Mawage is what brings us together today April 12, 2016

Hello!! I would apologize for emailing so much later BUT our zone got to go to the temple today ay for our preparation day so I don't feel too bad. Not a lot has happened this last week that I can remember. We had our last district meeting before transfers which was great, I am in an area with a lot of great missionaries and I feel so blessed!! I'm sad to see them go but excited to see who comes into the area. OH NEVERMIND. I do remember something. Sister Smith and I got Bible bashed. It was great! Which is weird to say, and I'm not saying it sarcastically I am being for real. It was a cool experience. Sister smith says it was the most positive bible bash experience she has had so that must mean something. We started talking to this guy Freddie and he was like "I'm not super religious, but I do try to read the bible everyday" and then he said he only really knew the Spanish version of the Bible and let me tell you guys something, he was LYING. We were just talking to him about the restoration and then Sis Smith pulls out a Book of Mormon and he is like NO I don't need that I won't read anything that contradicts the bible and we were like ok WELL IT DOESN'T. And then he was like ok and took it from us then we started explaining about Joseph Smith and we were telling him about the First Vision and he freaked out. He believes in the Trinity and could not get past it which I can understand because growing up I've always been taught that they are three separate beings and I couldn't imagine them being the other way around and he is the same way. BUT that is when the bashing began. He pulls out his bible phone app and is showing us all these verses and is like WELL EXPLAIN THIS. And some of his questions we could answer but some of them we couldn't. I'm pretty sure he is an Pentecostal. He says he has experienced the gift of tongues and healed blind people and all this other crazy stuff. So in other words he was LYING AGAIN. He is pretty much a youth preacher or something. Anyways it was really cool. He asked a lot of questions about the Bible that we couldn't answer which frustrated me because I think a lot of people think we don't believe/read the bible BUT WE DO but sister smith and I did not help with that stereotype at all. IVE READ IT. IM STUDYING IT RIGHT NOW. I am familiar enough with it that I know what people are talking about but not familiar enough to answer questions. In the end he was trying to convert us and we were trying to convert him and we both realized it was going no where. And it had been like a three hour long conversation. Yeah sister Smith and I are working on a goal to be better at time management. Anyways he said he loves us and is going to pray for us and he hopes we are safe and is grateful that we are bringing people to Jesus. It was really cool and it just made sister Smith and I want to know the answers for ourselves. Because we believed in all the things we told him but we didn't know why if that makes sense. It was a great testimony builder for me. And we both had like the best studies of our lives the next day. It was awesome and a great learning experience. There is this Italian woman named Evelyn who is in her 70s and has been a convert for about 5 years and she has been going less active lately so we have been stopping by every week or so. I love her, I think if we had been born at the same time we would have been best friends. Even though we are already almost at that level anyways. last week we called her to set up our next appointment and she told us loved us but was leaving the church and going back to being Catholic and that she loves the Mormons and is so grateful for them AND THEN SHE HUNG UP. Evelyn always tells it like it is. And It was awful. And right in between conference sessions. So his week we just decided to stop by and tell her we love her and make sure we hadn't done something to make her leave. We pull up to her apartment right as she is leaving to walk her dog and she asks us to go with her and we get to talking and sister smith and I quickly realized that SHE COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT SHE TOLD US SHE LEFT THE CHURCH. Miracles are real. I was so happy. We had a good chat with her and showed her Pres. Uchdorf's talk from conference which was great because 1 it was an amazing talk and 2 she has a huge crush on him. I love her. We had a really great lesson with her and she told me that I remind her of the Virgin Mary and I look just like her. It made my entire life. I love that woman. If I didn't ever baptize or convert anyone to the gospel but got to talk to Evelyn every week and got her to start coming back to church I would be a happy missionary. She kept talking about how she wishes she had a Mormon husband and Sister Smith and I are thinking of setting her up with Brother Rann (the guy who fosters dogs/works for uber/plays the organ). That would be my dream. We won't actually do anything obviously but I know that it is possible. The Hermanas have been trying to set up this guy Roberto with this new lady in the ward who is named Josefina. She is blind so they asked if he would walk her to all her classes and sit by her at sacrament and he was like ok. I had just come into the area when all this was happening and it was obvious he had the biggest crush on her. And this week at Church she told the Hermanas that Roberto is her boyfriend. THE CHURCH IS TRUE ETERNAL MARRIAGE IM SO HAPPY. I love this ward that I serve in Have a great week! Sister Madsen