Sister Madsen's Mission Blog: Week 34

What a great week! We had to do a lot of walking this week since we were getting to the very end of the month and we were low on miles. We walked about 6 miles which wasn't bad and we were able to visit a few people. One lady we visited was Madeline. She lost her husband at the beginning of the year and she opened the door with a tissue in her hand. It seems like every time we see her, she is crying. It is so sad to see her like that and also that she is hesitant for us to teach her. i hope that as we continue to love her that she will open up.

We ate dinner at a members house and they had a fancy Steinway piano. they let me play that piano and it was great :) I love getting to play so many different pianos on my mission.

On Friday we had a movie night where we tried to invite a bunch of investigators and members. We watched 17 Miracles. Lisa and Gracie didn't end up coming because of trouble with their car. We did find something interesting though. At the beginning of the movie, it mentions the Donner party and Lisa (our investigator) is actually related to them! Small world. We have been progressing well with Lisa and Gracie but we did finally find a road block - tattoos and piercings. so far they have been accepting all our messages but Lisa really had a hard time when we talked about this. She says she will pray about it. i hope that the Lord will be able to soften her heart and help her understand. Lisa is still meeting with us and we are planning on having her and her daughters over at the Bishop's house for dinner tonight so hopefully all with go well. I knew that there had to be something for us to struggle at. their swift progress seemed just too good to be true. But I won't let it get me down. They still have a baptismal date for the 13th and I know they will get baptized. It will just take more prayer, preparation, and fasting. Lisa did get a priesthood blessing on Sunday morning to help her to stop smoking. She said that she was trying to hold back tears during it. it was a cool moment.

Mission Conference was AMAZING! I can't believe that I have been able to see 3 Apostles in less than 2 months! I am super lucky! I have 5 pages worth of notes and I keep reading them over and over again. One of my favorite things Elder Christofferson taught us was about 2 Nephi 2:13. This is one of my favorite chapters and i loved how he broke down this scripture. He talked about how the world tries to get of misery bu getting rid of the law but if you get rid of law then there is just chaos. the way to get rid of misery is through the Atonement of Christ. It was really cool how he tied it together. Sister Christofferson taught us about 2 Kings 4:1-7. It was really cool too. he bore a beautiful witness and testimony of our calling and blessed us that we will be eloquent as we testify of Jesus Christ. So cool!!!!! I wish I had a hour to talk about all he did. I didn't realize how funny he was though too :). At one point he told us to stand and stretch because we had been sitting for a long time. We all quietly stand and then he started mimicking the head shoulder knees and toes song.

Some funny quotes from him that day:

"Two apostles, in two months. You are either really good or really bad. Which is it?"

"I look around the 12 and see a couple of oxygen tanks and a wheelchair and think . . . . that's my future."

"Now you can ask some questions . . . . Nothing about the 3 Nephites though. they never call; they never write."

So much other stuff happened I don't know how to summarize it all. Good news: I get to go to the temple next transfer!! yay! i will hit my 8-month mark on Sunday. It has gone by so fast.

Love you all!!!!!!!!!