May 27, 2016

Naperville homies

Mural Monday

Bunch of Goodbyes, May 27 2016

OK 

Transfers are this week so I have been running around like crazy trying to say goodbye to everyone and here's a surprise, BOTH of us are getting transferred!! Sister Smith is going to Joliet and I am going to be in Schaumburg in the YSA! I am actually really excited, even though I have no idea how missionary work actually goes on in that situation, because you can't really go knocking on doors and ask "hey are you a young single adult??" But I am really excited, we had dinner with some of the Summer Sales wives and it was so fun, they are all my age and it was just nice to talk with them, it reminded me of all my friends back home😘except here they are all married haha!! . Afterwards Sister Smith and I were talking about it and I just have an easier time with the youth of the church I think. It's probably because I have a lot in common with them, but even when I was teaching Bunch I was like THIS IS TH BEST (don't get me wrong, I love my oldies as well..) and then I get the transfer call to YSA and I am so PUMPED 

Anyways Sister Smith and I were/are so surprised that we are getting whitewashed. The Assistants told me I was getting transferred and so Sister Smith thought she was going to stay and bring someone into the area and they told her she was getting transferred too and we were like WHAT. And they still haven't told us who is coming to take our place.. So hopefully Wheaton isn't getting shut down or anything! That would be the pits. Sister Smith and I have really built up this area and we both feel like it is on the brink of a lot of things happening because a lot of people we have been meeting with want to meet with us but had to wait until school gets out and one of our investigators Sandi has a daughter on a mission who gets home in June and then Sandi is going to get baptized, and we have a couple other investigators that we were planning on putting on date this week BUT NOW WE ARE LEAVING. It's crazy. There are 6 missionaries serving in our ward and only one of them is staying, so she is going to have to help explain to all the people coming in who their investigators are. It's scary leaving your area to other people, I have grown to love the people in this area but I'm sure they will be in good hands! We let Bunch know and he is so sad!!! But hopefully we can get permission from the mission president to still email him and make sure he is still progressing on his own and reading the Book of Mormon! I am proud of this area and know that we left it better than we found it and I'm excited to see how In the world the YSA works.

Sister Smith and I have been taking pictures with some members so I'll be sure to send them, I hope everyone has a great week and and Memorial Day,

I love you! 

Sister Madsen 

Short and sweet, May 23 2016

Here is a quick list of what has been happening this week!

A dog was so happy to see me that it peed on me
This morning I fell backwards out of my chair during personal study
A ward member has asked me to start writing his son on a mission
I sat down in a members chair for dinner and it BROKE. Like, full on
broke. I fell through the chair, my butt is on the ground, pieces of
wood are everywhere, irreparably BROKE. Ironically  this happened just
ONE DAY after a mission wide ban on all workout videos (including
Jillian) was put into place.
We had two lessons with two different pastors and one of them is on date
Brother Colton realized that as missionaries we ourselves couldn't
read any of the articles he had told us about so he printed one off
and read it to us before sacrament meeting. He also told us he gave
one to one of our investigators..
I GOT TO DRIVE for the first time in 3 months. And I had only been
driving for about a total of 4 minutes when a police officer pulled up
next to me at a stop sign and told me I needed to turn my lights on.
A Russian guy cleaned our carpets and tried to kiss sister smith's hand
I just saw a Burger King sign saying that they now sell chicken rings
and I feel #blessed to be stateside

Sorry this email is a short one. I honestly have no excuse, it's just
short. But I'll make up for it by giving everyone a talk to read! It's
called Glimpses of Heaven by President Spencer W. Kimball

Sista Madsen 💁🏻

Sister Smith and I just got back from this Diner called the Seven
Dwarfs. And the theme of the restaurant is...you guessed it, Snow
White.
Amazing.

Lessons Lessons Lessons! May 16 2016

Ok let me start of this email by saying that I have taught more people
this week (5) than I collectively have on my entire mission so far. so
this week has been great!! I would like to thank all who pray for me,
and the people in this area who I serve. I love you

We had zone conference this week which is always good. a lot of the
trainings were on (can you guess it?) obedience. BUT it was so good!!
For whatever reason some of the restrictions that we have placed on
our ipads are being taken off, so the tech elders were giving a
training on rules and accountability and a missionary said something
that I really liked. There are some things in life that are put in
place that restrict/force us to be obedient. But if you take those
things away, and but don't take away the rules, all it does is give
you more freedom to choose. And more chances to choose the right. So
really, its just more opportunities to show/prove our love to our
Heavenly Father. A lot of people complain about how many rules this
church has. But they aren't this church's rules. They are God's rules,
and we should be grateful. Not only are the commandments put in place
to protect us, but they can also give us the chance to show Heavenly
Father how much we love him. If you look at every choice as "is this
going to bring me closer to Heavenly Father, or take me further away"
I promise that you will start to think differently. And obviously this
doesn't apply to EVERYTHING, if you are trying to decided between
eating at Wendy's and Arby's or something I don't think this would
really be applicable, but hey if you wanna try it out be my guest and
let me know how it goes!! Anyways I love all the meetings I get to go
to as a missionary. I love being able to be surrounded by and learn
from other missionaries. It's so great.
But yes we had 5 lessons this week and it was amazing!! And we would
have had more but two people had to reschedule and one changed his
mind. But it was still amazing!! I love teaching, and I have missed
it, I am glad to see the area starting to pick up! I'll try and come
back to this and write more but I HAVE to write about this next thing
first.

We had dinner at a the Coltons this week and it was CRAZY. It was so
great, it is probably impossible for me to choose a favorite member of
this ward. Brother Colton can only be described as a what I would call
a Mormom conspiracy theorist. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDNT KNOW THAT
THERE ARE MORMON CONSPIRACY THEORIES??! Anyways we tried to have a
lesson but we got off on the subject of the second coming and all
control was lost. I now have a two page list of things to look up when
I get home. He is super passionate about secret combinations and I
would tell you what they are but honestly I AM TOO AFRIAD. If anyone
wants to know I will have to write you a letter in the mail that can't
be traced back to me. But basically the world may be ending soon. It
was so crazy and my mind was blown. Trust no one
Ok investigators, we have a couple of cute girls who are coming to
girls camp this summer who aren't members!  So we have been trying to
get in with them and this week it finally happened! The lessons went
well and it's so amazing to have this knowledge of the gospel in our
lives, it brings so much comfort and peace. Knowing that we have a
Savior, and that he loves us as we are. And what is going to happen to
us and our loved ones after our lives here are over. There are so many
truths that I have taken for granted, but I am so happy to be here and
to be able to share these truths with people and to see the comfort it
can bring them. One of my favorite things about being a missionary is
getting to hear other people pray. Prayer is so intimate, and getting
to hear someone talk with their and our Heavenly Father, for what may
be the first time is an amazing experience. I always feel like the
person who has just been taught how to pray gives a way better and
more genuine prayer than I do, sometimes I think I forgot/don't
process that we are LITERALLY talking with our Heavenly Father. I love
it. I love prayer. And I love all of you

Have a wonderful week

Sister Madsen

Mama Mia, May 9 2016

I'm trying to think of what happened this week and honestly not a lot is coming to mind.. Norma told us that Mitt Romney won the election and everyone is saying that the Cubs are going to win it all this year. I am slowly learning not to trust the Chicagoans... 

Three people have mistaken us for Pentecostals this week. We asked one of them why and said because they believe in women wearing modest clothing and we were like oh cool! Then he went on to say "yeah and you know just that women should look very plain and not wear makeup, or do there hair, or wear really nice clothes or things like that. They just want the women to look very plain and very homely looking" so my self esteem is doing GREAT  

Sister Smith and I really feel like the area is starting to pick up. We have some promising potentials and have been trying to come up with new ways to find people and we might start a Bible Study class because everyone in Wheaton loves the Bible and we could probably get a decent amount of people to come, we are just starting to plan some lessons and work out how we can sneak the Book of Mormon into it or something like that.

We had a cool experience this week when we were walking through the parking lot and there was this rougher looking guy sitting in his car just rocking OUT. It was awesome. We went up to him and started talking to him. I was a little nervous at first that he was going to be mad at us for interrupting him, because he was seriously hard core rocking out and getting into his music. But he wasn't mad! He immediately knew who we were and asked if we knew someone and they just happened to be in our ward. Then he says "yeah I used to meet with the missionaries all the time at her house it was awesome" and we were like WHAT so we started talking to him and trying to figure out what he has been taught gave him some pamphlets and a new Book of Mormon and he said he wants us to come over on Wednesday. It was cool. Then we tried to find him in our area book and it turns out he has literally been taught EVERYTHING. He just had disappeared off the face of the earth during the holiday season and no one has been able to contact him since. And we just saw him sitting in a parking lot!! Crazy. Hopefully he still has that testimony and we can help him progress towards baptism! 

Not much more has happened!! We had a great Mother's Day at church that made me just a tad trunky ;) but it's alright I am so grateful for you Mom and all the Mothers and Women in my life who have helped and encouraged me to grow in the gospel and develop a better relationship with my Savior. One of the talks during sacrament was about how the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world and its TRUE. where would we be without our mothers?? 

Mother Madsen 

Just thought I would add this picture to the mix! Loved talking with
you guys and seeing your cute squinty faces haha

I love Norma, May 2, 2016

These are the pictures that I am the most proud of on my mission so
far. I have wanted to take a picture of Norma since the first time I
met her one week into my mission and I am so happy that I finally did
because she is the sweetest lady!! The first one is a picture of the
new sunglasses that she bought for her birthday. She gave us is big
long story about how they are expensive and have diamonds on the sides
and then she put them on for us and said "don't I look Glamorous??"
And we were like YES LET US TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU. It was amazing
and she loves taking pictures, I probably have 20 on my iPad The
second one is when we wanted to do a funny pose and she slowly raised
her fingers into the frame and then right before it took the picture
she said "look you can see my arthritis" I love Norma

I feel Blessed, May 2, 2016

Ok, so this week has been super rainy so there are no yard work adventures to report. BUT that does not mean it was uneventful. To kick of the week we were going to do some weeding at Norma's house. But upon arrival it started to rain and she refused to let us go outside and insisted on us sitting and talking with her for a while. We willingly obliged. THEN she ordered the three of us pasta and sandwiches and talked to us about her friends in the FBI. Service brings miracles. She is turning 89 and because of her health is too weak to go outside, but every time we go over there she starts repeatedly apologizing for not being able to find someone for us to teach even though TWICE she has called us and said that there was someone at her house delivering food who could use the gospel in their life and if we could quickly come over that would be great. Neither one has led to anything but she might be the hardest working member missionary in our ward. Jerry's house is now up for sale and he has disappeared off the face of the earth. We did have the chance to help a couple in our ward pack up and move to Montana, which was nice AND while we were cleaning out her fridge she GAVE US EVERYTHING IN HER REFRIGERATOR. It was a beautiful moment and sister smith and I no longer have to be forced into vegetarianism because of lack of cash flow. We have pounds of Italian beef and sausage, salmon, FROZEN PIZZAS, chicken and much much more. I have said it once but I will never stop saying it. Service brings miracles. On a negative note it has been about 30 degrees and rainy all week. This wouldn't be a big deal except that OUR HEATER IS BROKEN. This also wouldn't be a big deal except that it happened to break on the day we do weekly planning. Which means about 3 hours inside. Which was brutal. Sister smith and I wear all of our pairs of tights and sweats and as many socks as we can to bed every night. Sister Smith even got away with wearing sweatpants under her skirt one day while we were out tracting and you couldn't even tell. Also our shower has been broken for three days Since we had to cancel a lot of our plans this week because of weather we spent most of the time tracting. But apparently if it is lightning we aren't allowed to be outside. So sister smith and I spent a lot of time driving around looking for people on he street we could talk to out of our car window. Sometimes we go car contacting and usually the people we talk to get pretty mad. So when I realized we were going to have to go car contacting in the rain I was thinking OH GREAT. People are already in a. Bad mood when we do this, they are going to be even more mad because they are stuck talking to us in the rain. BUT everyone we talked to was nice and took our cards and some even asked us questions and were pretty interested! I don't think anything immediate is going to come from us talking to them. But it just goes to show that you shouldn't discount or assume you know anything basically, because YOU NEVER KNOW what is going to come of it. Always follow the promptings you are given. In short, if I have to freeze to get all of the blessings that I got this week THEN IT IS WORTH IT. I hope you have a great week and do something nice for your Mother ;) I'll talk to you next week ~Sister Madsen