I LOVED TALKING TO YOU ALL! :)

HEY FAM!!

oh my goodness it was SO GOOD to hear all of your voices on sunday! can i just tell you how i felt afterward? first of all, like i could conquer the world. :) but secondly, it helped remind me of what really matters: everything i go through and struggle with, all the frustrations i face when people don't progress, amounts to nothing when i really think about my family. in the end, i won't look back on my mission and think of all the little things that went wrong--i'll look at it as a whole and think of a year and a half of great service to the lord, and since i've given him that time, and if i continue to live faithfully afterwards, i get to be with MY family forever, and that's all that matters. everything else is so insignificant. I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!! :)

we had a great mothers day. even though we're not mothers, and even though i'm in a singles ward, all the boys treated the sisters with chocolate and roses. haha. :) but the best part were the tender mercies from heavenly father: we were expecting 4 or 5 investigators at church that day. well. none showed. :( so i was tempted to be disheartened. but then our ward mission leader's less-active mother came to hear him speak in sacrament meeting, and when she showed up, we were able to reach out to her and have her sit by us. (she had us over for dinner the other week and we just came to LOVE her.) and for some reason, it just felt GREAT that she was there, and it didn't matter that none of our investigators came. and THEN, we didn't have any lessons scheduled--no one wants to set appointments on mother's day. so we went contacting, which is always draining--especially in 99 degree weather. but we ended up having three whole lessons, one with a less active who we were sure was going to reject our visit--but he came out and talked to us, and at the end of the lesson when his mom walked us to the door, she was SO grateful we had come. so it felt wonderful to make HER mothers day by helping her son. :) i love tender mercies.

also, another lesson i learned in personal study this morning is that my voice needs to match the voice of the spirit. sometimes when i'm teaching i get so overly excited to explain things that my voice and attitude is too... much. too forceful. the spirit speaks by a still small voice. i, too, need to speak humbly, simply, and with love. and that's when the spirit will back up my words and help my teach-ees feel the truth.

lastly, i want to testify that the power of the atonement is REAL. i still haven't figured it out all the way, but i feel like i experienced it this week. and it made EVERYTHING better. pray for the atonement to help you in whatever aspect of your life that you need--not just with the bad things, but with the good things, too--and i promise it will work.

i love you all soooo much! next time i talk to you it will be IN PERSON! ah! that's crazy. where is my mission going?? SLOW DOWN, MISSION!!

love,

sister madsen