mission conference! (April 16th, 2013)

hey everbody!
we had some pretty exciting things happen this week! first off, we had a mission conference (or mission tour). it's where our visiting general authority comes and speaks to all the missionaries! unfortunately there's too many missions for all the apostles to visit... plus we just heard from elder ballard a few months ago. BUT-- the cool thing is that Elder Whiting of the seventy was still called to visit our mission under apostolic authority. :) and let me tell you, it was SO POWERFUL! it was like being in the MTC all over again--hundreds of missionaries in one room, all listening to a chosen servant of god. :) he taught us about learning to follow the spirit and about the doctrine of christ. i teach people the doctrine of christ every day--yet my eyes were STILL opened to more. i can't believe how perfect heavenly father is in EVERYTHING that he does. and THEN, our mission president chose a dozen or so people for elder whiting to interview... and guess who was lucky number one?? ME! holy smokes that was nerve wracking. ;) but it was no pressure, just a little 5 minute get-to-know-you and give you a little counsel. (he said something along the lines of how mission tours shouldn't just be a big meeting--he likes to actually talk with the missionaries he's there to work with. :) he was awesome.) he asked me how my mission was for me so far, what i've learned, if i'd seen success... it was a cool opportunity for me to recognize some things the lord would have me do, coming from the mouth of a general authority. :)
the other exciting event of the week was that i got to go on exchanges with my wonderful sister miller! seeing as she's a trainer sister, she got to come to my area with me for a day. oh my gosh i love her so much! i miss teaching with her, she is SO POWERFUL! the one lesson we had with a less-active... oh my goodness, the spirit was so strong. he even said it himself--that he could feel the spirit, i mean. it was a good opportunity for heavenly father to remind me how much more effective i could be if i always taught in unity with my companion. that came a lot more naturally with sister miller... of course, she's not really human, so that's expected. but i'm going to work on teaching in better unity with sister mulipola. (don't get me wrong--mine and my companion's relationship is great. :) we love each other tons. we're just not that great at teaching together... not one of our strengths. so it's gonna be my goal.) anyway... it was great to be reunited with my best friend for a day. :) well--she's best friends with everyone. ha.
sad news of the week though... sara doesn't want to get baptized anymore. :( she was the only solid investigator we were holding on to. so that's been difficult. we're praying and fasting for a miracle with her. and to find new people that have been prepared by the lord!
that's all i've got time for! i love you all! hope you're having a fantastic week!
love,
sister madsen

the weeks are just meshing together :) (April 9th)

hi everybody,

i keep trying to think of my week and cool things i want to write you about, and i feel like my brain is in a fog! the weeks and days all start to blend together and i can't remember what i've already written about. ha. i need to be better about keeping my journal up to date so i can use that as a reference.

conference was AWESOME! we got to watch all four sessions this time... usually we have to miss one session because the battalion needs sisters on shift. but we got to switch shifts... he he. :) we watched them at the institute on saturday and at my branch president's house on sunday, on soft couches just like home, and had yummy lunches in between. :) SPOILED. the talks were amazing, of course... they mean so much more out here on a mission. i loved the plug that elder anderson gave to missionary work. :) hopefully a lot more members will have heard it and will be willing to share the gospel with their friends so we can have people to teach! i also loved sister dalton's talk... just listening to her speak and watching her face glow with the spirit made me want to be just like her in every way.... especially so i can become a strong mother who raises strong daughters who KNOW they are children of god. however, if i am going to raise that kind of children, who don't care about the world, i have to stop caring about the world myself! that leads into my other favorite talk, which was about seeking acceptance from my heavenly father. SO GOOD. i know that talk was for me. i hope you all had an amazing conference experience... that you feltl like god was speaking directly to YOU and answering all of your questions.

sara came and watched conference with us. she is pretty much the one solid investigator we have right now. :) she's pretty golden. however, she's concerned about tithing. so we are teaching it to her tonight... pray that it goes well and that she will be able to understand WHY we have it--for blessings!!

besides sara, the work is pretty slow... we have a few other investigators who we're meeting with but aren't really progressing. however, we just added a new one last night, thanks to sister mulipola! her name is cynthia. sister mulipola talked to her a couple weeks ago at the booth on the college campus... we weren't sure anything would come of it, but she actually responded to our text last night and agreed to meet with us! she agreed to take the lessons, as well. so we'll see where it goes. :)

right now we're just trying to get our members to focus on making new friends. they all just hang out with each other, so they don't have anyone to share the gospel with! pray for our branch to be able to reach out and expand their circle of influence a little bit. 

i'm sending a picture of our easter lunch! we had a zone conference and the relief society who served us lunch made it really festive. :) i don't remember if i wrote much about easter... but it was wonderful! holidays that celebrate the life of the savior are so much more powerful when you're his representative. :) HE LIVES! and he has overcome the world... which means we can, too. ;)

i love you all SO MUCH. don't forget about this little missionary out here who is cheering you on!

love,

sister madsen

 

oh and p.s. we went bowling last p-day and LOOK WHO GOT A TURKEY! yours truly. :) hope you're proud of me, sister.