December 27, 2011

Hey everybody!

It was good to be able to talk to you! It's always fun to hear your voices. I'm glad we were able to talk more about spiritual things this time. Our sacrament meeting was great because it was all focused on Christ. It was a good day... especially with the Chinook keeping it up above 0 C (32 F). It hasn't been winter yet!

It's been a good week. We picked up a new investigator this week. Her name is Carly and she is the boyfriend of a member in the Franklin Park Ward. It was a sweet lesson. Elder Perez and I emphasized authority in every single point. We knew we did this because when we asked her how she felt during the Restoration part of the lesson, she said, "It's nice to know that there's people with authority and not just for the sake of saying they have authority." Unfortunately, I don't think she connected the Doctrine of Christ with the authority. That's going to be our next focus. It's a struggle with her because she is pretty shy and doesn't like to answer questions. She does enjoy going to church every week which is a huge positive.

We learned a good lesson about the Holy Ghost and acting on revelations it gives us. Elder Hawkins was receiving promptings constantly about stopping by Shawn. We thought this was odd because the last time we stopped by, he told us we were over and he never wanted to see us again. The promptings to stop by him continued to press on Elder Hawkins' mind so we went over there. Nicole showed up at the door. We wished her a Merry Christmas and thought we should just go on our way. We walked away and Nicole told us, "Hey, Shawn wants to talk to you!" I thought, "Oh dear, we're going to get chewed out..." We went in and talked to him. He seemed really pleasant. Once Nicole left the room, he told us he felt terrible after we left and he wanted to call us but didn't have our number. He said he and his grandparents (who are on the other side) overcame the adversary and he wants to meet with us again. He said, "I kinda know that what you're saying is true so I'm going to give you a call once I have everything figured out."

We always have to act on the promptings the Spirit gives us. I also learned that we cannot fear. I was so afraid of what the result was going to be that it almost kept me from acting. As far as the zone is doing, everyone seems to be doing well. Elder Grbin is very enthusiastic and takes his responsibility seriously. Elder Johanson is doing the same. We need to help him out with comment sheets. Elders Woodard and Grodkowski are struggling with the 7 Days in their ward. We correlated with them and the Ward mission leader and developed a plan to help them overcome the opposition they're seeing. Strathmore is starting to turn around. Elder Angulo is pumped to work hard and with the knowledge that Elder Esplin has in the area, they're definitely going to get their goal of 5 baptisms.

Love,
Elder Madsen