August 23, 2010

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all your e-mails and letters. Sounds like you're having a good time... too bad you're not having an awesome time like me!

This week was pretty slow. All of our appointments with our investigators canceled ( We had about 4 of them) so this week's letter to President was pretty bland. So what we've been doing a lot lately is helping show the members that missionary work is not as scary as they think it is but also that it can be very rewarding as well. I've told you about the 7 day challenge before where we go to members and challenge them to invite a non member friend to have the missionary lessons in their home within a week. Do you think this sounds like something impossible or something that's pretty scary? Before you answer this question, ask yourself, "Have I ever done that before?" If you haven't done this challenge before, then how do you know you can do it or not? I can testify to you that this is something that is possible. Moroni 7:33 teaches us that if we exercise our faith in Christ, we can do anything that is expedient in Him. Inviting people to come closer to Him is expedient in Him. So with that being said, this challenge is not something that is impossible, it might be scary, but the blessings that come from inviting others to come closer to Christ overwhelm those feelings of fear that we have. In 3 Nephi 27, the Savior is talking to the 3 Nephites. These men wanted to tarry on the earth so that they could share the gospel with others. The Lord promises them blessings in verse 10. Read that verse and see how those blessings could help you in your life. How could those blessings help you individually? How about your family? How about those around you? I testify that those blessings are not only for you but are there for others as well as you show your Heavenly Father you have that desire to bring souls unto him. Well, are you up for it? Do you think you can do it? I could go on and on about how this challenge could benefit you and those you're around but don't take my word for it... take the Lord's word for it. You can read in the scriptures all about the promised blessings He has in store for those who bear their testimony of His name.

So for those of you who decide to take this challenge, remember who this is between. This is an experience where you will be able to strengthen your relationship with your Heavenly Father. Tell Him about how scary it is and how hard you think it is and the people you're thinking about to invite. Ask Him for help and for strength to be able to overcome your fears and to be guided as you bear your testimony of your Savior Jesus Christ. He does listen to your prayers and He will answer them. He does not want you to feel like you're alone in this. In D&C 84, The Savior promise He will be on your right and on your left as you bear testimony of Him... If that doesn't motivate you, I'm not sure what will... I know that He will guide you to those lost sheep who he desires so much to bring back into His fold. He loves them and loves you as well. He will be there for you.

I know that after you take this challenge, you will come to a greater understanding of your relationship with Heavenly father and Jesus Christ. Your faith in them will increase as you put yourselves in the shoes of the Savior for these 7 days. I am excited to hear your experiences and your testimonies.

Love,
Elder Madsen

August 16, 2010

Hey everybody,

Miracle happened yesterday... but Elder Stevens and I weren't there to see it!

So we cover 3 wards and yesterday we decided to attend all the P.E.C. meetings because we have to report back to the zone leaders on how well the wards are doing with their mission plans. So in the second ward that we cover, 3 African Americans (well, i guess theyre candians but whatever) came to church and stayed all 3 hours! Everybody in the ward noticed we weren't there, so the members basically did the fellowsipping and inviting and all of that good stuff. We didn't hear about it until about 9:20 last night when we were helping a future missionary with his teaching skills. Wehn Brother Heyland said "Yeah, there were three black people in church today... Were you guys there?" At first I thought he was joking but it really happened. We sped off to the ward mission leader's home and he had brownies and milk for us and gave us their information. In the Fairmont ward, there has only been 2 weeks since he's been a wml (only since I've gotten there though) where there was not an invesitgator in the ward! You know what's funny is that their ward is really catching onto the Elder Perry Model... Hmm, could that mean that when you listen to the apostles that you can see miracles happen?

We've got a pretty big teaching pool but the problem is that it's summer right now. That means everybody is on vacation. It's pretty annoying when families tell you that they're going to places like Hawaii and Europe but it's even more annoying when they tell me they're going to San Diego! Maybe annoying isn't the proper word but home does run through my mind when they say that.

I'm sorry this is a short e-mail but I want to let you know that the work of God will never cease. It's amazing to see his hand play into the lives of others when they follow Him. We were with a less active last night. He was baptized about 20 years ago and joined the church for someone else. He had been keeping the commandments, reading, praying, paying his tithing but said he wasn't able to feel the Spirit or anything. He also felt like God wasn't answering his prayers. I then asked him why did he keep the commandments. He said because somebody told him to. We taught about doing things of our own free will and I bore my testimony of how I knew the church was true because I wanted to know it for myself. I didn't want to know it so that I could make mom and dad happy but I wanted to know it because i wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true and if God really was there. i exercised faith in Him by reading my scriptures and by praying everyday. Keeping the commandments to the best of my abilities brought the Spirit into my life so much stronger than it was before. I know that we can only strengthen our testimony if we want to benefit ourselves, not to make us look good in front of others, but to strengthen our personal relationship with our Savior. I love him and I know He is real. You are all in my prayers. Keep pressing on and I will do the same.

love,

Elder Madsen

August 9, 2010

Well hey there!

So this week was pretty interesting. I thought it was never going to end but it did eventually. Elder Stevens and I said bye to Jade this week. That was pretty hard. She's in Slave Lake right now. I heard the bishop in our ward told her it would be best if she got baptized up there with her new ward instead of the ward down here. I kind of wished he told Elder Stevens and I that... Now it all makes sense why there was less motivation for her to get baptized these past couple of weeks. It's frustrating but at the same time, I realize that Elder Sanders and I did all that we could and that's what matters. All I can do is hope and pray that she will be baptized up there. This isn't my mission, it's the Lord's mission.

We met with a former investigator this week. He's living with his two girls and his girlfriend who is less active (obviously). He's on parole until November so he can't go to church until then but he still has a good heart and wants to raise his girls right. What better place than this gospel to raise your children? Elder Stevens and I challenged them to have family scripture study and also family prayer each day. We'll see how that goes with them on Wednesday.

We're meeting with a ton of less actives now. Some of the wards are catching onto the Elder Perry Model (Those are the wards where the missionaries are most involved in... Hint, hint!). I'm telling you that the model works when it is done the way Elder Perry has asked us to do it. It is more effective when the members are involved with the less actives than when the missionaries simply knock on their door and ask if we can teach. Follow the counsel of the Apostles! Your ideas may be good but Theirs are right.

We met with Carrie last night. It's been a while but it was good to go over there again. Her friend Bob is excommunicated and her other fellow shipper is a less active. It's good because it's 3 people benefitting from the lessons. Anyways, Elder Stevens and I were going in planning on teaching about the Book of Mormon but it turns out that the Word of Wisdom got brought up so we taught that instead. The Spirit was very powerful. Carrie said she feels like she can't give up coffee because it's the only thing that will cure her headache. We told her about the blessings that come from following the Word of Wisdom and how this is something that came from a prophet and it is something Christ wants us to do. Following the Word of Wisdom shows that we're willing to follow Him and that we want to keep His commandments. We taught about the Book of Mormon eventually but it was kind of interesting how we went in there thinking that we were going to teach one thing but how the Spirit totally helped us teach something completely different than what we were expecting to teach. Man, that's awesome!

Elder Stevens and I are working hard but having a blast at the same time! The Spirit was so strong in that lesson with Carrie. It's an incredible feeling that I feel I can only have wile being a missionary. But guess what! You too can have the Spirit with you. The EQP in one of the wards asked me to give a spiritual thought to the priesthood right when the meeting started. I opened up to 3 Nephi 12 where it talks about being the Light. When you were baptized, you received a special gift and that gift is the Holy Ghost. Because of your righteous choices and remembering your baptismal covenants, you can have the Holy Ghost be with you at all times. Not everybody has that. Not everybody has those feelings of joy and comfort testifying to them that they have a Savior and a Heavenly Father who loves them... but you do. Let them have a taste of what that knowledge can do for them. Let them feel the love that you have been able to feel in your life by following the Gospel. When the opportunity comes for you to tell someone why you are different or why you are so happy, do NOT put the reasons under a bushel. Let them shine because when you do that, you are glorifying your Father who is in Heaven. He loves you and wants all of His children back into His presence. I love you all. Take care!

Love,
Elder Madsen

August 3, 2010

Hey everybody!

So I got my new companion! He is pretty awesome and has an awesome sense of humor. He said last November, he had Thanksgiving with the Natives, so he felt like it was a "legit" Thanksgiving! haha

Wow, time is flying! It's already August! I cannot believe it... and guess what? in 5 weeks, there'll be another transfer! I can't get over how much time flies out here!

So, Jade is moving either today or tomorrow. It's really unfortunate she wasn't able to get baptized but I know that as she continues to read from the Book of Mormon and pray and attends church, she will find that strength and that comfort from the Holy Ghost to get baptized. If all the Lord wanted me to do was to plant that seed, then I'm DEFINITELY okay with that... but there's always that part of you that wants to see her baptized but I guess i need to work on some things in my own life to make my will according to what Heavenly Father's will is. We're teaching Carrie on Sunday! She's reading from the Book of Mormon and praying and is asking questions to her fellowsippers. She hasn't really developed that strong relationship with us quite yet but I have a feeling that she will soon open up to us as we work with her. There are also other investigators we're working with and praying for that we can help bring closer to the waters of baptism... a.k.a. im busy and my mind is racing all over the place.

So, how did your Book of Mormon challenges go? I gave you till the end of the month but the only reason I do that is because if I don't give you a time frame, then you won't do it until I come home so I thought I would give you a generous amount of time. What helps is when you teach each other the backgorund of the Book of Mormon (with the pictures and everything) and testify to each other of how it has helped you in your life and how you were able to gain a testimony of this testament of our Savior. The reason you teach each other before your actual "investigator" is because not only will it help you get rid of the choppiness and the verbal statics in your delivery but it will also strenghten your testimony before you actually share it. I promise you that the Spirit will be with you as you testify of this Book. They might not recognize it but the Holy Ghost will be there. It will guide what you say in the "very moment" (D&C) you will need it.

There's another program in the mission called the 7 day challenge. Basically, we invite familes to share their testimonies with a non member friend in 7 days. This one family (Toth's) were 7 dayed about a month ago with Elder Sanders and I and didn't invite anyone BUT they fasted and kept this challenge in their prayers and their son Austin in Waterton had a 2 hour discussion with his friend about the gospel. The missionaries came over and are now teaching him! Guess who gets to each him now? Yep! Elder Sanders got transferred to Cardston as a zone leader and now he gets to teach the Toth's friend. That's so cool! He gets to teach somebody that came from a seven day challenge he gave! Oh man but now there's this family... the Wetterstrand's! We 7 dayed them and they've been working with 2 people and Sister Wtterstrand taught her hair dresser the plan of salvation while she got her hair done!!! Prayers are real and Heavenly Father is listening and he WILL answer them.

I love you all and I appreciate the e-mails and letters. Some pictures would be nice! Keep me in your prayers as I am keeping you in mine!

Love,

Elder Madsen

July 26, 2010

Hey everybody!

Good news and sad news... Good news: I'm staying in Lethbridge (I love this area) Sad News: Elder Sanders is being transferred to Cochrane (I love him as a companion). My new companion is Elder Stevens so I will tell you all about him next week (p.s. i cant email you till next tuesday cuz august 2nd is a holiday so the libraries are closed)

So this week was kind of interesting. We weren't able to meet with Carrie but we had an awesome lesson with Jade. We taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of Wisdom. The Spirit was so strong and she was answering questions about how our church views the Atonement in a much more different way than any other church on the earth (In my mind, I was jumping!!!) She cant get baptized till this Saturday though because she drank coffee on Tuesday abd she has to be living the Word of Wisdom for seven days but she wants to get baptized which is awesome! Hopefully Elder Sanders and I get to see her tonight because we really do love her and Elder Sanders is leaving. Jade is moving to Slave Lake on August 3rd (never thought i would be sad on Grandma Madsen's birthday). Jade will get baptized though... whether its in Lethbridge or in Slave Lake, I know that. She has way too powerful of a testimony but I'm worried the adversary will continue putting worries and doubts in her head just like how he put worries and doubts in my head right before my mission.

So on Sunday night, there was a special youth fireside with the coach from the movie "Forever Strong". If you havent seen it, WATCH IT!!! (Rudy is in it :)) There were lots of non mebers going so guess what that means... the missionaries got to go! Coach Gelwix has a son that is serving in the Canada Calgary Mission as well. He had some awesome things to say. He said everybody on this earth has a testimony. Everybody who chose to come to this earth stood before Heavenly Father in the Pre-Existance and accepted the plan he had for us. This should change our view and approach around our fellow men. We need to view them as people who already have testimonies but simply need to be reminded of what they already know. How do you remind them of what they already know? Well, how did the Savior remind people of who they were? He reminded everybody that they were a child of our Heavenly Father through love and service. He continues to remind us of who we are even today because the Atonement was not simply an event in the Garden. The Atonement is infinte and eternal (Alma 34) and is always there for us. How are you going to allow the Savior to remind you of who you are? How are you going to change the way you look at other people knowing that they too have a testimony. It may not be as developed as yours but it is there.

I thought it was a cool fireside. Afterwards we got to shake his hand, and he asked me what I learned. I froze. Talk about a deer in the headlights. I took good notes though and pulled out my planner and told him what I just wrote to you. He's a pretty awesome man. It was a great experience.

K, cool experience. We extended a challenge to a family to invite somebody to learn more about the restoration in 7 days (Pretty bold huh?) but this family's faith is incredible (Wetterstrand family) and they actually came up with someone to focus on. Brother Wetterstrand told us we could stop by there (P.s. dont tell a missionary to go ahead and do something just for the sake of telling them because they'll do it. Why? cuz thats what Elder Sanders and I did.) That afternoon we stopped by his house and his neighbor goes, "You dont want to stop by there! His wife just died so he's not up for small talk!!" Elder Sanders goes, "Silly Satan! Get thee hence!!!" nah im just kidding but we did ignore him and John (the man) let us in and we talked for about an hour and he gave us cookies and pop (new term for me). We talked about salmon (thank you mom for cooking salmon because we talked for about half an hour about how we love salmon and we talked about different ways to cook it and i talked about plank salmon and stuff). Anyways, he said he was very impressed with our church on the importance of families to us. We asked if he would like to learn more about it and he said, "Not really," but hopefully he'll let us keep going over there and talking some more so we can develop a realtionship.

So moral of the story, you have the power to cast Satan away. Had we listened to the neighbor, we would have never been able to enjoy that experience. I love you all and continue building your faith. Read Helaman 5:12 (Awesome scriputre when dealing with Satan.

Love,

Elder Madsen

July 19, 2010

Hey everybody,

Well, the adversary is real. We met with Jade and she was getting nervous about her baptism. She is afraid of what her friends will think about her new lifestyle and also is afraid that she won't be able to keep all of the commandments. We weren't able to teach her the 3rd lesson because we couldnt find preisthood (how does that make you feel brethren... next time the missionaries ask you to go to a lesson with them, if you have free time then GO!!! it seriously can make a difference is someone's life). We could only talk on the doorstep but we did tell her that those feelings of doubt and concern are totally natural and that we were grateful that she was taking this seriously. We told her after her baptism that she would be able to enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost which would help her (that's part of the third lesson, so I guess we gave her a little preview of what we were teaching). But what she said was awesome! She goes, "Well, I guess I'll just keep reading this." SHA-WING!!!! She totally has a testimony but I'm not sure if she recognizes it yet. I can't wait till Tuesday and she also said her husband would be there and that he would go to her baptism! So the family's behind her!!! YESSSSSS!!!!

Now the opposition was working very hard with Elder Sanders and I with Carrie. We taught the third lesson. Her member friend said that she was feeling pressured about baptism so Elder Sanders and I thought of some ways to bring it up without pressuring her during our companionship studies. So after teaching about baptism, Elder Sanders delivered the invitation in the kindest, most heartfelt way that made it seem like this was a decision between her and God and that it was up to her. She said she couldn't do the 31st because she is having surgery in September...

Alll we could do was encourage her to continue praying. She said she feels the Spirit as we teach and we notice that she really pays attention as we teach. But there has been a difference between the way she reacted during our first lesson and this past one. Who do you think has been in her head? That's right, before every great spiritual moment, the adversary steps in. He is real and wants to put doubts and worries and concerns in our heads to make us feel like we're inadequate to be able to keep the commandments our Heavenly Father has set for us. It's not just with investigators though, it's with all of us... even prophets. Look at Moses who had the devil appear before him or Joseph beofre he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The adversary tries his hardest to keep the work from going forth. The question is how are we going to face it? During this week, I'd invite you to think of experiences where you have been able to overcome Satan and his forces and how you are going to deal with those trials in the future. Tell me about them. I want to hear your testimonies and solutions to this because Saturday was a rough night for Elder Sanders and I and discouragement was overwhleming us to the point where now we are studying to find ways to be able to overcome the devil and bring hope into other people's lives.

I love you all and I care about each and everyone of you. I find out next week if I'm gettting transferred or not. You are all in my prayers.

Love, Elder Madsen

July 12, 2010

Hello everybody!

Man time is flying by! I'm already halfway through my first transfer. I really hope Elder Sanders and I stay together because we are starting to see success after success. We're purging the area so I'm pretty sure President will let us stay but who knows... i got the package form the Leavitt's. Thank you so much!!! That was definitely a bright spot in both of our days because Elder Sanders was very grateful that I shared some of the goodies with him.

So do you wanna hear about the craziest and most awesome day of my mission so far?!!! So last Monday, we had two investigator appointments set up after P day (you only have time for 2 appointments on P day anyway so this was perfect). Our first investigator, Carrie, was actually a referral form a guy who's been excommunicated (working his way back into the church now). He told us that she's very spiritual and wanted to learn more about our religion. So we went over and there was another lady who is actually inactive but still has a testimony... i think... anyway we got to know her and taught the first lesson. The Spirit was so strong and we shared our thoughts about the power of prayer and it was going AWESOME!!! Then Elder Sanders talked about the restoration and gave the first vision... the spirit was SO strong! I added my testimony and I asked her how she was feeling and was identifying feelings of love and warmth. I testified to her that those feelings were the Spirit testifying to her that what were saying was true and I invited her to be baptized on the 31st. It was quiet and she said, "I think so." My heart jumped!!! And I wish you could've heard the tone of her voice because it wasnt a " Well if you really want me to..." it was a more of a "This is what I want to do" response. Aww it was crazy!!! We gave her a marked Book of Mormon (Mom, youre going to have to ask Elder Owens for a copy of his Book of Mormon Challenge and you'll find out why in a second) and talked about why it was important and asked her to read it. She's such a nice lady and it was incredible feeling. You shouldve seen Elder Sanders and I in the elevator... pounding it and smiling up the ying yang!! Aww it was incredible. So really quickly I offered a prayer of gratitude that the spirit would be there and it totally happened.

Now for the second best part of my day! So Jade is probably the most prepared person to hear the gospel in my life... sorry kevin. We came in and taught her the Plan of Salvation and it was SO awesome because the whole time she was telling us "Wow this makes sense!" and "It's so awesome that now I know my purpose in life." (Why we didnt baptize her that night is still a question to me). You know what else is awesome is that she reads the Book of Mormon everyday and every morning!!! Members don't even do that! Aww she is so amazing and prepared it's awesome!!! She's in our prayers everyday. So after we taught, we asked Jade about her schedule and asked her if the 24th would work for her to be baptized. She said yes!!! She was worried about her husband because he isn't religious and she was worried that he might not go to heaven. We taught her that God looks on the heart and not to make those judgements. We shared ideas and she told us he was a good husband and a good father and tries his hardest to provide for them and we told her how blessed she was to have a companion like that. I told her about Grandpa Slagle and how he wasn't a religious man but how he was still a great father and hard worker and a man of character and integrity and then I told her, "God will recognize those traits and they will stand on his side at that Day". That gave her a lot of comfort and we stressed the importance of following the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is only through the gospel that we can be eternally happy and where we will dwell with our Heavenly Father forever. She had a big smile on her face the entire time.

When Jade said "This makes sense", something at that moment made sense to me as we were teaching. The reason the Plan of Salvation (probably the most complex doctrine in the church) made sense to her is because we really were all there in the Pre-Existence with Heavenly Father. We chose to come to this earth to gain a body and to be tested. We are tested on how well we follow the Gospel and how much we were able to apply the Atonement in our lives. We are on this earth so that we can prepare to meet God again. He wants us back into His presence but we have to make the choice to do so. This all made sense to Jade because she was there when the Plan was presented... just like you were. Although there was a veil placed over us so that we could not remember any of our pre-earth life, the Spirit can bring things to our remembrance. I have a strong testimony that the Spirit brings back to us our remembrance of where we were before this life and testifies the truth of the Plan of Happiness to all of us as we strive to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is exactly what happened to Jade on Monday and it can and does happen to all of us as we live righteously.

Now, we as members of the church are so lucky to have this knowledge. What do you think it would be like if the Spirit brought somebody else's remembrance of the plan into their mind? Another cool thing Jade said was "I dont know what makes me read this everyday but something keeps me interested in it." That interest is coming from the Spirit. Jade is reading a marked copy of the Book of Mormon which highlights the key points of it and allows the Spirit to work more effectively with her. I'd encourage each of you by the end of the month to mark up a book of Mormon in your daily studies and give this copy to a friend by the end of the month. We challenge our members to do it in a week so there's no excuses for you. I know that as you do this, not only will other people benefit from reading the Book of Mormon, but your testimony of its truthfulness and power will increase as you share your testimony and this challenge will help you as you prepare to meet your Heavenly Father. I love you all and you are always in my prayers

Love,

Elder Madsen

P.S. Mom, ask Elder Owens for his copy of the Book of Mormon Challenge and read it. It's incredible and there's a purpose behind the marked book which you will find out as you invite people to read it. Find out what it is