April 19, 2011

We got 2 brand new investgators in the past 2 days. Nicole (French lady we saw riding bikes with her kids at the church parking lot) wanted to hear a message about the Book of Mormon. She is completely against the Catholic church and knows a French speaking member in our ward... can you say "The Lord placed her in our path"? We went over on Sunday after church with 2 French Book of Mormons and Bro Joly talked to her quite a bit and they had a good relationship with each other. We taught the 2nd half of L1 and emphasized the Apsotasy. We taught about the Book of Mormon and how we can know if it's true. Then as we taught about how the Book of Mormon brings us closer to Christ, we also taught about baptism. The member then said, "The best converts wait 20 years to be baptized." We thought to ourselves, "well wait till you hear the date the Lord wants." We firmed her for May 14. Bro Joly's head turned so quickly I thought it would fall off. She said she wants to learn more first and accepted the soft firm. Later that day, we were walking and saw her. We asked what she thought about the lesson and she loved it and read 50 pages of the Book of Mormon that day! She said it is a lot clearer to understand than the Bible. We'll keep you posted on her.

Sherry was a lady we ran into last week from following the 15 minute rule. She's had a rough past (divorces, addictions) and wants a clean start. Well what better lesson than the doctrine of Christ. Elder Hansen and I went in there and listened to her and the concerns she had. She's making a lot of mistakes but the Spirit told us to listen to her and let the Holy Ghost tell her to shape up, not us. As we taught she understood that what she was doing was wrong. We taught about Christ and repentance. We taught her you need to forsake your sin in order to repent. She understands now the steps she must make in order to fully come unto Christ. The Spirit was really working with her especially as we read through the doctrine of Christ. We firmed her for May 14th and she accepted. We have a lesson with her on Wednesday.

We had a cool experience with planning. We planned everyday for the upcoming week for Nick's parents to come to church. Then, Nick's dad showed up unexpectedly. He stayed for all 3 hours and loved it. He said he is going to come back every week and wants a lesson on Thursday. He has a lot of questions but trusts us as missionaries that we will answer his questions.
We also have a lesson with Seerad for this upcoming Saturday. We are busy, busy, busy! Elder Hansen has incredible faith and motivation. He is a wonderful missionary and knows where his priorities are. He is definitley internally motivated and I learn a lot from his humility. I'm really doing my best to become spiritually converted unto Christ.



Elder Scott visitng us was a real treat. Elder Brimhall was his companion (the one who gave us a training in February). Elder Birmhall said power comes from 3 sources, faith in Christ, obedience, and sacrifice. Elder Scott was very powerful as he taught. I beleive there is a problem with the church and people getting married because Elder Scott told us that right after our missions, we need to get married. You know it's a problem when they're telling missionaries to start looking for wives. He, President and Elder Brimhall taught about the importance of being spiritually converted unto Christ. We all have external motivations in our lives but are we following Christ because of those reasons. Are we only doing the things we're supposed to for the praise of men. Now, I'm not saying that all external motivations are evil. If it wasn't for the positive motivation that David, Lisa and Dad gave me from their missionary expereinces, I'm not sure I would be out here. But eventually, there is going to come a time in our lives where those external factors will be removed. Then where do we turn to? We must be internally and spirtually converted unto Christ because He will always be there for us. He loves us and wants what is best for us. What He wants in turn is our hearts. We're not asked to walk across a 2000 mile prairie floor. We aren't asked to break our china to make temples. We are asked to give a broken heart and contrite spirit. I promise you that by being spiritually converted unto Christ, we can receive more of His love and understand His will more and more.



There is nothing better than hearing an Apostle bear witness of Christ. Elder Scott said that in order to become an Apostl, you can no longer have a belief or hope that Christ lives, but a knowledge. The Spirit was so powerful and I'll never forget that day where I heard an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ bore witness of Him. He said, "I say this accepting full responsiblity from Father in Heaven for what I am declaring for I fear no rebuke."



Love,
Elder Madsen

April 11, 2011

Hey everyone!



Well, as we're faithful and obedient, we can see a miracle a day and sure enough we did this week. We had very effective 7 days with members and they've been taking the challenges seriously. It's just a matter of time before we'll be teaching a member referral. We found at least 6 potential investigators through our own efforts as a result of beind diligent with our planning and being where the Lord has wanted us. We ran into 2 teenagers, Chrsi and Joel, and talked to them about the importance of families and Jesus Christ. They gave us their addresses and phone numbers and as they drove off, they honked and waved to us. We'll be teaching their family this week. Yesterday, as we were following our plans, we walked by a group of people hanging out on their porch. We passed by and stopped by our place on our plans and came back to those people again. We waved and they waved back (wave back= go get em!) so we talked. They thought we were people from the elections but we explained how we were messengers from Jesus Christ. They let us talk to them. There were 2 black guys that were drinking and smoking that I talked to and Elder Hansen, in a seperate conversation, was talking to the lady next to them. I remember teaching them about Joseph Smith and the First Vision and I could hear Elder Hansen talking about the Word of Wisdom to the lady. 2 lessons at one time! The people I was talking too were definitely tipsy but the lady Elder Hansen was talking to sounded sincere. We'll be teaching them this week as well! Miracles!!!

We got a media referral for a muslim named Seerad. He has a family and requested for an Urdu Book of Mormon (I guess God will get the gospel to ANY language). We gave it to his son and came back on Saturday and Seerad thanked us so much for the book. He has been reading it and actually comprehended that it was written on gold plates. There is a language barrier and he also works out in Rocky Mountain Village (somewhere up north) and is only available on weekends. He is coming to church on Sunday and we'll be teaching him soon as well. At church, we saw a casually dressed Middle Eastern man (from Sri Lanka) named Bertram. He sat in the back and almost left before sacrament meeting... but we caught him. He's Protestant and has a duaghter and gave us his address. He said he'll bring his daughter next Sunday but he also has a language barrier. We need the gift of tongues or something.

We met with Bruce again (also because of being diligent with planning) and set up a lesson with him for Saturday. Bev is in the hosptial and has requested a blessing! We met with Nick's parents and told them about baptism. They want to come to church and see what it's like... Elder Hansen just got someone to go to church just now while I was e-mailing... wow!

There are lots of miracles happening and I know the Lord's hand is in all of them. Elder Hansen is very humble and willing to learn. I just hope that I can be a good example and help him to start his mission off in the right footstep. The district is doing well. There are lots of miracles waiting to happen as well with the other companionships.



Thank you for the birthday presents!!! The electric razor is awesome!!! I got a birthday cake and card from the Bunka's which was awesome! Elder Scott is coming to the mission on Monday in Ft. McLeod because his flight got delayed. I love all of you, please continue to pray for me.



Love,

Elder Madsen

April 5, 2011

Thats awesome about David and Cheryl and HAM!!! YEAAAAHHHHH!!! I just need one more married and maybe a couple more nephews and the mission will be fulfilled!!! Congratualtions!!! Just do everything you can to make sure that everyone in our family is attending the temple as much as possible. I miss it... I really do. I am grateful to be able to do the work for people that are living but there is a special spirit of protection in the House of the Lord.



Love,

Elder Madsen



P.S. I got 2 packages from you and one from Grandma. Thank you so much!!! I'm excited to open them!

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Keith Madsen wrote:

Hey everybody,



Well Elder Reese is going home but there's good news... I'm training and going District Leader!



This week was really rough. Elder Reese was very excited to go home. General Conference was amazing! I hope you all remember the Spirit you felt as you listened to prophets of God counsel us in these confusing times. I hope you all listened to the talk by Elder Johnson of the 70 where he talked about afflictions. He said great and troubling times precede the greatest and most spiritual experiences of our lives. The Nephites went through 3 days of darkness before the Savior came, the Saints traveled across the great plains before they had a temple that would stand through the Millenium, Elder Mercado and I went through several rejections and very challenging experiences before we met the San Juan family. Of course, the most climatctic event was the Savoir's atoning sacrifice in Gethsemane and Calvary before He broke the bonds of death. Whenever we go through these tough times, we need to remember that revelation comes after obedience, not the other way around. Laman and Lemuel received angels when they were not obedient and look how they turned out. Be grateful that God is perfect and all knowing because He knows exactly what we need in our lives. He is there for us.



We met witha less active who is going through a rough time. We asked if she was reading or praying her scriptures and she said she was too overwhelmed to do so. Something profound came to both of us and we said that the times when you feel like you don't want to pray are the times when you need to pray the most. Try it, what have you got to lose? It's something that has helped me in the hardest times of my life. He is listening and will answer.



Love,

Elder Madsen

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