Week 19, December 19, 2016

Hi Everyone

Christmas is around the corner and it's really hard to actually expect
that Christmas is here without any snow. The weather is good during
the day but recently I leave the apartment in a sweater. Everyone says
in February it gets way worse but people in California are used to
really nice weather so I don't know if they're exaggerating or not.
On Saturday I got a call from the bishop saying I would have to give a
talk. That was really cool. I can finally relate to you Dad when you
had to do the same thing on your mission. I woke up in the middle of
the night because I was so stressed that I paced the room for hours
practicing what and how I was going to say it. I was exhausted, I didn't
get much sleep.
The area is doing a lot better than a couple of weeks ago. I have
two new companions that have been on their missions a long time and
you can see the difference experience makes based on the numbers. My
new companions are really nice and fun. They like to be kept busy. I'm
trying real hard to learn everything I can from the amount of time I
have with them.
We have a lot of new investigators and a lot of them have potential.
Patrick who got baptized last week has fellowshiped a couple of lessons
and he thinks it's so cool. Right now he's planning on college but I
think if we take him out enough he'll figure out he wants to go on a mission.
Also our ward gave us a big bag of Christmas presents. This ward is
really supportive of the missionaries. I get fed every day so I hope
that gives you some comfort mom.

Elder Madsen 🐡

Week 18, December 12, 2016

Hey transfers were this week but Patrick got baptized on Saturday so I'm gonna talk about that first. Patrick asked his friends in the ward to participate in his baptismal service and it was so fun and super spiritual. He asked Sam to give a Holy Ghost talk and Katie to give a talk about baptism but they both ended up giving baptism talks and Elder Byam gave a quick Holy Ghost talk on short notice. Patrick loved it. It defiantly was a day that he can always look back on see how his life really started. After the baptism an investigator we had came up to Patrick and asked him about the baptism and he bore his testimony. It was way cool.  Right after he was baptized he talked about how good he felt and how excited he was to be baptized. Patrick is really on the right tract for a kid his age.

We took Chica to the visitor center yesterday. Chica told us in a past lesson that she went there before and she loved it. Chica had a great time where she learned that family can be together forever and that meant a lot to her since her Dad passed away and she didn't handle it very well.

Elder Madsen 🐡

Week 17, December 5 2016

Hey! This week has been pretty fun! We've been working really hard in the Creekside Ward. 
We have a scheduled baptism this week for Patrick. If all goes well I'll be able to tell you guys 
about it next week. Patrick is a 17 year old kid and his parents don't belong to any religion so 
it's kinda weird that he was interested at the beginning. He's good kid and follows all of the 
Commandments. Except for coffee. He drank coffee before but after we taught him the word 
of wisdom he went cold turkey on coffee and stopped. He's a really good kid all over. 
Of all things, he was a street contact too. I'm excited to see what comes of Patrick in the future.

It's kinda weird to think that it's already December and Christmas is around the corner. Time is
going by pretty fast. It's weird to walk outside in December and have it be hot outside too. 
I really miss the snow.  Everyone keeps on saying that it's gonna get cold here but I don't know. 

In ward council our Bishop brought up that our church got invited to an inter faith council made 
up of ministers and priests to talk about the problems of the community and that he couldn't go.
Elder Byam volunteered us to go. We just got a call yesterday saying that we got two seats at 
this meeting. I don't know what to expect but that's gonna be interesting. 

Elder Madsen 🐡

Week 16, November 28, 2016

Hello Everyone

This was my first week in my new area.  The new ward I'm serving is the Creekside ward, it covers Walnut, a little bit of La Puente, and West Covina. It's a lot nicer than my last one, but I loved it there. We have twice as many members that come to sacrament meeting than in El Monte. There's a lot more hills so we take the bus. I thought taking the bus was gonna be worse but the buses take us mostly everywhere we need to get to and we can talk to people on the bus so I think I'm a fan of busing now.

It's been bad weather for California the last couple of days. It's only been like I light drizzle and sweater weather. It was really hard to contact anyone because everyone thinks it's too cold to be outside in 60 degree weather. Haha, it's unreal.

This week I met our investigators. We have Patrick who is  17 years old and is close to kids in the ward. He has a baptismal date for December 10. He's really excited about the steps he's taking in life. You can tell he's really happy when he comes to church and when we talk about Jesus Christ. All I can say about him is that he's a really good kid that understands life, and he realizes what he has to do.

My thanksgiving on my mission was really cool! We went over to some members for lunch. We helped them make the pie and it was all very cool. They live next to us and they were missing a lot of stuff because they just moved in so we had to run back and forth from our apartment to grab stuff they needed because all they're stuff was still boxed up. It's was really cool and really fun.

We also had people ask us to come over for dinner too. Their names were the Stanfords. Sister Stanford has a catering business and her thanksgiving dinner was the bomb. We played a huge version of Jenga. In my mission we're not allowed to play board games or games with cards so Jenga was great. 

Elder Madsen 🐡

Pictures of the week:

Week 15, November 21, 2016

Ha, well a nearby companionship was having problems so I got Emergency
transferred since last time I sent an email. They let me know during
Preisthood on Sunday that I had to report to my new area by 4:30 so
right after church I had to run to the apartment and pack. I managed
to say goodbye to a couple families I have gotten close to while I've
been in El Monte. My companions and I took a companionship photo
before I left because we were all pretty tight and worked really well
together.
There was a really cool sunset the other day and I managed to take a
picture of it.
The new companion I'm with burned a shirt and a tie because he hit his
year mark. He is really tight with the ward and he let me
know that we get fed pretty regularly unlike my last ward so that's
something cool about this week haha. All I know is that my new area is
bigger than  my last area, I'll figure it
out all this week.

Burning the shirt and my new companion Elder Byam

Week 14 November 14, 2016

 Hi Guys,

This week has been a pretty fun week!
I'm doing good. Trying to find some investors but I'm good.
While we were teaching a less active family in their front yard a
helicopter flew over and began circling with a huge spot light pointed
down at the ground. After we ended our lesson we went to go check
it out and there were four cop cars blocking the street so no one could
get past and there was a crowd there so we took a selfie and left.

This week we got two investigators to go to church so that was really cool!
They both loved it so it was a cool experience. There wasn't a whole
lot of spiritual experiences this week so I'm sorry I didn't put them
in my letter.

The Mission President just changed the rules so now we can listen to
anything that goes with the standards of the white handbook.  I'm
excited to listen to more music.


Elder Madsen

Week 13 November 7, 2016

This week has been pretty good!  I'm getting along with my companions

really well.  We laugh a lot.

I gave my companions hair cuts this week. It's a lot of fun. There's never
really a dull moment. The hardest part is trying to teach because we
keep on interrupting each other because no one knows who's turn it is
to talk. Also my companions went the next day to get their 

haircuts fixed by the barber!! I cut my own hair and it was pretty good. 

Haha

Elder Madsen

Week 12 October 31, 2016

I am officially done being trained! I am a regular missionary now. I'm still way way new and I'm sure I'll continue to learn a lot to the very end of my mission as well. 

It's transfers week this Halloween and they don't like us out after dark so we will probably only be able to be out talking with investigators until 5pm. That'll be new,  but it'll defiantly let me be able to get caught up on a lot of stuff.

Elder Phillips got moved to La Canada. I know it's a goofy name but we are told it is the wealthiest ward in the world... going from El Monte to La Canada will be a big change for him.

Right now I have two companions. Elder Stucki and Elder Allard. They're pretty cool.  I'm excited for this new experience.

We haven't been able to go down over to Stevens house this week it was pretty busy. I really wanted to get over there as soon as possible but we had transfers....I'm excited  to go and see him  and some other people too, and introduce my new companions.

Elder Madsen

Week 11 October 24, 2016

10/23

Today could have been the highlight of my mission. I'm trying to figure out what could beat today and I don't know how anything could. Steven got baptized today.  We found out on Wednesday that it was going to be today so since then we've been calling everyone from the ward to play some part in his baptism.  We couldn't get a hold of anyone the first couple of days... we were so worried that we thought we might have to scrub it or that Elder Phillips and I would have to do give all the talks. That would have been really sad because it wouldn't be all that special. That's ok if we had to, because we would do it but it wouldn't be really special for Steven, and we wanted the ward to support him so that he'll keep on coming. One by one we were finding each person to do their part and it was really cool, because after we explained that we needed them to participate in Stevens baptism they were excited to help. A lot of people in the ward really love Steven because he shared his testimony in sacrament meeting.  This morning when we showed up to ward council they asked us if there was a baptism today and we said yes and they asked who's it was and we said Stevens and they got all pumped. We got a couple of them to participate too. (We didn't even have everybody ready the morning of the baptism...) During sacrament meeting we had the counselors announce it so everyone knew about it. During that time we finished getting all the people we needed. Everyone was willing to help when they found out it was for Steven. This was his third time he was at church. I don't understand how he's gotten the ward to love him so much but he did. Also during sacrament meeting he talked with us and said he didn't know who would be coming to his baptism.   He doesn't have a lot of friends and his girlfriends parents wouldn't let her come. He didn't think his family would come. Stevens a cool kid I don't understand it.   After sacrament Stevens Mom was gonna come and pick him up to go get breakfast but she was still kinda far away so we decided to print out a program and give it to her to kinda nudge her to his baptism today.  We still didn't know who was going to baptize him so Elder Phillips asked and Steven asked me to do it.  I love Steven!  I'm coming to visit him after my mission and he could even go on his mission.. I could go through the temple with him while I'm on my mission! 

After we got everything ready and we were waiting for Steven and everyone else to arrive he texted us and said he found a ride and was on his way. Elder Phillips and I got excited because usually we have to do that. We thought maybe his Mom had brought him you know. We walked outside and his whole family was with him and they were really dressed up. I was so happy.  I think they all got off work somehow to show up and support Steven. I didn't think any of them were really that supportive because they would never talk to us before and they weren't planning on coming. The fact they showed up was one thing but that they dressed up and looked really nice made it even more supportive in a way.  After he introduced us to the rest of his family we went inside and we took him to the dressing room and he said that all at once his family dropped what they were doing. We had all of the cool leaders that get along with the missionaries and the ones that get along with Steven really well to speak at his baptism. So many people ended up coming that we had to get more chairs from other room and it almost beat how many people show up to sacrament meeting... no joke.

When the time came for me to lead him to the font he asked if he could say something and I told him for sure and sat back down and he went up to the podium and bore his testimony. The spirit was so strong. He shared how his brother showed him the Book of Mormon then left and he was really sad because he didn't think he was gonna see it again. Then we showed up within the week. He said how we are his friends and not only that, but that we were his savior too. He said that we were a great example of "I am my brothers keeper" and that was what my talk was on last Sunday. He knew that would make me cry so he said it. But that was really dope. He made the whole room cry. The spirit was so strong. After that I lead him to the font and baptized him. We went back to the dressing room and and changed. Elder Phillips was there and it was cool to kinda have a one on one talk with him after he got baptized. He was no longer an investigator he was my best friend. I'd say he was my friend while he was still an investigator but now we just seem so close. Does that make sense? 

When everything was all done his mom came up to us and thanked us. That was a new experience.  I told her that it was a privilege that we were the ones to get to know Steven. The ward and everyone talked with him and he went around the room and thanked everyone for coming. We found out that his sisters are interested in the gospel now so we'll be going by their house a lot more now. We said goodbye and he was the last one to leave.  We cleaned up and went back out and started proselytizing again.

Week 10 October 17, 2016

Hey guys! I just went through the temple this morning!! It was so
cool! It's huge and and really pretty!! I only get to go twice a year
so it looks like I only have 3 more times to go to the temple before I
get home. That's kinda weird. Anyways it was such a cool experience to
get to be inside the temple while on my mission.  The guy that took us
too was pretty cool.
He's an old guy that can't hear well and he had a stroke in his eyes or
something so it makes it hard for him to see while he's driving. (he
told us that while we were on the highway haha) After that he told us how
he's on this diet his doctor put him on.  He took us to this Italian
place where we ate a ton of lasagna, pizza, and cheesecake. In the
middle of lunch we asked him if it was ok for him to be eating there with
his diet and he said of course.  He's a good guy.
Steven came to church as many times as he needed to be baptized. We
just need to teach him all the lessons now and get him interviewed. He
doesn't feel ready yet because he understands what a big commitment it
is. He does want to be baptized though.

We met a guy the other night and his dad just passed away and we gave

him the Book of Mormon and asked him to read 2 Nephi 2. 

He asked us to read it right there with him that was pretty cool. 

Also an excommunicated guy we met at a park tried to explain to us how the 

church was false and we've been having lessons with him for a week. 

He now accepts the church to be true again. 

Elder Madsen

Week 9 October 11, 2016

Hola,

A lot of miracles have happened this week. People seemed to have come out from under rocks

that are interested in the church,and our current investigators are making really good progress. 

Steven bore his testimony yesterday for the first time at church and shared his story on the 

Book of Mormon. He brought the Holy Ghost to the sacrament meeting. Peter came to church

and he doesn't really speak a lot of English but he was happy to be there at church. We have 

some new investigators who have a baptismal date already from other missionaries who referred 

them to us.  I am excited to see where everything is going.

Over the passed couple weeks my companion and I have been stopping by a less active 

member's house. I haven't met him before and my companion hasn't met him either. He's been 

assigned to this area for about 4 transfers so this guy and his family has been missing for awhile. 

Every time we stop by his family say he's not home and he's at work but can never give us a set 

time when he is home for us to stop by. I don't know why we had decided to stop by this time but 

he was home. He was more than happy to invite us in too. Over the next hour he told us his 

conversion story and how because of his work and his wife's work they hadn't been able to attend 

church but last week both him and his wife's scheduled changed so they're now free on weekends.

Him and his wife were talking about how they wanted to get back into going to church. That was 

yesterday morning before church started, but they missed it. Then we visited them after they 

missed it and he was so grateful to see us and said how he saw it as a true blessing.

Love Elder Madsen

Week 8, October 3, 2016

Conference weekend was really cool! I watched conference just at the church building.

My companion and I actually were the ones that had set everything up for the English

ward that I am in.  The Spanish ward had the chapel and my ward had the overflow

and we just closed it off with the curtain and all was good.  The wards had a barbecue

on Saturday and invited us to go and eat with them and then on Sunday the Elders for

the Spanish ward live next to the church so they had us over. 

I'm teaching a couple people right now. The first kid is Steven and he's really cool.

He's 17 and his older brother is taking lessons in Reno and told him about us and

had his missionaries send us Stevens information. He's pretty cool. He wants to get 

baptized in a river! He's pretty earthy but that's ok cause he's cool. He loves the

Book of Mormon and we've given him specific chapters to read to help him understand

certain stuff. He kinda doesn't understand the linage of the prophets and he wants to

know about Nephi so we'll have him read the Book of Mormon from the beginning again.

Steven is wondering whether or not to wait until he's 18 to get baptized so we asked

him to have a question going into conference and see if it get answered. 
After conference we asked him about it and if his question was answered and he said it was.

Elder Phillips and I got really excited and he told us his answer..... his question wasn't

even if he should get baptized now or to wait. It was on if he should still keep the same

career choice. That's totally Steven though and we love him so it's ok.

Another guy is named Peter. He's from Vietnam and we had to order the Book of Mormon

in his language and pamphlets too. He's teaching us Vietnamese at the same time so

when I come home I'll be able to speak English, hopefully a lot of Vietnamese and a lot of Spanish!

Love Elder Madsen