April 4, 2011

Hello family!

O my goodness! So we are sitting in the library emailing and it all the sudden just starting down pouring outside. It is probably some of the hardest rain I have ever seen. It is also like 70 degrees outside which is crazy because it snowed last week. I don't understand the weather here. It's just nuts. We are supposed to have lightning and thunder storms all day today which is pretty crazy. I love hearing and watching it though. I am just glad that I am in for p-day and don't have to go tracting in it. Ha-ha... So this week I got a call from my mission president and he told me that my new release date is July 15. Their is a new mission president coming in and so they are having a seven week transfer so that he can do transfers instead of President Jensen. It will be good though. Transfers are next Thursday. So we will see how that goes. My guess is that I will probably be transferred somewhere else. But we will see. I have been with Sister Lillywhite since January 20th so it will have been 3 months. I had Sister Hazleton for 6 weeks in December.

It sounds like Brigham is doing really well in track! That's awesome! Keep up the good work Brig! I am excited to see you run when I get home. General Conference was amazing this weekend! I absolutely loved it! I loved Elder Holland’s talk to Dad. He is probably one of my favorite Apostles. I loved Elder Uchdorfs talk and Elder C. Scott Grows also. They were all good! I am really excited to come home and start my own family though. It seems like their has been a lot of pressure on that lately. Especially when Elder C. Scott Grow came to our mission. He said that we were to get married when we go home and have children. If we waited until we were done with school or until we had enough money we are not showing our faith in God and that he will help us through it. We watched general conference at the church because we needed to be their if investigators came. Thomas Scarberry came to all 4 sessions. He is so close to baptism but wanted to know if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. He was disappointed that he didn't speak very much but is going to go home and pray about it. He was the only investigator to come to the church but some watched it over their computers. We had another great week of finding and teaching! It seems like the work is really moving forward and that the ward is starting to pick up a little. We taught 28 lessons this week and we have a lot of return appointments for next week. So hopefully we will be able to find a lot of new investigators. It's pretty great because we have to schedule things out to next week because we are so busy. It's just hopefully the people that made appointments will keep them. We seem to have a lot of people cancel at times. Lorraine and Krystal are still on for baptism for April 23! We are excited for them! Keep them in your prayers. Tabby is getting baptized on April 12 and wants us to sing at her baptism. Hopefully we can get permission to go. We started teaching her but she was in another area and so we had to let the Elders take her over. And Whitney should be baptized in the next 2 weeks! She is the one who moved to Arizona. I am trying to think of anything else that has happened this week. We had to drop Bob because he wasn't progressing. He just doesn't have a desire to give up his cigarettes and coffee. It was so heartbreaking though. We were talking to him about it and I just wanted to cry. It's so hard seeing people you love not accept the gospel or not be willing to go far enough. We will still check on him but won't be seeing him 2-3 times a week anymore. We played Bingo with the residents and the nursing home. That was fun! It really is crazy how much you hear as a missionary. It's been kind of a weird week because we go into peoples homes and they trust us and they just load all of their issues on us. I have heard things I have never wanted to hear and then they ask you to keep it a secret. That has happened allot this week and sometimes it is a burden but I know as they tell us these things and we can share scriptures with them it helps them. Then Sister Lillywhite and I just have pillow fights at night to relieve our stress. Or go out to Whit's for frozen custard! SO YUMMY!!! It's been a great week though and I love being a missionary! I wouldn't trade my experiences in for anything! I have learned so much and have loved so many!

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth today! The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ! I know that as we read it daily a power will flow into our lives! Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet on the earth today! The words we heard from general conference are the things our Heavenly Father wanted us to hear! I love the gospel and know its ALL true! You can't pick and choose the commandments you live!

I love you so much! Thanks for all the love and support you give to me! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

Mom that's cool that you have been hanging out with Shauna McBride. Of course I remember her we taught a Sunday school class together.