the evening everything was just like any other day. We walked and walked and walked until our feet were sore looking for less-active members around our part of the city (where we live). After that we joined the young single adults of boston in their activity, which ended up being walking around looking for less-active members, if you can imagine that.

Following the YSA activity, Elder Swasey and I decided to do something different for Dinner. So we walked over to a Dominican restaurant and ate there. It was pretty good. I got "El bandera" which is rice, beans and chicken in a special dominican style. With the food i had a tropical style drink called "Lechosa"

When we walked out of the restaurant, a deluge of rain started to pour down on us. So we had to run through the rain back home. We were completely soaked but happy at the same time.

 

Thanks for the emails. I dont have much time anymore to comment on them, but i will try to answer any questions.

Yeah we do eat a lot of eggs at our apartment, for some reason. Im not hooked yet though. The district leader right now is my companion. There is definitely some of the college atmosphere. There was a lot of hubbub last week with everyone moving in and out. Finding investigators is difficult because there are so many people. We get plenty of referrals and talk with people all day but it seems like most of the people we find come out of the wood work. Like they are put in our path by miraculous means.

 

Just a spiritual thought. We have a lot of technology these days. I see people every time on the train or bus looking at their phones or listening to music. I believe that many of the inventions that we have in our era were inspired by God for different reasons. One reason is for the spreading of the gospel. With the amount of time that we spend on our electronics, are we focusing our efforts and things that really matter? We could make a huge difference in our lives by utilizing technology to study the gospel, learn more, or uplift ourselves and others.

 

I love you. Until later,

 

-Elder J. Ludlow Jr.

Short email plus pictures

I've realized that I dont have very much time here to write emails so I'll have to abbreviate them a little. Maybe what I could do is just go over some of the highlights and then answer the questions that you have.

It was great to read about the latest happenings and everything. I think I got some of the best emails so far this week.

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Im going to briefly answer some of dad's questions and then possibly go into detail next time if you would like. Yes I do a huge amount of walking here and we talk with people all day long. It's impossible to count the number of people that we contact in a week.

We teach quite a bit in spanish, im still adjusting.

Sister Hales is actually in my ward and district. She is one of the spanish sisters that we work with all the time.

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I went to Cambridge yesterday for basketball and stuff. It was fun.

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Ok I have some pictures. Our shopping cart on p-day, Me at the Charles River, At service at the Roslindale congregational church, my desk and our map. The photo with the car in it is just a random shot of Hyde Park Ave- where I live.

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Thanks Mom and Dad. Love you!

Charles River

map of tracting area

Elder Ludlow's desk

P-day Grocery shopping

Hello from Boston August 27, 2012

Hello from Boston,

 

It's a nice sunny day here in the city. As you may have guessed, there have been a lot of changes for me in the last week. It's still sinking in for me. I hope that you're having a good time and getting into the groove with school starting and the normal schedule as well.

The work here is the complete opposite of how it was in Gardner. The biggest change is transportation. We don't have a car here in Boston :) We get around by bus and on the metro but especially- on foot. It has been exhausting but im getting into good shape pretty fast.

 

On the day of transfers we actually had to ride the metro (also known as the "T") into the city. When we went to the surface to change trains we were right smackdab in the middle of downtown Boston. I can tell you that I felt kind of like a fish out of water for the first couple minutes.

I love to be in the city though. We talk to more people, see more things, just overall it's more exciting. I have always enjoyed being in the city and seeing the many various buildings. There are some arabic people too, and i hope to talk with some in the near future.

 

 Another difference is that I live in a four elder apartment and spend plenty of time around other missionaries. The other two elders are haitian speaking and theyre really cool. In my ward, Boston 1st, there is us, Elder Swasey and I, two spanish sisters and two english sisters. A couple of wards meet in our building and there is a spanish group that is working on becoming a branch. Yesterday we had the opportunity of attending a baptism that the haitian missionaries had and it was really neat.

 

Elder Swasey is an excellent companion. He is from Boulder City, Nevada and is a lot taller and bigger than I am. He's very concentrated on learning spanish so that has been good for me. Im finally spending time with spanish speaking people for the majority of the day.

So im not sure if i made it clear but- and this is mind-blowing to me- Elder Swasey and I are the only english/spanish Elders in the entire city of Boston. Then there are the four sisters, english and spanish. It's crazy to think about.
 

I have eaten some more ethnic foods since arriving here. Rice, meat and fried plantains are the usual fare. My stomach is still making the adjustment. Brick Oven definitely sounds good right now. There will be more updates there in the future.

 

The area where we live isnt ghetto exactly but its not what my last apartment was like. You learn to adjust and appreciate the things that you have.

I dont have any time left but I love and care for you. May God bless you!

 

-Elder Jared Ludlow