Happy December!

Hey everybody!!
I'm overjoyed right now because I finally got my computer working! :) We are emailing today at the family history center and I am on an ANCIENT computer... all the good ones were taken. Ha. But it's
working! :D Just thought I'd share my excitement. Ha ha. It was a wonderful week!  Guess why??

VINOD GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D

This was my first baptism that I've seen all the way through! I was there to teach him from the very beginning! So cool. :) He is the sweetest little human I have ever met. He wants so badly to do the
right thing... He still doesn't understand a lick of the gospel. Ha ha. But he knows enough. :) It's that such a fantastic concept?? Think about it: children are baptized when they're 8 years old. The don't comprehend anything about life!! But they know enough. :) Thank heavens we don't have to have a perfect knowledge of the gospel to be members of God's true church. We get to keep learning. Life would be boring and pointless if there wasn't always more to learn. The baptismal service went really well. We were a little scrambled to pull it together, as always... baptisms are very stressful (in a good way). :) Sister Miller and I sang the special musical number, "I need thee every hour," accompanied by her ridiculous guitar skills. I was so nervous... my voice was shaking so bad. Ha. But other than that, and the fact that I messed up like 3 times... it sounded pretty good. :P And the best part was that we had TWO of our other investigators
there to watch the baptism!! So key. It was awesome.
Vinod got up afterward... bless his heart. The way he talks in his little Indian accent and grammar is so great. He just kept saying, "Thanks for everyone, and thanks for the sisters, and thanks for..." with everything. :) He was also confirmed in church on sunday and prepared a little speech for testimony meeting that he had written down on a piece of paper... he was so nervous. But he got up and said,
"Sister Miller and Madsen, I hope you like my speech, but if not it's okay." Then he went off on how much we helped him to do the right things and how we were so nice and had such great smiles. Ha ha I wish
I could have recorded it! Writing it out does't do it justice.
Anyway...Hooray!! Another soul came unto Christ this weekend!
We also had an amazing day at the temple this week. Everywhere we turned was a golden contact! We left with FOUR referrals. We couldn't believe it! And the funniest part was that we kept coming upon them AS we were trying to get out of there... we literally had all of our stuff in our arms and were walking to our car when we walked past the last lady we dared talk to cause we didn't want to be late for our
appointment... and within a few sentences that maybe took 45 seconds, she gave us her information to have missionaries sent to her house. She was so prepared! We left in absolute shock. It was ridiculous. :)
AND the best part of that shift was that the Christmas lights are finally up at the temple! They're so pretty! I LOVE TEMPLE LIGHTS! I love Christmas time! It's DECEMBER!! Best month of the year! Sister
Miller and I had a Christmas HAYDAY after we finished our nightly planning on December first... we hung up our stockings and danced around in our snowflake toe socks and drank hot chocolate with Tim Tam Slams (I thought grasshopper cookies were good... hope you're paying attention, Eric and Blake) and watched Joy to the World!! I love my life. :) We also got to watch the first presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday! One of my favorite Christmas traditions, and I didn't have to miss it. :) Heavenly Father loves me. I've been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. I read the section on gratitude in True to the Faith, and it really hit me. It wasn't anything profound... it was a simple message to be grateful, and see what effects it has in your life. WELL. It's so true!! That's whyPresident Monsen is so happy, I decided... he's always talking about gratitude. Let me give you an example from this week: we had a lesson with one of our investigators, and at the very first of the conversation we learned some sickening things about her sister, who was in the hospital due to very unfortunate decisions she's made. And
then on top of that, our investigator herself was rushed to the emergency room the night before because of some high-potency drugs she had consumed that she was unaware she was eating. :( People lead such sad, sad lives. Be grateful, everyone, that you have the gospel in your lives, and look for ways to show your gratitude by sharing it with others.
I love you all with all my heart. Thank you for your prayers in my behalf. You are the reason I'm here! And your prayers are the reason I have the strength to be a missionary. I just know it. :)
HAPPY DECEMBER!!!!
Love,
Sister Madsen