February 21, 2011

Hey Family!

Happy Birthday MOM! I hope that you have fun skiing! Are you doing anything else fun! I will send a package off tomorrow! The post office was closed today! I love you so much! Thanks for all that you do! I did get the card you sent thanks!

We were actually able to find a library that was open on President's day and so we are ending our p-day emailing! We just had a wonderful day! Since it is President's day and the kids have school off and it's our p-day we set up a fun day with the Trauntveins! This morning we drove out to their home and then we headed to Berlin, OH. It is the most populated town with Amish in it in Ohio! It was so much fun! It was about an hour drive out there and we stopped and took some pictures and then we went to a cheese factory and tasted about 40 different kinds of cheese! Then we went across the street and there was a little bakery and we tasted their breads and some other treats! We went to an Antique store and another grocery store with Amish things in it. It was a whole day of Amish! It's fun seeing them out in their horse and buggy's, the house with no electric, and their dresses and beards. It would be such an interesting way of life. Sadly it started out raining and then started snowing and so it was cold and we weren't able to see to many Amish just out and about. But it was a really fun experience! And it's just nice to be with cousins and family and be able to get to know them a little more! What missionary ever just get's to go on a little road trip with family. I am pretty lucky! The Trauntviens are such a great family! After we get done emailing we are actually going to go and eat dinner with them and have Family Home Evening over there! Last p-day was also great! The Nerf Gun War was so much fun! We were able to set up dividers in the church gym and just go at it! Sister Lillywhite and I even won a round! We had darts all over the place! It was hilarious!

Anyways... let's see what else has happened this week. We had a pretty good week as far as teaching goes. We were able to teach 25 lessons. We are still working with Krystal towards baptism. There a few things she still is working on over coming but she knows it's true. We are teaching her friend Chasity and her boyfriend Greg and they both accepted a baptismal date of March 26! They are really excited! Except their it the law of chastity problem. They will either have to move out or get married. They are planning on getting married eventually but if they want to get baptized on that date they will need to do it sooner that later. Who knows... maybe we will have another fast wedding! HAHA... Bob is doing well. He would get baptized if he could quit smoking and drinking coffee. It's so hard for him though! He is trying! We are working with some less actives that seem to be coming along a little. The Haltoms are pretty active now which is exciting! Whitney Stevens one of my favorite investigators is moving to Arizona :( she and her husband are separating and so she is moving in with her mom! She was getting so close to! Hopefully she will continue to meet with the missionaries in Arizona. I just hope that her mom's heart is softened and she will let her.

This week we had a few really warm days and I was so excited because I thought spring was coming early! I was able to only wear a light jacket and no boots! But then today we got ice and snow! BLAH! I will be excited when spring comes! I can't believe that Brandon Hustead will be putting his papers in soon! That just doesn't even seem realistic! When does Christian leave on his mission? Thanks for forwarding Kimber's email! I love hearing about her! I am so glad that she made the decision to serve! I strongly encourage all young women to go! It's been the best experience ever! I LOVE IT! You should encourage your young women!

Lance is really really busy with work and school! His car broke down the other day and doesn't have the money to get it fixed. I am not sure what he is doing for a vehicle. But we are still in contact when we can write. He sent me flowers for Valentines Day! They were really cute! I took pictures :) If he plans on it... I still plan on dating him when I get home!

I haven't read the 4th missionary talk! It sounds really great though! I would love a copy!

Time's up though! I love you so much and I hope that you have a great week!

Love ya!

February 14, 2011

Hey Family!

It's been another amazing week! Saturday was one of the best days of my mission! I was able to find a ride down to Chillicothe to Sarah Posey's baptism! It was amazing! I was able to see a lot of members of the Greenfield branch! I loved it! I was so excited and happy! The smile on my face was so big! I was sitting their watching her baptism and I was filled with joy to the point I thought I was going to burst! Alma 26:24-25! Exceedingly Great Joy in the Fruit of your Labors! It was the best to see the Posey's and the members of that branch! I truly love them so much! It was great because they had me get up and give a special talk/testimony and I said the closing prayer. Then we went to dinner with the Posey family afterwards! All the family is baptized now except the father. But he is getting closer! He is actually willing to take the discussions from the missionaries now and he comes to church a couple times a month. I am determined that they will be sealed together as a family and I will come back to Ohio for that occasion! Friday was also a great day! We had zone conference which was really great! I love getting together as missionaries with President and Sister Jensen! I learn so much as we all gather together! It was a really great conference! The spirit was almost overwhelming! We learned more about mormon.org and we each got our own district 2 DVD’s and we are supposed to have companionship study for 2 hours a few times a week using them! It's a new training program that they are piloting in our mission! I am so excited! Then we also went on exchanges Friday night. Sister Pettigrew came to Mound builders and we were able to get some great work done! Its fun getting to know other Sister's a little better also! We were able to find a couple new investigators this week. Mary Ferrell was a former investigator and then Chip is Bob's friend and really wants to learn and grow! It's pretty awesome! Crystal is having a little bit of a rough time. Her sister just had premature twins and one died yesterday. It was really sad for her and she just isn't sure she wants to make this much of a commitment but she is still willing to meet with us and knows it's true. All of our other investigators are doing pretty good. We just keep trying to get them to keep their commitments and come to church.

Today for Valentines Day we are getting together with our district and we are going to have a nerf gun war in the church gym! I am pretty excited ha-ha... then we will also just play games and have some fun!

Mom, I don't really care what bedroom I get. Hopefully I won't be home too long anyways. I will be happy with anything.

Brigham, that's good that you are healing well. That's cool that you are doing track. You have always been very good at that. How is work, school, and friends? What do you do these days? Are you working on your eagle or am I going to get the car when I come back! I love you! Be good and Read in Preach my Gospel and the Scriptures!

Caleb, that’s awesome that you want to do basketball! You will be great at that! I love you and miss you! How is school and your friends? Are you preparing to go on a mission?

I love you family! I hope that you have a great week! Keep me posted on everything!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

February 7, 2011

Hey!
It's been another great week! It seems like most weeks are great out on the mission field. There are tough days and hours through the weeks but when you look at it all together it truly is the best experience ever! I learn so much and love so many people! This week was pretty good because we were able to find some more people to teach! We got a referral from Bob and investigator and we are going to start teaching his friend. Then a less active member has 2 foster daughters that we started teaching and we also are teaching Tevon's - a recent convert - friend Taby! It's great because they all came from people that we know and are teaching. I keep telling everyone that the best source of baptism's comes from referrals, especially from members! But along with that we are continuing to teach Bob Stroshine who quit smoking this week! He gave us his carton of cigarettes! We took some funny pictures... We are teaching Thomas, Chasity, Krystal, Whitney, April and Joe Richardson. It's been going good! We just need to get them to come to church and be better at keeping their commitments! Sometimes I wish I could just force these people into the waters of baptism because they know it's true and have each received that witness but it's just so hard for them to give up their worldly things.
That's good that the Greenway Packers won. It seemed like almost everyone we talked to about it wanted them to win. I bet Zack is really Happy! I keep telling people in the ward how I think it's funny because it's his favorite team and the only time he isn't home to watch the super bowl is when they play in the super bowl.
I am so excited for Kimber! I am glad you gave her a hug! I will defiantly miss her when I get home! It's going to be weird not having her! I won't see her for almost 3 years! Crazy!
The weather has been a little crazy here this past week. We had freezing rain and were stuck inside a few times. The roads were really bad and it was slick. It was really pretty though. The trees were covered in ice! We got a few good pictures but it's hard to capture the beauty on camera! It's snowing outside right now. I am defiantly ready for spring! ugh... this white stuff all over is not so much fun! Ha-ha... It's funny because whenever I tell people I am from Utah they are just like o then your used to this weather and I have to explain that St. George is more like Arizona weather!
I am so excited for this weekend! Sarah Posey is getting baptized! She is Misty Posey's daughter my first baptism and she was only 7 at the time and turned 8 and so Saturday I get to go down to the Greenfield area to see her get baptized! (If I can find a ride) But President Jensen gave me special permission! I am so excited because I will get to see allot of the member's of Greenfield!
Anyways... I don't really know what else to say nothing way exciting just been being a missionary! Which is exciting! But besides teaching and finding we haven't done too many other things this week!
I love you so much and I appreciate all that you do! I hope that you all are doing well and that Brigham is healing! I continue to pray for you always!
Love, Sister Madison Whitney
GOOD LUCK KIMBER!

January 31, 2011

Family!
It sounds like you have been having a pretty good week. That stinks that Brigham had to get his appendix out. That's gross that they are going to watch it in science class. I think I might gag if I were there. I am sorry that I sent the get well card to Caleb. Tevon told me she thought you said my youngest brother that started with a "C". Sorry Brig, I love you though and hope you start feeling better.
That's awesome that Kimber had her farewell talk. I still can't believe she's leaving! I am so proud of her though! I know it will bless her! I actually gave a talk yesterday to. It was about member missionary work! It went really well... at least I thought it did. I will send you it. You should have a picture of Sister Hulbert I am not sure were they would be. She was a while back and should have been on a S.D. card I sent you home. I don't know though... My S.D. card I have now only has pictures of Sister Loosli, Hazleton, and now Lillywhite. I may be sending it home soon. I am kind of worried now because the other got ruined and it was working before.
Ha-ha... and I am not giving away my Cadbury eggs. They are way to good and I can only get them twice a year. I might share them though. The weather has been a little warmer this past week. It's been in the 20's-30's so not horrible. Sadly I walk outside and if it's 30 it doesn't feel that bad. That's cool that you did Trish's hair. I bet it looks good.
My week has been really good. We had a successful week. We were able to teach a lot of different lessons and we were actually able to find new investigators and so that was great! We found Breana Jossey- who is an amazing investigator. She is pretty solid but is really busy and so that will be the hardest thing to see her often enough. And we also found the Richardson's. We were looking up potential investigators and we decided to tract around them and tracted into the them. They let us in and wanted to know more. We set up a return appointment and went back and taught them the Restoration. They said it made perfect sense and are excited to learn more. They were going to come to church but didn't make it. Getting investigators to come to church is sometimes the hardest thing to do! It's frustrating sometimes! Like yesterday we were supposed to have 8 different investigators at church and only 1 showed up. O well... But then we were also supposed to go to the mission home fireside last night in Columbus with Krystal and Sister McLaughlin. Sister McLaughlin was going to drive us down there but Krystal's babysitter bailed and so we weren't able to go. Then we looked up some people and no one was going to let us come over because they were sick or busy and since we are Sister's we are not allowed to be out contacting or tracking after dark and so we called the Trauntveins and asked if we could come over and we went over there and played Apples to Apples with them! It was really fun! I love being close to them and getting to know them better! They have such a cute family!
But life has been pretty exciting! I still love this area :)
Thanks so much for all that you do! I love you and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love, Sister Madison Whitney

January 24, 2011

Family!
It's been so FREEZING here lately! Last night was especially ridiculous! We were driving home and the temperature on our car said it was 1 degree outside! I was not having a fun time! We parked and ran to our apartment and Sister Lillywhite and I both jumped under my heater blanket and snuggled on my bed! I thought I was going to get frostbite! Ahhh... I don't like the cold weather! YUCK! We decided to go tracting the other day and we were all bundled up and warm but after tracting for an hour in 8 degree weather I was so so cold! No more doing that! Ha-ha... but I was thinking of dad when I was doing it and how he wanted me to tract all day and I thought that was good enough for a Southern Utah girl to be in 1 digit weather! Anyways... enough about the cold!

This week was transfers and my new companion is Sister Lillywhite! She is pretty great! It was cool because she came out in October and was trained by Sister LeSueur in my last district and so we had already hung out and had gotten to know each other! It was good because the first week with a new companion can be so awkward trying to break the ice and getting to know each other. But we were already great friends! She is pretty sweet! I am lucky because my last few companions have all been amazing! Heavenly Father is blessing me. I also think that I learned better patience at the beginning of the mission and so I am a lot better at that now. Still working on it at times but a lot better! The mission can really shape our lives if we let it! I have learned so much! Sister Lillywhite is from Salt Lake City and has been out 2 transfers. I am follow up training her. Hmmm... I don't really know what else to say about her. I love her! I do miss Sister Hazleton though! 6 weeks just wasn't enough time with her.

We are not allowed on facebook. I usually just have members get on here for me and update stuff and load pictures on. That's so exciting about Trevor's baptism! He is so cute! You should send me a couple pictures of it!

The work here has picked up a little. We are teaching some amazing people! Krystal Fox has a baptismal date for March 12. Chastity and Bob both came to church this Sunday! We just need to find a few more. We still haven't been able to get many member referrals. But we are getting more members to come out and teach with us and that's great! They are so amazing though! They never let us go one night without dinner!

I was able to see the eye doctor this week! It went well. She said that my prescription has changed a little but nothing that I should really worry about. It was only the left eye that changed a tiny bit. She said that I shouldn't have them on when I read and so she thought it was smart that I only used them for driving and reading the board and stuff. But other than that it was fine.

I have been eating healthier. I try and take smaller portions at members and I just don't really crave sweets anymore. I haven't even opened the Cadbury eggs you sent me for Christmas. And that's weird. I have been eating a lot of salads for lunch and either smoothies or whole wheat cereal for breakfast.

Lance writes as much as he can. I know that he is really busy and I feel bad that he has such a tight schedule. He lives in St. George now with some of his buddies. You could call him and have him over for dinner sometime. Especially since I am either going to send him or you a package that will have some things for both of you in it.
　
But it has been a great week! Everyone that reads this should make a profile on Mormon.org because I want to look it up and then I can show my investigators and members who you are!
Love, Sister Madison Whitney

p.s. Kimber, Make sure you make a profile before you leave! I wish I could make one now but can't and when you get out you can direct your investigators and members to your own profile!
And I have been out for a year this Thursday! CRAZY!

January 18, 2011

Hey Family!
Craziest thing happened last night! So Sister Hazleton and I were planning and we get this call from our district leader and he tells us that he has transfer calls. Well we were way surprised because it was a night early! He told us that I was staying in mound builders and Sister Hazleton was being transferred! Ugh! I feel so jipped! I seriously love her so much and I only get to spend 6 weeks with her! I was looking forward to getting to know her better. It stinks but I know that the Lord has plans for me. It's just so nerve racking to get a new companion. I hate waiting... I hope that we get along! I know I will love whoever it is but I have found that I have favorite companions and it's really hard going from someone you love and teach with really well to a more difficult companion. But it's times like these when I have to tell myself I will go where you want me to go and I will do what you want me to do! It will be great though!
This week has been amazing! I had the best birthday! The members spoiled me :) They are so amazing! Sister Hazleton was the best also! She got up and made me waffles! Not just any plain waffles either but we did it with the strawberry syrup, the strawberries, and the whip cream! It was delicious! I love that girl! It was funny though because on my birthday is snowed all day here. We started the day out fine with breakfast, studies, and then we had an appointment. and then for lunch we went to olive garden! We got the all you can eat soup, salad, and breadsticks! It was delicious! After lunch we were headed to another appointment but then the roads were so slick we had to go inside! It was fun to be inside for most of my birthday... ha-ha. It actually wasn't bad because I was able to get more studies in and I actually finished Jesus The Christ! That was such an amazing book! Very Long though! Now I am going to try to read the New Testament in the next 6 weeks! I am excited because I think I will understand it better because I read Jesus The Christ!
But anyways... the Lee's an amazing family in our ward made me a birthday dinner and so they came and picked us up for the dinner and we had cake and we snuggled on the couch with the girls of the family and read scriptures! It was a wonderful night! Who would ever think snuggling on a couch and reading scriptures would be how I wanted to spend my birthday night but I loved it! Pat and Greg Smith had us over on Wednesday and we had dinner and cake and ice-cream! They also got me a birthday present which consisted of stationary, a clipboard, and a letter opener! It was the best thing ever! Who ever knew I could like a letter opener so much! But it is totally ligit! I love it! It's pink too :)
Thursday was such an amazing day! We went to the temple with Amy and it was the best! Not to mention Sister LeSueur and Sister Loosli came with their companions! It was so wonderful to see both of them! I love my companions! We also had dinner with the Williams family and they had more cake for me! They are awesome! Their are seriously so many wonderful families in this area!
Friday was a great day also! We had specialized training from 9am to 3pm with President and Sister Jensen! It was wonderful except I had to give a talk in front of a whole lot of missionaries! It was so scary! I still hate giving talks but everyone said I did good and President Jensen used part of my talk in training and thanked me and so it was fine just nerve racking! But we went over the 8 fundamental principles we have been learning and they are truly inspired! Then we learned how mormon.org is going to start being a huge tool in our work! It's so exciting we are supposed to get on a few times a week now and familiarize ourselves with it! All the adult members are encouraged to get on and make profiles! You should defiantly check it out! I love it! There was a section on it in the January Ensign!
Lets see... I am almost out of time and I could just keep going! This week has seriously been amazing! I have seen so many blessings! Krystal Fox is progressing towards baptism and she keeps inviting her friends to learn which is great! I am so excited for her! We love her so much! It truly is a wonderful place to be!
Alright... to answer questions mom had. I did get to call the doctor and they said you needed to send them your tax information of something. How you claimed me on your taxes...I don't know. They weren't really sure so maybe you should call them again. That's cool that Dad wants to be a volunteer firefighter! That would be interesting. I always tell people about grandpa when I run into firemen out here! That's so exciting about Trevor’s baptism! I got an invitation and it was so cute! I am sad I will not be there but that's awesome! We actually were able to go to a little boy's baptism on Sunday because they invited a few non members and so we gave a presentation on the Book of Mormon while Sai the boy and his dad were drying off! I am glad to here that everyone is doing good and that things are moving forward at home! That's wonderful! I hope you have a wonderful week! I love you so much! Thanks for the support and love!
Love, Sister Madison Whitney
p.s. That's so cool about Christian! He will love it! When does he go into the MTC? Could you find out when Kimber goes into the MTC also! Thanks

January 18, 2011

Hey... If you read in Alma 50 it explains why it's called Moundbuilders. There are mounds (or heaps of dirt) all over the city here! It's pretty sweet! I just want to say Thank you to the ward! I appreciate all the prayers! And of course that if anyone feels inclined to write I love getting mail! Thanks mom! I love you!
!