July 11, 2011 Last Letter

Hey Family...

I can't not even begin to explain the feelings I am having inside of me! I am just like playing tug-a-war with my emotions! I woke up kind of sick to my stomach today. I think it is because of all the stress and emotions! Ugh... I am so excited to come home and see all my family and friends but at the same time I am so sad to leave all my family and friends! And not to mention the work! I know I can do missionary work at home but it definitely isn't the same! I will miss it but the Lord has great plans in store for me! Yesterday was hard. I was my last Sunday on the mission! All the members came up and wished my luck and were great! Lots of teasing from some of my crazy "uncles." We are all family in the Mound builders ward! I have loved serving here! They announced over the pulpit that I was going home and then for the hymns in Sacrament meeting they sang "I will go where you want me to go" and "God be with you till we meet again." They were trying to make me cry. It was hard to say goodbye to the families! I can't wait to come back and have you meet them! This has been the greatest experience!

This week I said a lot of goodbyes. We have been teaching a lot of the less actives and taking pictures and then I saw some of our old investigators. It has just been crazy! I am sure I will tell you about the mission when I get home! Lots of experiences! I just wish my memory was better. I forget so many of them. But I have been very diligent and keeping a journal. I try and write in it every night. There are a few weeks here or there I miss. But for the most part it has been good! We went to Pat and Greg Smith's sealing on Saturday! It was amazing to be there with them! The temple is an amazing place! They are now sealed for time and all eternity! What a blessing! It was great because I was able to see some of my favorite Sisters and say goodbye! I will miss them also! It is just a hard thing!

I got my flight plans. I can't believe I have 2 lay over’s! UGH!!! Sister Le Sueur gets to see her family at 10:30. I will actually get to meet her family because that's where my first layover is. Then Sister Loosli gets to see her family at 12:30! I have to wait till 4:30! It's going to be a long day! O well... I am going to try and talk to people at the airport and read my scriptures. Sleep! I am going to be pretty tired. Because I probably won't get much sleep the night before. I know that we have to wake up really early and I will be loosing 2 hours! So it's going to be 8:30 there and that will be my bedtime. But I will try not to go to sleep. Hehe...

I have been thinking a little bit about what I want to do. I really just want to chill with the family. Just be able to sit and talk. I think it would be cool to be able to put my feet in the swimming pool. I don't know about totally getting in because who knows where or even if my swimming suit fits! Ha-ha... I hope it does. But just food and family would be great! I can't believe Caleb will be 15! They are going to look so different! O man...this is all just weird! Everything seems like a dream!

Bob (Robert) called me last night and he said that he talked to you. He was pretty excited! He makes me laugh! I will miss that guy! Wish he would quit smoking and drinking coffee! It is a hard addiction to break! I get to go to the temple tomorrow with Misty Posey! I can't even wait! SO EXCITED!!! Time really is flying by! I only have 3 days left in Newark! It is just weird!! I think that it rained there to give you a little taste of what I have been going through! I am excited for dry heat! It's been 90's with humidity here! That is no fun to go tracting in! YUCK!

Requests for food! WAFFLES! We never get them out here. With strawberries and whipped cream! I would also like fresh salsa! Not sure if there is anything else. Probably... but I just can't think of it. Actually Egg McMuffins would also be good. I don't know. Let Caleb pick for his birthday breakfast. I have been getting a lot of my favorites out here. They all love me! hehe... Caleb isn't getting anything from me. I am a poor missionary. Plus I am kind of stressed about luggage and if it will all fit. I sent a package to lance to hold for me until I get home. I had something in it for him, that's why I sent it there. Amy also said if I don't have room she is coming out to Utah in August and could bring it to

I just want all of you to know that I am so thankful for my opportunity to share the gospel in Ohio. I love being a full time missionary! It has been the best experience of my life! I know that this is Christ's church on the earth! It was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith! I know it and feel it every time that I teach it! It is true! I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ! It shows us how much love that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us! It teaches us to be more like our Savior! If we read it and study it daily power will flow into our lives! I know that Jesus is the Christ! He knows and loves each of us! One thing I have learned on my mission is that Heavenly Father loves us so much! We really are His children. He knows us individually! He is in the little details of our lives! He has given us the opportunity to pray to him! It is a privilege that we have and we don't utilize it enough! He hears and answers us! Even if it is not in our own time or in the way we want it! He loves you! He sent His Son to die for us! Christ choose to do that! Alma 7:11-12! I am eternally grateful to my Savior and my Father in Heaven for this opportunity! It has been such a blessing!

I thank all of you for your support and prayers! It has been very much appreciated! I love you!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

C*ya in a few days!

July 5, 2011

Hey Family and Friends!

It has been a crazy week and I am afraid it's just going to get crazier and crazier! So let's start at the beginning of the week. Monday for p-day we decided that we were going to celebrate Sister Szymanski's and Elder Andersons 6 month mark. So Sister Whitney had this great idea that we would go to a member’s house and have a fire and burn some clothes. We called a member from the Newark ward, Sister McCroskey and she told us to come on over. She ordered us lunch and we ate pizza and then we went out and gathered some wood. We built a fire and then we got our clothes. There were 4 of us there, Elders Anderson and Shelton and Sister Szymanski and I. We all decided that we wanted to burn something. So I burnt some of the clothes I had that were falling apart. It was pretty exciting! It got really hot and I burned some of the hair on my arms! HAHA! It was so funny! It made me laugh. But my arms are back to normal now. I was also able to drive a riding lawn mower which was sweet! I have wanted to do it for my entire mission! hehe... It was great! After that jamboree we went to dinner at the Hoovers one of the members!

Tuesday we saw a bunch of people! It was a great day for teaching lessons! It is always wonderful when everyone keeps their appointments! Wednesday we had district meeting and then we had exchanges! So we met Sister Lytle and Sister Tilby in Amanda OH and did a switch! I went with Sister Lytle to GREENFIELD!!! It was such a great experience to go back! I loved it! It was amazing being able to see members and say goodbye before I leave Ohio! We had dinner with the Posey's that night! It was great because when we pulled out of the car and I stepped out I was attacked! I had so many people hugging me! All the Posey’s were there and also Sandy and Shelby! All of my recent converts from Greenfield! It was so great to spend some time with them and eat dinner! I love that family so much! They are definitely one of my favorites! After dinner we were able to teach Brett the husband of Misty a lesson! It was the best experience ever! I have now taught everyone in that family! It is amazing how much he has changed over the last year. He went from Anti to coming to church to taking the lessons! I was actually able to get him to pray at the end of our lesson which he had never done before! It was really scary for him but such a huge step and I am glad I was there for it! I hope he chooses to be baptized soon! It will be amazing when their family can go to the temple and be sealed! It was busy while we were in Greenfield. I did a lot of training with the Sister I was on exchanges with. She was having a hard time and I was able to teach her a lot that will hopefully help her. It was just great to be down there again and to be able to see some of the members!

Thursday afternoon we switched back. It was good coming back to Mound builders! I love it here! I will definitely miss leaving! The members here are great! They all know I am going home soon and so for dinners they have been asking me what I want and I have been getting a lot of my favorite meals lately! It's been really yummy! Friday we had a 4th of July Party for our ward. Not too many people came but it was fun. There was food, live music by some members, and we had a little program. It was fun to be there. Lorraine came but then her car broke down on the way home and she no longer has a car. Ugh... life is stressful.

I am not excited to come home and get a car, job, etc. But it needs to be done. Part of life. I can't even cover everything. But more highlights would be that Saturday night we also went to a 4th party. It was our dinner but they had a bunch of ward members there and non members! It was great! Lots and lots of food and some fireworks. They had a ton but we couldn't stay and so they set some off when it was light outside for us. We were invited to come back as a family next year if this is when we want to come back. I think this would be a good time.

Sunday was great! We had a wonderful fast and testimony meeting. I got up and bore my testimony. I cried the entire time. It was just an overall really good meeting though. Monday was a crazy packed day. We met our new mission president and his family. The Nielsen’s. They are great! I will have to tell you more later though.

We also had a 4th party with the Newark ward had food and fun games! We got to spend some time with the Trauntviens and Brent and Lorna! It was great! We also had dinner with them! Homemade Root beer and Ice-cream! YUM! It was really good to be around them and fun!

Time is up! I love you!

Love, Sister Whitney

June 27, 2011

Hey!

I can't even begin to explain how crazy of a week this has been! It has been one emotional roller coaster! These next 2 1/2 weeks are going to be some of the craziest weeks of my mission! I am so excited though! We have just been crazy busy lately. This week I found out that in the last week of my mission I will get to go to the temple 3 times!! Pat and Greg Smith are going to get their endowments out and get sealed on July 9th. Then Misty Posey is getting her endowments out on July 13th. And then we get to go with the Mission President and his wife on July 14th! I am so excited! I am ecstatic that I get to go through with Misty Posey! She means so much to me! We also had specialized training this week! It was the last one with President and Sister Jensen! It was really good! We learned so many great things! Things I wish I would have learned earlier in my mission! But o well... I guess I will just have to implement them as a member missionary! Speaking of which... Mom that is awesome that you invited your friends! Way to go!! I am excited they will be there and I am sure they will feel the spirit! Did you find out if Bishop had a direction he wanted me to speak about? Am I supposed to talk about my mission? Anyways.... We also had Betty's Baptism on Saturday! It was great! O my goodness. She just cracks me up!! She was so happy! When she was immersed under the water and come up out she had an apostolic moment. She was breathing hard and just yeah... can’t even explain it. Then we all went into the chapel while she was drying. When she was done and walked back into the chapel she said Hallelujah!! It was great! We love her and her excitement! She is most definately different from everyone else that I have taught! Her confirmation was great to! We also went to the mission home fireside last night. It was the last time I will see President and Sister Jensen on the mission. They go home this Thursday and our new mission president and his family comes. They are the Nielsen’s. It was really hard saying goodbye to them! I love the Jensen’s and it took a lot for me not to cry when I said goodbye! I am sad that I won't get a departing interview with him. But it will be good. They are my mission ma and pa! I love them! They have taught me so much! But I will keep you all updated on the weeks. Lots of parties and meetings. It is going to be great though! I think it would be funny to have a chicken coop! I will definately ask some people! I am pretty sure that you don't have to have a rooster though. Have you talked to lance at all lately? I know that things are super busy for both of you. Brent and Lorna are coming to Ohio on the 30th. I will probably see them at church on Sunday and then we are going over their on the 4th to eat dinner. So it will be fun to see them! I love the Trauntviens! It has been great to get to know them!

I love you! Love Sister Madison Whitney

June 20, 2011

Hey!!

The lightning bugs are out and they are so cool to see! That is definately one thing that I will miss about The Ohio! I will miss a lot of things out here! I love it here and I love sharing the gospel with the people here! We are still excited for Betty! She is just a hoot! In sacrament meeting yesterday she shouted out Praise the Lord! It was great and the ward already loves her enthusiasm. It was when they announced her baptism over the stand! I think that we will have a great turn out from the ward members because Betty is just very happy and friendly and has made a bunch of friends! Her laugh is one of a kind and it is contagious! When we come back to Ohio we are going to have to come back and see her! We have been working a lot with less actives lately. It has been good. There are a few that are progressing. A lot of them have testimonies and know that this is the true church. They just don't want to act on it. The whole "doing" something is really hard for a lot of people. I was reading an ensign talk this morning that talked about how being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was not easy! But it is worth it! It seems like we are always going going going but I just don't know what to tell you. We did some great service this week! Rolled buckeyes... peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. I will definately have to make some when I get home because they are so yummy! We are still working with Krystal and Lorraine. They are doing pretty good. We are trying to get them to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It is just difficult finding a ride and a babysitter. But we will get them there. It is a tough life style change for recent converts and I don't think as members we fully understand that. We really need to fellowship those new converts and bring them into the fold. We are teaching a weekly Book of Mormon class. It has been going pretty well. We are just reading through it a few chapters a week and then we talk about it and answer questions. Nothing to intense... but just trying to get active and less active members to come and non members. There were like 7 people there last week not including us. We had some crazy experiences this week. We met some very interesting people... I can't even explain. Just interesting...

The hair show that you went to sounds pretty cool. I will let you practice on me! I definately miss getting my hair done. It's pretty much done the same way everyday of my life. I am excited that you are going to start doing nails. You can definately practice doing that on me! Father's day was pretty good for us. We celebrated with the Crooks family. They fried a turkey! It was really good! Then we also had homemade daunts! YUM! They gave us like 3 dozen farm fresh eggs! I think I am going to be making German pancakes this week! Don't want all those eggs to go bad! I think that it would be cool to have chickens when I am older. I have helped gather eggs to kill chickens now. The things you can learn on your mission are great! You also asked me if they have Mesquites in Chile... but I think you meant to say Ohio. They have lots here! I have scars to prove it! But I have been putting bug spray on my legs more. I am sad that it is getting Hot in St. George! It has been pretty nice here. The weather patterns are so random. We have had more rain this week. We had a couple times where I had to pull over while driving because it was coming down so hard! The other night we got in and I decided that I was going to play in it! And so I was outside dancing in the rain. I got soaked but it was fun. I had to come inside because it started hailing and it was hurting me. But I love you so much! Thanks for everything that you do!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

June 13, 2011

Hey Family and Friends!

How are you all doing? It sounds like you are having fun in California! That is pretty awesome that you were able to just go! That will be a great memory! I love going on trips! This has been a very long one but one of my favorites! Here... It has been a really great week! We are continuing to find more people to teach. We found 3 new investigators this week! Even though 2 already dropped us. But that is ok. We taught them a great Restoration and Plan of Salvation lesson. The husband just said that he was old and stubborn and would never change; even if he found out what we were telling him was true. The wife and daughter were more interested than he was and they are going to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. So it was good because we taught some good lessons and they now know more about the church. We are also working with Betty Dumas! She is the 60 year old black women! I love her! She just cracks me up! Well we taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and she just gave up her coffee and tea. She said if it's a commandment then I better live it! She has so much faith it's incredible! She came to church this week and is going to be baptized on June 25th and 12 p.m. I am so blessed to be able to see another of God's children enter into the waters of baptism! We also have another person Mary Ferril on date for July 9th! We are having a few issues with her and her x-fiancé right now but hopefully those will all be resolved. She is trying to quit smoking and drinking tea! She has such a desire to live her life the way Christ wants’ her to. She is an amazing person! She is also a nut! We have such a fun time getting to know these wonderful children of God and teach them! I just love them so much! You really can't do this work without love! It is the driving force of the Gospel! If we didn't love your Heavenly Father then we wouldn't want to keep his commandments or even live with him. And if we don't love our brothers and sisters why would we want to share this wonderful news with them! We have to love everyone! It's so important to pray for charity! Moroni exhorts us to pray for charity in Moroni 7:45-48 (go and read it)! But the work continues to roll forward! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church on the earth today! I know that he lives and loves each of us! I am grateful to share the gospel with all those around us! I want to always share the gospel! It is a commandment for each of us to do! Member missionaries are so important. We had 286 baptisms as a mission last year and 80% of those were member referrals! It is so important to be an example and to open our mouths!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

June 6, 2011

Hello Family and Friends!!

It was a great interesting week! To start off with I got surgery on my toe! CRAZY!!! Don't worry it was really nothing. But just an interesting story to tell about my mission. I had an ingrown toe nail and it was hurting. So I tried to dig it out my self and it made it feel a little better but of course I didn't get it all. So I went a week hoping it would get better but it wasn't and if you can imagine it is not to pleasant to go finding with an ingrown toenail. Well we were at dinner with the McGlaughlins and I was telling Sister McGlaughlin about it and she told me that we had a foot doctor in our ward that lived down the street. She sent me there immediately. So I knocked on Bro. Giamo's door and told him I had an ingrown toe nail. His wife wasn't home and so he said follow me and headed to his van. He opened the back of his van and laid the seats down and grabbed his kit. Next he told me to take a seat and then asked if I was scared of needles. I told him a little and then I saw the needle and said actually a lot!! Then he grabbed my toe and stuck me with this long needle three times! It really hurt! Mostly when the medicine went in. Then we waited for the toe to get numb. Then he did a five min surgery and took a little part of my toe nail off. Then it was done. It was just all so fast and in the back of a van outside on the street! It was funny... ha-ha. But my toe is feeling a lot better. It is bruised a little but I can walk without limping now! YEAH!!! He told me the toe nail will grow back in a few months and if it gets ingrown again I need to have it permanently removed. YUCK! But I thought you would all enjoy a story about my toe. (It was my right foot big toe, just in case you were wondering). But to get to more important things! We had a good week this week! Betty Dumas is still excited to be baptized! We just hope that her health will allow her to be baptized on June 25! She wasn't able to come to church this week because she has diabetes and arthritis that was acting up. But if she can make it the next 2 Sundays she will be able to be baptized! We just love teaching her though! She does get a little crazy saying Hallelujah and when she feels the spirit really strong she just gets really happy and everyone knows. But I think that she loves our church because she can really feel the spirit and she knows its true! We also found a couple new investigators this week! We are going to start teaching a part member family. We went to visit Todd a less active member and only his wife and kids were home and she was very friendly and let us in. After talking to her for a few min. her husband had come home early from work. We talked about the gospel and found out that she had taken lessons before about 7 years ago. But that she wants to take them again! Yeah! So we are going to start teaching Joanna and Todd! I am excited because they are a cute younger couple with 2 really cute kids! They also have active family members in the other ward and so hopefully we will be able to help them. Then we have been looking up former investigators lately and we found this man Jerry! Jerry is in his 70's. Him and his wife had listened to missionaries a few years back but weren't really interested. Well we felt like we needed to go and try him and so we knocked on his door. We asked if his wife was home and he said that she had passed away 6 months ago. Well I got this really strong prompting to talk to him about eternal families and we also read part of the family proclamation to the world! It was great! We set up another appointment and we are going to teach him more! It is going to be so exciting! I can just see him getting baptized and then getting sealed to his wife that he was married to for 57 years! He is such a sweet older man! The 2 investigators we found from Krystal are currently not being taught anymore. Melissa had to go to the hospital and may be there for a while. She has crone’s disease. And then Nicole premature twin had to get surgery and she is pretty much living at the hospital at OSU. But they want to meet with us again when these trials pass. We are continuing to try and find more people to teach! I want to try and help as many people as we can come into the waters of baptism before I have to leave Ohio! We are close with some people and we are teaching a lot of new people this week and so hopefully we will be able to find some promising new investigators! I love doing this work! I love my Heavenly Father and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve him!

I love you so much! Thank you!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

p.s. I didn't answer your questions ha-ha

We haven't had anymore tornado warnings through here. It's just been hot and humid! YUCK!!!

Sister Szymanski and I are doing good! I like working with her without the trio. I think we get along better know that there are only 2 of us. We are having a lot of fun together. She is just really shy and so I am trying to crack her shell a little. But she keeps telling me that she is going to miss me. I think it's because I am always making her and everyone laugh. FUN times! Anyways... I love you!

DON"T FORGET TO WRITE ME LETTERS! THERE IS PLENTY OF TIME! HEHE!!!

May 31, 2011

Hey!!!

It has been another great week! It seems like every week in the mission is a great week! Of course there are those hard times but if you are serving the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength you are going to be happy! Transfers were this past Thursday! It was bitter-sweet. We lost Sister Lillywhite and so I am just in a duo with Sister Szymanski but I am excited that I get to stay here in the Mounds for my last transfer! I can't believe I have been here 6 months going on 71/2! It just seems so weird to me that I have lived here and worked here that long. I really love this ward and the members! They always try to take care of us and so many are willing to help with the missionary work. I have seen such an improvement with the leaders of the ward since I have been here. The meetings are just more focused on missionary work and they are really trying to help us. It's great!! I forgot my planner today because we started a new one and so I really can't remember what we did this past week. We were able to find 2 new investigators. We are starting to teach Krystal Fox's sister Nicole. We are also teaching Melissa Jenkins Krystal's friend. Krystal just keeps giving us referrals because she knows the gospel is true and has seen a happiness come into her life that she wants’ to share! It great! We had a great lesson this morning with Betty Dumas! She is a 60 year old black woman who used to be Pentecostal but is going to be a Latter-day Saint now! We committed her to be baptized on June 25 and she had an overwhelming feeling and she said yes! The spirit was so strong! It was amazing! She has come to church once and loved it and is going to continue to learn and then be baptized! I am excited for her! We actually found her on "accident." We were going to see her less active neighbor in an apartment complex and went to knock on the back door instead because it was closer to where we had parked. Well we knocked on the wrong door and Betty let us in and wanted to know more. She was actually a former investigator! AMAZING! The spirit directs even when you aren't sure what you’re doing! We are still working on finding new investigators. The entire mission is having difficulties finding people to teach! Ugh. So we will be going tracting in the 93 degree weather today! YUCK!!! It's so hot and humid! I am trying to drink lots and lots of water though! I am hoping they will feel bad for us and let us in! Who knows...? We are working with less actives a lot recently also. There are a few that are very close to coming back. Just need that little bit of guidance and push? Then there are some who are far away. But we keep trying! The best thing we can do is be friendly and invite the spirit into their home. Help remember the covenants we made at baptism and help them realize the blessing that they are missing. I am excited for this next transfer! I am going to work hard and use my time wisely! I just can't believe how fast the time goes by! It's crazy! But we are going to continue to FIND, TEACH, and BAPTIZE! I love this work! It is the best work in the world! Those are awesome experiences that Tanner had. I don't really remember him though. I can't believe how many people are leaving on missions and coming home! It's just crazy!! How is Levi doing? Is he still on the Island? I am excited to see Brent and Lorna. The 4th of July is a p-day and so I think we are going to be spending it with the Trauntveins and they should be there. I am not sure though. We did get to go to Michaels’ graduation party for a little bit. We didn't have a dinner appt that night and so we went and ate our dinner their and said congratulations. That was fun! Mom, can you find out when I will be giving my homecoming talk. I would like to know so that I can invite some of my companions that are home. And if you could find out what the topic is on that would be great! But if not it doesn't really matter. And did you ever get the conference ensign? I haven't gotten it and would like to read it all before I get home. I love you all so much! Keep the letters coming! I haven't received one in like 2 weeks! AHHH! Just 1 or 2 more and you won't have to write me again. Except you lance... I want more than 1 or 2. I love you!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney