March 28, 2011

just a short one today... sorry



This week was pretty good. We were able to work with the members with the 7 day challenge quite a bit. A less active found us someone to teach. She has absolutely no fear with sharing the gospel, I guess she just needed someone to prod her a bit. We also had a recent convert (James) who was very excited to talk to his friend about the gospel. 7 daying less actives and recent converts is where it's at.

Elder Reese and Elder Mott met with Bev on Tuesday and finished the Plan of Salvation. She is really depressed right now especially with the passing of her friend this week and she is having some illnesses with her heart again. She didn't make it to church. We got a new person to sit in with us on the lessons and that's going a lot better right now.

We found out from Kristie's (Bruce's common law girlfriend) dad that Bruce still has to divorce his previous wife so his baptism might be pushed back. He was too busy to meet with us during this week and didn't make it church either. We have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday and so the law of chastity is on the agenda for that appointment.

Tiffany and Nick are "back together" again. We talked about baptism and Nick's parents don't want him to be baptized until next year. He said they don't really know what it means so we'll talk to them about it. They are really retaining information well and are progressing very smoothly.

We are working hard still to get those new investigators especially from the less actives. Elder Reese is excited to go home. I better make this the best week of his mission.

Love,
Elder Madsen

March 21, 2011

Hey everybody!

We had a warm week. 7C (40 F). I was ready to put on a short sleeve shirt and ask President if we could wear shorts... just kidding! The snow is back so now we have to be more careful when we drive. Time is flying especially when there's a lot of work going on like this week!

We got a new investigator this week. We were dropping off stake directories to the inactive members in the ward and Bruce McDonald answered the door a couple of weeks ago. He isn't a member and agreed to take the lessons. He's a bouncer at a bar so he works late nights and is available during the afternoon. He's living common law with a less active member, Kristie Turner. He likes to talk a lot especially about his outdoor skills. He's also an MMA fighter and was in the Canadian navy. He's pretty intense. He is Christian and so the first lesson went very well. He understood everything we taught and wants the gospel in his life because of the importance of his family. He has 3 kids and Kristie has 2 of her own so it's a pretty split home. He wants the gospel to bring them together. That's why we were there. He is preparing for baptism on the 16th. He does have word of wisdom issues and doesn't understand all of the rules our church has (especially when he asked us to play xbox) but that's where regular meetings with us come in. He does have a strong desire to come to church. HE was In Edmonton this weekend but he wants to go regularly with his kids.

Bev is having a rough time right now. She didn't come to church so she is now preparing for the 16th as well. She's really sick and is having a tough time understanding why there are so many trials. Our fellowshipper wouldn't really let us talk during the lesson so it was a struggle. She's not keeping her commitments such as praying or reading. We've got to keep loving and being patient with her as she understands what it takes to come unto Christ and finding out if this church is true.

Nick's mom doesn't want Nick to be baptized. He and Tiffany (both have ADHD) are retaining information really well. After we confirmed our appointment in church, Nick and Tiffany "broke up". We still taught Tiffany and she knows about the Godhead, prophets, Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon. It's a matter of repeating ourselves over and over which helps them remember. We also asked her why she would want to pray about Joseph Smith. She said to know if the church is true or not. Then, Elder Reese asked why is that important to which she responded, "So that I can know if this is God's word or not." It seems like there's application of her learning as well.

A common concer I've noticed while teaching is the necessity for commandments? We get questions like, "Why do I have to give up coffee to show God that I love him?" or "It doesn't seem like you guys have a lot of freedom." That second question may be true for missionaries... but it's important to understand why God gives us commandments. Not only are they for our protection and safety but they are also opportunites for us to receive blessings. 2 Nephi 2: 27 says we can choose to follow Jesus (a.k.a. keeping commandments) and recevie liberty and eternal life or we can choose to follow Satan (a.k.a. the natural man, our carnal desires) and have captivity and be miserable. We may be given the freedom to make the choice but we are not given the freedom to choose our consequences. I am so grateful that we have a Heavenly Father who gives us liberty and blessing as we choose to follow Him. Hopefully, if someone approaches you about the "rules" Mormons have, you can use this insight to answer their questions.

I love you and really do appreciate the e-mails and letters I receive. Thank you Brother and Sister McCollumn for the regular letters I receive from you. They mean a lot to me and help encourage to keep working and helping others come to Christ.

Love,

Elder Madsen

On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Kathy and Randy M

March 14, 2011

Hey everybody!

Another chinook came! No winter coats, ice on the roads or snow shoveling this weekend. We got a new bishop yesterday, Bishop Wright. I don't know if I already told you this but he served in our stake. He was on his mission from 2002-2004 so he's a pretty young bishop.

This week was very interesting. We haven't been able to contact Mikhael since last Saturday. We've been calling and stopping by but it's only been a week so we'll see how things go from here. We taught Bev again on Thursday. This lesson went a lot smoother than the first one. She had less tangents to go on and we taught very simply. We got through half of the Plan of Salvation and then went over the Word of Wisdom. She said she can't go cold turkey on smoking and coffee because the doctors said it would be too stressful on her heart. She has a plan where she's going to stop smoking by March 19th. We were pretty concerned about this because her baptism is on the 26th. We encouraged her to do all she can to keep the Word of Wisdom. She wasn't at church on Sunday because of the Dailylight Savings time so her clock was an hour behind. We're meeting with her today and will have to reschedule her baptismal date.

We had an awesome 7 day challenge where the majority of the lesson was where worked with the member to find out how she was going to invite her friend! This is was awesome because this is how 7 day challenges should go. We talked about her concerns and about her friends and how she was going to invite them. It was awesome to see the spirit of revelation work with the member. We're excited to see when we get to teach her friends. It's fun to be able to work with the members. I really enjoy it... but teaching investigators is probably what I prefer.

Now for the part you all really want to hear. Elder Christofferson came on Saturday. The Spirit filled the room as soon as he walked in. We all got to shake his hand which was pretty special. I was waiting and Elder Real (member of the 70) whispers to me, "He's quite a powerhouse huh?" When he shook my hand, I was awestruck. He asked where I was from and then smiled. It was pretty awesome seeing an apostle when they're not in General Conference. Their personality comes out a lot more. He asked a question and a missinary answered his question with a quote from Elder Christofferson. He then said, "Wow, do we have a cookie for this elder?" Some things that really caught my attention was when he talked about salvation. He asked why don't we just dunk a paper with a bunch of people's names on it and then pull it out? Then he said because salvation is individual. We can't rely or blame anyone else that is here on earth. He also said judgement isn't about how many good works we have done but more of what have we become? As he said that, I turned to my Preach My Gospel and worte that down in the Plan of Salvation section. Now I know how I'm going to teach that section. One missionary had a good question which was, "What do we say when people are happy with their religion?" He said ," Find some way to get the Book of Mormon into their hands. Tell them we appreciate your faith and qualities that you have. We're not here to take away your goodness but simply to add to it."

It was a real treat to be able to shake hands and be taught by Elder Christofferson. What an incredible humble man he is. I want you to know that this church is not directly led by men like Elder Christofferson but it is led by the Lord. They are the pure and consecrated servants in which he uses to do His work among the earth. The Spirit confirmed that to me very strongly as I sat there. I love you all. Take care and keep looking for those opportunites to invite.

Love,

Elder Madsen

March 7, 2011

Hey everybody!

Well, this week was pretty interesting! It was definitely a cold one especially with the wind chill going up to -36C. There wasn't a lot of people to talk to on the streets... I wonder why.

This week was pretty good. We taught Mikhael the first lesson in 2 different days. He wants to learn more before he is baptized. Teaching is very slow.He said it takes him 5 minutes to translate one word in the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of desire to learn and is taking it one step at a time as he says. He didn't come to church this week but was at the zone leader's baptism. He says he feels "troubled" about making the step to be baptized.

We met with Bev on Thursday. She's an interesting child of God. She brings up quite a few tangents during the lesson which are easily avoided by the response, "We'll research that during this week and get back to you on that, but what is important to understand now is.." We were prepared to teach the Plan of Salvation but after she started talking about finding her way and where to go, we felt prompted to teach Lesson 1. It went pretty well. She had lots of questions and concerns which drug out the lesson pretty far but we were able to resolve and answer a lot fo her questions. She believes that Joseph saw God and Jesus Christ. We firmed her for March 26th and she said yes! She does have some word wisdom issues and is moving at the end of the month so we'll see how things progress regarding that. She is planning on giving up smoking. We've invited her to church and to the Addicition Recovery Program.

2 of the potentials we found last weekend dropped us (within 10 minutes of each other) which is always frustrating. We worked a lot with the members this week in inviting their friends. It's amazing how when we begin, people feel like there's nobody they can invite. But as we talk about people they could potentially invite, it's amzing how simple an invitation to meet with the missionaries sounds.

I love each of you. It is quite cold up here but I'm doing well. I hope that you're able to find ways to invite your nonmeber friends unto Christ this week.

Love,

Elder Madsen

February 28, 2011

Hey everybody,

Well, the Northeast is a very interesting place. We're right next to the airport and this is Elder Reese's last transfer... joy! His dad is in the Air Force so he's lived all over. He lived in las Vegas during high school and his family is in Virginia and pretty soon, he'll be moving to Alabama. He and I were in the same zone in Lethbridge for my first transfer and we would guard each other in basketball. He's pretty good (Let's just say I didn't do a very good job of guarding him)

I love this area! The members are so awesome and the people are very humble. I've never had people this receptive to us during tracting and contacting. It's a pretty poor area. There's lost of East Indians and there's a Siek (Muslim or Hindi) temple next to our church! We see at least 10 police cars everyday but the Lord is watching over us. These past 4 days, we found 7 potential investigators. Bev Seeward is a referral from a member and is meeting with us tomorrow. She had an out of body experience after a heart attack and said she had a decision to either stay down here or go to heaven. She knows there is a life after this and so the Plan of Salvation will be an awesome lesson to share. We've been applying the 15 minute training and because of that, we were able to find 2 people through tracting who we will be teaching this week as well. Another result of the 15 minute training caused us to visit this part member family where the mom is a recent convert and the dad has been holding her back from attending church. We visited with them and the dad wants to take the lessons now. We'll be teaching them on Wednesday.

This one is something I will never forget. We were sitting in church and the Spanish missionaries call us over. A man from Egypt walked in and asked for a Bible. He said he felt so good to be at church. Elder Reese told him that was God's love for him. I told him if he stayed longer, he would be able to feel more of God's love. You could definitely see Satan working against him because you knew deep down inside, he wanted to stay but he kept saying, "No, I gotta go." Eventually, he saw picture of Christ on the wall and aksed, "Who is this man?" Elder Reese told him about Jesus Christ and He came down to die for our sins. He started crying. "I have too many sins, I can't be in this holy place," and Elder Reese told him that is why we come here, because of our sins so that we can come closer to God. He stayed for Gospel Principles class and sure enough, the lesson was on the Atonement. It was a bit overwhleming for him and he told us he has some questions for us when we meet him tomorrow night!

Miracles are happening here and as we stay obedient and work hard, the Lord will continue to bless us. We've found a potential investigator everyday so far.

I love you and hope there are lots of good things going on down in San Diego. Leaving Banff was pretty rough and Elder Nielsen got his visa. Divine called us after we said goodbye and was crying. She is really going to miss me and wasn't sure why I had to leave. That's a pretty tough thing to answer but all I could say was the Lord wants me in East Calgary so that's where I am. Continue to pray and be diligent in all the commandments.

Love,

Elder Madsen

A Letter from A Member

Hi Everyone,



You have a Wonderful Son up here on a Mission and he is doing a Great Job
and we ALL Love Him!



If I were the two-of-you I would be pretty proud of Keith and his dedication
to his mission.



Last weekend when he was at my place and we were watching Stake Conference
on the Internet, he mentioned your Anniversary to me and I offered to call
you but he said no he wasn't supposed to do that, so I respected his wishes.
But he was thinking of you!



On Tuesday he got transferred to the Calgary East Stake and I really hated
to see him go.



You know, Missionaries come and go, but then there are those special ones
that you feel attached to that you really miss when they get transferred,
and Elder Madsen was one of those keepers.



Your Brother in the Gospel,



Floyd Black

Phone: 1-403-609-5000

22 February 2011

Well, the trio is over! I'm being transferred to East Calgary in the Prairie Winds area with Elder Reese! It's going to be tough leaving this area especially with all of the miracles that we saw this week!

On Friday, we met with Florentino and his best friend Ramil. Ramil is 42 and has a family back in the Phillipines. Last week, we 7 dayed the family and this is the man he invited. We talked to him about the church and got to know him very well. We gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to take the discussions. As soon as we gave him the Book of Mormon, we asked if he would read and pray about it and before I could even finish the question, the Spirit touched his heart and he said, "Yes!" I asked why and he said he felt a comforting feeling in his heart that was overwhelming him. Just goes to show it's not our words but the Lord's. They'll be teaching him on Wednesday (the day I get transferred).

Antoine is progressing. Brother Black brought him to Calgary for stake conference. He loved it. The Spirit was so strong and his favorite part was the "testimonies by the young people". The youth are so powerful, they should never underestimate the power they have. We taught him about Joseph Smith and he believes that he is a prophet of God because he knows the Book of Mormon is true after praying about it! His main concern is the word of wisdom and we talked about the times when he feels the strongest urges to drink coffee and alcohol. He identified them and set goals to see how he can accomplish this commandment. He is still preparing for March 12.

We got a call from Sister Mooney and she invited her friend at work to stake conference. They watched it and she loved it and wants her family to take the discussions. They'll have a first lesson on Saturday (again, after transfers).

The work is prgressing and it is blatently obvious that it's the Lord leading and guiding all of us who are working together to those people who are prepared to learn more. Elder Brimhall of the 70 from Colorado came to stake conference and then gave us a training afterwards. He gave us each a copy of our mission call letters and we read it. He said when we got our calls, the only things we cared about were where we were going, the language we were speaking and when we would leave. Now we read the paragraphs that mattered. I was overwhelmingly reminded of why I am out here and who I am representing.

I love each of you and hope that all is going well for you. I pray for you and know that prayers have been offered in my behalf as well. Elder Brimhall gave a great analogy of how we need to be patient with God. He said imagine you are standing on the sidewalk of a busy intersection. Across the street, you notice an exact point of where you want to go and immeditaely, you want to cross the street and go straight to it. But there are cars flying by and so God directs us to go to the corner where we can cross safely. But in our minds, we're thinking, "Why am I going over here, that's not what I where I want to go," when in reality, it is the only way we can reach that point safely. Often times, we have challenges that we wonder ,"Why do I need this? This is not the path I want to go!" and he said we pray that our challenges go away. Elder Maxwell said you need to be careful when you pray for challenges go away because you may also be praying for blessings to go away as well.

Love,

Elder Madsen