January 3, 2012

Hey everybody!

Crazy week! Such a good New Year! Congrats Nikki!!! All i can say is, "we told ya so!" I'm going to ask President on Friday if he already knows my departure date and if it is wise for you to schedule the date already. Grandma Slagle, Thank You for the toffee. I'm now my companions' best friend! I also got a letter from the Fisler's and Grandma Madsen! Thank you so much!

Good things are happening! We've been praying constantly for the elect in our prayers and we found one! Her name is Lith Akou. She is the aunt of a recent convert. She speaks Arabic, Dinka & English. She can also read those languages. We were planning on just teaching Rachel Saturday when Rachel told us her aunt would join in on the lesson. She told us she was laready a member. Lith walked in and the first thing that came to my mind was , "You better firm her!" I thought that was the most obscure thought that ever came to my mind. I put it off and tried to ignore but the promtping kept coming back & back. I thought this was insane. She's already a member!

At the end of the lesson, Lith started explaining about her background and we found out she wasn't a member. Mentally, I wanted to slap myself. Why do I always think I'm right? Why can't I be humble? Lith told us this was the 3rd time she had met missionaries and she figured God was telling her she should listen to us this time. Anyways, Elder Hawkins invited her to take the lessons on Tuesday but the prompting would not leave me. Lith asked us to say a prayer for her because she was going through a rough time. As I prayed for her, the things that were coming through my mind were things that prompted me to give her a blessing afterwards. I asked Lith if we could give her a blessing. We taught her about authority and how it is restored. We gave her a blessing and I asked her how she felt. The Spirit was in her heart and I invited her to be baptized on January 28th. She accepted.

We met with her again today and found out she has been struggling. She has been addicted to alcohol and feels that her faith is weak. We taught her the Restoration and she felt the Spirit so strongly. She read through the Arabic Book of Mormon. She said it was so clear to hear and she can understand it easily. She is committed to coming to scripute classes throughout the week and is ready for daily contact. She is golden!

We taught Carly again. She felt the Spirit so strongly as we taught her about the Plan of Salvation. She feels so peaceful when she prays. We knew it was important for her to pray at the end of the lesson so we prepped her boyfriend for this. Matt was encouraging her to pray at the end. It took 45 minutes at the end to get her to pray in front of us. Because it was taking so long, we invited her to pray and ask if she should be baptized... without a date. I was hesitant about this until she prayed and asked if she should be baptized on the 14th! I'm sure we all had the cheesiest grins on our faces but she is going to read everyday.

We are striving to find the elect everyday. We don't want to waste the Lord's time with those who are unprepared anymore. Elder Perez is doing great. We are still working on getting the elders 100% obeident. There is always something that pops up that frustrates us because of simple things elders are doing that are keeping them from being successful. We have trained everyone on being consecrated to PMG programs. Elder Perez is someone who is definitely conesecrated to those.

I love all of you and am literally exhausted every night because of our busy schedules. Thank you for the prayers. They are being answered through God's children who are prepared to receive the message. This is the most important message anybody will hear. My companions are great and we are having fun every step of the way.

Love,

Elder Madsen