Sister Hannah Madsen: deja vu July 17, 2017

Today is my golden month mark because I hit 17 months today (which.. is the 17th) and it is weird! Time just cruises on by and I'm not really sure when it will hit me but that will not be a fun day.. and this transfer in general has gone by really fast. I can't believe the next time I write you July will pretty much be gone. I don't know where it went! I think it has to do a little with the fact that Sister Muhlestein and I are so busy and we get along so well. I have never felt so unified in my life! I say this every week but I really can't figure out how to explain it other than we are just the same. But different enough that it works. But pretty much the same. Ok. You still don't get it but I DO and some day I will be a better explainer.

I am just going to cut to the chase and let you all know that Jim is actually not getting baptized. Yes.. this is for real happening to me.. again! I don't even want to count how many times someone has almost gotten baptized and then like a week or two before it doesn't happen. There is a quote about how no one is going to know if they have endured to the end until they are safely dead with their testimony burning inside of them. And I think you can say the same about baptism. Missionaries can not know for sure if their investigators are going to be baptized until they are safely dunked

A little background is that Jim was only here in Rockford temporarily for work and they kept extending his employment because they needed him and THEN on Wednesday, HOURS Before his baptism interview he texted us and told us he was going to move back to Indiana this Friday. And that his employer had told him that he was done in Rockford and they didn't need him anymore And Sister Muhlestein and I were like "Lol Jim so funny stop pranking us" and it turns out he wasn't.. 😑 we had a final meeting with him that night instead of his baptism interview. Tears were shed. But I know it is for the best. It will be good for him to get baptized where he actually lives and can already have that support from that Ward to help him and welcome him when he gets baptized. But it is sad we won't be able to be there

I will never laugh again when I hear a story about one of the Hermanas investigators moving to Mexico a week before their baptism

But we made two Elders in Indiana very happy this week so that was cool.

Besides that this week has been pretty crazy but pretty fun! We went on exchanges to Elgin and Belvidere! It was weird being in Elgin because I served in that area last summer when I was in the YSA and the whole time I was a little freaking out in my brain but sister Willes helped me keep my cool haha! And the Belvidere Sisters just crack me up so that was fun. Belvidere is a little tiny crazy town so it was fun to go back there too.

Carol came to church again this week and stayed for all three hours! She loved it. She also told us she was thinking about becoming Mormon and asked us if she was good enough or worthy enough in the middle of a lesson and Sister Muhlestein and I lost our minds. So we are working with her on that. She also talked a lot about the Beatles again and how much she hates Yoko Ono and it killed me

Something I thought about a lot this week was that we knew what our life was going to be like before we even got here. And we were PUMPED. Even though we knew how hard it was going to be. And my spirit knew I needed to go on a mission. I'm still not sure why, but I'm glad I'm here. But now I hope I can remember that when I am going through something hard, that in the life before this one I knew this was going to happen, and I still came down here! So there has to be a reason for it and something better is just around the river bend

Before I end this email I just really want to make sure everyone knows that I love sister Muhlestein A LOT and we have had such a fun transfer together and I hope we get another one together. But we will see

sister madsen

Elgin exchange! We were teaching this lady Sally on her porch and I said a prayer at the end and I opened my eyes and her cat was just sitting inside my bag

And this is Sister Willes! She is awesome! Her and I both like roller and ice skating and it was fun to spend the day missionarying with her!