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

May 23, 2011

Hey!

This week has been such an amazing week! One of the best!! So I think I may just go through the week and look back at all that has happened.

Monday: We just stayed inside for p-day and we wrote letters, cleaned, and we also cleaned out our car. Then we were able to have dinner with the Trauntveins! I love that family! It has been so great to be able to get close to them and get to know them more! We weren't able to stay way long because they are super busy this month with the end of school and they had a reward ceremony for the middle school.

Tuesday: We taught our recent converts Lorraine and Krystal. They are both doing great! They were talking about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and how they weren't sure what was going to happen but they both said they just had this really warm feeling that filled their entire body. It just felt good and right! So exciting for the both of them! We are working on getting them home teachers and visiting teachers. And then hopefully they will be going to the temple soon so that they can go and do baptisms for the dead! I love the gospel! We also went to the Arlington Nursing Home and we played bowling with the residents. There is a worker there, Wes, and he actually started opening up and asking questions. We also found a new investigator on Tuesday, Kristina! She is great! We taught her the restoration lesson and after reciting the first vision she just looked at us and asked "Did that really happen?" We just looked back and said YES! We were so excited! She felt the spirit and the lesson just went so well! We invited her to follow Christ's example and to be baptized once she found out it was true and she said YES! Hopefully we will be able to set a date this next week when we see her. She has an 11 year old daughter that would be learning also.

Wednesday: We saw a lot of less active members. There are a few we are working with that are really close to coming back to church. Actually 4 less actives we are working with came to church on Sunday! It was exciting! We had dinner with the Haltom’s! They are just a hoot. They are an old(er) couple who were less active but have been coming since we started visiting them! They are just hilarious though! They are always making us laugh!

Thursday: We had Zone Conference with President and Sister Jensen! The conference went from 9 am to 4 pm! It was amazing though! We learned some fabulous things about doing missionary work! We are going to start having our investigators write their commitments down in their copies of the Book of Mormon we give them. In the blank pages on the back! Of course there was a lot more that we learned! President Christianson came; he was an old mission president and the last Ohio Columbus Temple President! It was amazing to hear from him! It was interesting because Monday with the Trauntveins we were talking about how they came to Ohio and some leader was telling them that if they didn't know why they moved to Ohio is could most likely be because they had ancestors in the area and they came back to receive their inheritance. They found some relatives they are related to that we are also related to. But the Pres. Christianson talked about how coming to THE OHIO is a privilege! He talked about how President Benson removed the curse and how the work is moving forward here. He also said we as missionaries probably have someone in our line who didn't receive that inheritance and how we were here to receive that and to help the work move forward here! It is amazing. He also talked a lot about the temple! It was the best Zone Conference!

Skipping Friday because I am short on time!

Saturday was the best day ever! We were able to go to the temple and I was able to see the Sherman and Brenda O'Bryan get their endowments out! It was such an amazing experience! The spirit was so strong! I was crying... of course! Then we were able to see them get sealed together and then they had their 3 daughters sealed to them! I love that family so much and it meant so much to me that I was able to go and be apart of that! I love the temple and I am grateful that we are able to go and be sealed together and be eternal families! That was such an amazing experience I will never forget! The spirit was just incredible!

Sunday: We went to church and had an investigator come, our recent converts, and less actives. Then we were able to go to the Mission Home Fireside with Lorraine! It was great to hear President Jensen speak. He talked about 3 Nephi 11 and 12 and the comparison of that and the temple! It was great!

And finally we had today! We went to the Columbus Zoo! We went with the Haltom’s! It was so much fun! We also met a bunch of other missionaries their! A ton of Sisters came! It was so so much fun! And then we should be getting transfer calls either tonight or tomorrow night. So I will probably have Sister Pat Smith post it on face book for you mom. A lot to write... not even finished! Now I need to answer some questions.

1. What blessings have come to you because you decided to follow rules? Could be at home or on your mission.

I know that a ton of blessing have come to me because I have followed the rules. Sometimes I know that we wonder why their are so many rules. But I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. He gives us commandments because He loves us. We just need to be able to say I will go and do, Like Nephi 3:7! I know that I am a lot happier because I follow the rules!

2. Why do you think the Lord considers missionary work so important?

The lord considers missionary work so important because He loves each of us so much! It's what brings his children back to him. Moses 1:39!

3. Why do you think missionaries have all the rules like (not calling family all the time, weekly reports to mission president, not get into debt, not going outside your assigned area, etc?)

It keeps us focused, safe, and gives us self discipline. If we are obedient to these rules it shows that we will be obedient to other commandments we are given.

4. What good things have come from following these rules while on your mission?

I know that everything has come from following the rules. Obedience is everything on a mission. I know that I would not have been able to be a part of a third of the people lives I have worked with. I know that we are happier when we are obedient and I know that we teach more. People have their agency to choose, but we find more and teach more as we follow the rules. We are also kept safe and have a better time.

I love my mission. It has been the greatest experience of my life! I have learned so much and I know that Heavenly Father will bless us with knowledge as we are obedient!

Read in PMG under Christ like attributes and Obedience!

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

May 9, 2011

Hey Family!

It was so wonderful to talk to you on Mothers Day! It was so great hearing all your voices! It's going to be so weird coming home and you are all going to look different. Be taller and have deeper voices! Crazy... ha-ha. I don't really know what to say because I pretty much told you everything yesterday on the phone call. We are working hard and trying to find new people to teach! We may be dropping a bunch of investigators this week because none of them are progressing. It's so frustrating when people won't read the Book of Mormon and won't pray about it. They just don't really have that desire to know and that's a problem. Mom, Pat Smith added you on face book make sure that you add her. She is the one that does so much for us missionaries and whose phone we called from yesterday! I love her! I am really excited for the baptism this weekend! It's been such a long process to work with Krystal but she is finally ready! She has changed her life a lot but she will definatly be blessed for that and will be happier in the long run. Sadly, she is moving soon to Indiana but it probably won't be to the end of June and so I hope that she finds a good ward up there that will welcome her in. Lorraine and Sophia are excited for their baptism! It will be so good for their family! Hopefully Savon her 11 year old boy will have that desire to be baptized. I can email Zack... what is his email address and I will email him starting next week. I think it's always better to get hand written letters but that's ok. Some communication is better than none. Good news is that it's not raining here today!!! It's supposed to be like 70 degrees! I am excited about that. It's too bad we are probably going to be inside most of the day writing letters. Maybe I will take a blanket outside and write out there. Who knows? But the work is going well here! I love serving in THE GREAT OHIO! I love you all so much! I hope that you have an amazing week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

April 25, 2011

Hey Family & Friends!!

It's been a pretty great week! Where do we start? This week we were able to commit a few people to baptism for May 14. Hopefully that day will be a wonderful day! As of right now Krystal Fox, Lorraine McIntyre and her 2 kids Sophie(8,female) and Savon(11,male), and also Thomas Scarberry are getting baptized! They are all so close and really have that desire to be baptized but just each have a few of their own problems with different commandments. They are excited though and Krystal and Lorraine and the kids came to church on Easter! So did Bob!! Bob also wants to quit smoking... we had to drop Bob a while back because he wasn't progressing but he says that he really wants’ to do it because of his health and because he wants to be baptized and so if he can quit he will also be able to be baptized in the future. Syndy Ford was so close to being baptized but her fiancé won't let their children come to church and so she doesn't want to go to church without her children. She kind of dropped us but we also talked first and told her this was the most important decision of her life and she really needs to take the time to pray and ponder about it and so we are still in contact with her just not teaching her right now. It's so sad when these darn husbands or boyfriends get in the way. But it's been going really great! Because we are starting to see the investigators we are working with progress. Now we just need to find some more investigators. We are trying to go tracting an hour each day to find more people. We are also working with some less actives that are starting to progress. A few of them actually have been coming back! It's exciting to be able to help people remember the covenants they made. Wednesday we had interviews with President Jensen! He is such an amazing man! I learn so much from him! We were able to color Easter eggs with the Haltoms this week! It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed myself! They also got us each an Easter basket and way too much candy! I give most of it away to kids we are teaching though... Ha-ha. Except my yummy jelly beans and Cadbury eggs. Speaking of Jelly beans the Myers sent me a little package! Tell them thanks for me! That's so appreciated!! Saturday morning we went to an Easter Activity that the Newark ward was having. The Trauntviens invited us since our ward didn't have one. We went and ate breakfast with them and then did an Easter egg hunt with the little children. It was fun! Easter was a good day! My companions and I hid Easter Eggs around the apartment for each other. Thanks mom for sending the eggs. It was fun to find them... I am definatly the best hider though... Ha-ha. Then we went to church! It was great because we had 5 investigators come. We also were able to sing in the choir during sacrament meeting. After church we went to Pat and Greg Smiths home for Easter dinner. It was really good! Pat is an amazing cook and loves to do it! It's funny though because she cooks us this big meal and then eats a little tiny healthy one because she is on weight watchers. It was a great Easter though! We were even able to get some tracting in and set up some return appointments. It was great! Today for p-day we went to Hocking Hills near Lancaster, Ohio. It was so beautiful! It reminded me a lot of Zion's National Park. It was weird that they had it in Ohio though. I will probably send a c.d. or s.d. card home soon because I took a billion pictures today! It was called old mans cave but it had little water falls and it really just reminded me of the narrows! It was sweet!!! We went with Tabby and the Lancaster Elders. When we come back to Ohio that's one place we should go. It was only about an hour and a half drive from Newark. It was gorgeous though! That's why we are emailing later. I am still just doing great! I love the Trio! We have a lot of fun together!! Sister Szymanski is from Salt Lake City. That is crazy that Ryan is going to Afghanistan! It's really weird to think that Marissa has a child that is 1 year's old now. Brigham will qualify for BYU! I have faith in him! He is really fast! Good luck!! That's scary that his girlfriend’s hair got stuck. I would be really scared to have it cut off by a pocket knife. Its sounds like life back home is good. My life here in Ohio is great! Time is going by really fast and so I am just trying to live it to its fullest and work hard! Thanks for the 4th missionary talk! I am still reading it but so far it's great! I love you all so much!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

April 18, 2011

Hello Family and Friends!!

It has been a crazy week! Monday we had p-day and we went to the Mounds. It was really cool to see the inside of them and to imagine Alma 49 and 50. When we come to visit that is one thing I definitely want you to see. It's just cool to think about it. Then Monday evening we went over to Amy and Todd Trauntviens and we had dinner and FHE with them. It was fun because we played Imagine-If and it is a great way to get to know one another better. I am so excited I get to stay another 6 weeks at least. That means I will be 6 months in the mounds and probably finish my mission here! We also got transfer calls on Monday night. READY... Sister Lillywhite and Sister Whitney you are both staying in the Mounds, but you are getting another companion! I was so excited to here that. I get to be with Sister Lillywhite another 6 weeks and I get to be in another TRIO! So on Tuesday we had the mission office deliver another bed and a desk. We set up the apartment for a trio. It's a little tight but it works. We also went to the baptism of Tabby Sies on Tuesday night! It was so wonderful to see her be baptized! She was so happy! Sister Lillywhite and I sang because I have been given much right before the baptism and it went really good! I love being a part of these people's lives! The Ohio-ans are wonderful people! I love them. Thursday was transfers and Amy took us down. We got to the meeting and there were a lot of Sister's being transferred and so it was hard to even guess. But we ended up getting Sister Szymanski. I was a little worried at first actually because she is really really shy. She has also only been out 3 months and so I am breaking (co-training) another one. But it's been really great so far. We are having a lot of fun as a trio and I love both of them! She has opened up to us also it's just a little difficult to teach with 3. But we are getting it. We also committed Krystal Fox and Lorraine to be baptized in May along with Syndy Ford and they all said YES! They have said yes before though so hopefully this time will be a little different. They seem to have more of a desire this time. Hmmmm.... trying to think of what else happened this week. It all just seems to go together in a blur.

That is cool that Sister Hazleton's mom stopped by. Sister Hazleton told me that she might when I saw her at Transfers. I love Sister Hazleton! It was really sad that we were only together 6 weeks. She is definitely 1 of my favorite companions! The weather has been ok...It changes here a lot in Ohio. Crazy!! It's rainy a lot... the whole April Showers (and thunderstorms) bring May Flowers. Brigham is not allowed to have a girlfriend. That's weird.

But that's pretty much all that is going on here in NERK, AHIA!! I love you all so much! You are wonderful! Thanks for all of your love and support!

Love, Sister Madison Whitn

April 11, 2011

Hey Family!

It's been a great week! Lots went on... I can't even believe how fast this transfer has gone by! It's crazy that we find out tomorrow if I am staying in the Mounds or leaving. I am really excited that I get to stay an extra week. It will be a great experience. And Caleb we won't forget your Birthday, Ha-ha. I did color my hair this week...well my companion colored it. It turned out good. It's just a little darker but even all around now. Tevon texted you because I couldn't remember but she wasn't with more or didn't even color my hair. I am feeling fine. I did get my prescription and I am taking 2 a day. I am exercising and eating pretty healthy. I have actually lost about 7 lbs. My eyes are fine. The prescription hasn't even changed. My mission president and his wife leave on July 1st and then that's when the new mission president comes. So I will have 2 different mission presidents but the one only for 2 weeks. It's kind of cool though because President Jensen said because he was the mission president pretty much my entire mission he will still interview us before he leaves and he is also going to take us to the temple since that is a tradition here. So I will get to departing interviews and 2 temple trips! WOOT!! That's exciting! Not to mention I should be going with Misty Posey in June to see her get her endowments out! I love the temple! We actually got to go on Thursday with all the Sisters in the Columbus area! Their were 12 of us there! It's so much fun to see other Sisters and be in the temple with them! I love to go to the temple! I love the spirit and the power I receive as I go there! It's amazing! I had such a great spiritual experience there and it just strengthened my testimony that Christ lives and loves each of us so much! I can't even remember what all went on this week! So much happened! The biggest thing was that we had exchanges! I was able to leave my area for a day and go back to Marion with Sister Hazleton! It was amazing. First because I love Sister Hazleton so much and it was great to spend another day with her. Second because who actually gets to go back to an old area and do some work! I know that it was inspired for me to go back though because I was able to help! I wish I had time to write about everything. But the best thing was that I was able to get into a house where no one in the branch has been able to get into. The missionaries had tried a month earlier and she told them to go away. It's crazy because when I was there she was amazing! She was so strong in the gospel. She was going to the temple when her health allowed and shared the gospel with everyone. When I heard that she was antied and didn't talk to anyone I was SHOCKED! But I got this impression that we needed to go see her. It was amazing... once again it strengthens my testimony that God loves ALL of His children and knows what each of us needs. We went and knocked on her door. She was smoking and put it out and then she saw me through the screen door. I told her Hello and told her that I missed her. She saw me and let us in the door. Sister Hazleton was shocked. We sat down and we were talking to her I asked her questions and she opened up. She was going through a very hard time. She is having a lot of medical problems and almost died. She did tell us that she knew the church was still true and she still read her scriptures everyday. She just felt like she had let the branch down and other things. We ended up reading scriptures with her and sang hymns. It was amazing! She is willing to let the missionaries come back and wants to get a refresh of the lessons. She wants to come back but was scared and is scared. But seeing me is what she needed. I love her and was glad to go back and help. I am going to write her and continue to support and encourage her. I was also able to talk to my recent converts of that area! Some are doing great others not so much. It was heart breaking to see one had started smoking again and stopped reading the Book of Mormon. But I talked to her and she said she would start reading it and I will continue to write her. The exchange was great and it brought happiness and sorrow. But I know that The Gospel is True and it is for everyone! I love my Savior so much! I know He lives and Loves each of us! His Atonement is real and works for every single person! We can be together forever as families and I am grateful for that! Missionary work is amazing! Share the gospel with everyone!

I love you so much! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

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.

March 28, 2011

Hey Family!!

It's been a great week this week! Yeah... We had lots of great lessons and we were able to find some great new investigators! We did a lot of tracting and also got a lot of great return appointments and so hopefully we will find some more investigators next week! We taught 31 lessons last week and found 4 new investigators. We also had 11 member presents which is amazing for this ward! We are teaching Cindy Ford still! She came to church and really likes it! It was amazing!! She seems so solid! She loves learning and can really feel the spirit at the church. Chip is progressing also. He wants to be baptized and is excited because he prayed to find out if the book of Mormon is true and he said that he got an answer that the book of Mormon is right for him. Lorraine and Krystal also came to church and are planning on being baptized together when they are ready. Everyone is probably going to get baptized after I leave! If I get transferred. I am so happy for them though! Whitney moved to phoenix Arizona and is still planning on being baptized on April 12!! The week was so busy with lessons but I can't even think what else happened. O goodness. I love being a missionary though! It's wonderful! I love having the spirit with me all the time! It's the best thing ever!! We also went to the Young Women's General Broadcast! It was so amazing! I loved it so much! I especially liked what President Eyring said about having a living testimony! We also went to the Mission Home Fireside with Tevon and Bob last night! It was just a great time!

I am glad that you like Lance. Because I plan on marrying him one day! Ha-ha. I am glad that you were able to have him over for dinner! I would love some Cadbury eggs for Easter. Just one bag though! We are trying to volunteer at the nursing home weekly. But we are also way busy this week! It's crazy!

But I love you all so much! I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love Sister Madison Whitney

March 21, 2011

Hello Family!

Can you believe how fast the month of March is going by? It's so crazy! I can't wait for general conference though! This week was pretty great! We had some fun times and taught some great lessons! We are starting to volunteer at a Nursing Home each week just for a couple of hours and we were able to go this week and have some fun with the elderly there. We went and had karaoke with them. Ha-ha... it's so fun to watch them though and help them out. We are teaching a few people still. Not very many of our investigators are keeping their commitments and so it's hard to keep teaching them. We might have to drop some soon sadly if they can't do what they say they are going to do. Almost all of our investigators said they would come to church last week and none of them came on Sunday. It's just hard to work with these people when they are not willing to do the work to get the blessings. I believe that is one of the hardest aspects of missionary work. We find these great people to teach and we really learn to love them and we desire their salvation but then they don't do the things that are so essential to conversion. We want to keep helping them forward but we can’t pull them into the baptismal font. They have to use their agency. The highlight of this week was on Saturday. Saturday we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and got ready and drove down to Columbus. 4 Zones got together and we were able to get instruction from Elder C. Scott Grow from the Seventy. It was amazing! The things that he had to say were so inspired! I am excited to implement the things I learned! He really talked about the importance of planning. It's one of those things that you do every night as a missionary but it kind of just gets routine. We really should be setting goals that are inspired and that we desire. Sister Lillywhite and I set some pretty high goals for this week and we are going to work our hardest to really reach those goals and show our faith in God and do everything with in our power to reach them, while still respecting the agency of others. It's so great getting instruction from general authorities! I learn so much and you can really feel the spirit. It was really nice to go because after the meeting we had a little Sister's meeting and I was able to see Sister Hazleton, LeSueur and a bunch of other sisters that I have really come to love! It's always great to get with the other missionaries. I am trying to see what else happened this week. We did do some more tracting and found a great new investigator. Her name is Cindy Ford. We taught her the first lesson and the spirit was really strong. She asked a lot of great questions and has been looking for a church to go to. Sunday was also great because we went to PEC and Ward Council and the high counselor and a member of the stake presidency was there. We did our report the best we could and then the president martin told us that it was the best progress report he had ever seen and he told the ward council that they needed to work better with us because we are some amazing missionaries and they are not using us to our full advantage! It made me feel pretty great! And hopefully we can get the work moving here! But I am grateful to be a missionary and I love this work so much! I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

I Love you! Love, Sister Madison Whitney

March 14, 2011

Hello Hello!

It has been a much better week this week! I am feeling a lot better and we have been able to work hard and have seen some success! Monday I did go to the doctor and they said that they didn't do the 20% off thing. The lady was kind of being rude and said they stopped doing that. I tried to explain how my mom had called in and they said they did but she just said sorry. So I called to get financial help and they said that they needed you to fax in your tax returns. I told the secretary to call you and tell you about the 20% and to give you the fax number. She took down your number and was suppossed to call you on monday but it sounds like she didn't. Ugh... I didn't really like the secretary. Sorry about that though. I didn't set up another appt though. I did get my blood drawn and the docter should be sending my results their I think. I also did get my package that you sent! Thanks so much! I am really enjoying the granola, especially the cinnamin one! I sent Zack a little package with a t-shirt in it and a letter. It wasn't anything big. It only cost like $5. But I did tie die a t-shirt for him for christmas along with the other boys and I just never sent it because it got lost in my packing when I was transferred. But it's not really anything important. I probably sent it like a month ago or longer. Have you gotten any more of Sister Kimber Clayton's emails. I would love to get those and haven't for the past 2 weeks. That's cool that Brigham is running. I am sure he is doing great at it! I am glad that his leg healed and he is feeling well enough to do that. I did hear about the Earthquake in Japan! That is crazy! It sounds like bad things are happening all over the world. I am glad that all of the missionaries are accounted for. We were wondering that. That's cool that Kimber Bringhurst gave a good talk. I didn't even realize they were living in your ward boundries. I still can't believe all my friends are almost married. It's just going to be so weird coming home to no single friends. The weather here is getting better. It was 50's this past week and is suppossed to get up to the 60's! YEAH!!! I will probably be sending a big box of winter things home at the end of this transfer so I don't have to carry it around. We are just kind of hanging out for p-day and running errands today. We will go shopping, clean our car and apartment, and then probably write letters with the time that is left over. They have 1 or 2 ski resorts here in Ohio. At least that I have served around. There is one in Bellfountain and I know I have heard of some other ones but I don't know where they are. I know that they are more like bunny hills though. Not too exciting compared to Utah. Haha...

This week we were able to have some good lessons! We taught 23 of them. It's wonderful being able to teach a lot a week! We should be teaching not finding but we have to do both when we don't get members to find. We tracted quit a bit this week also. At district meeting we learned a new technique that we were using. We are using How to Begin Teaching while tracting. Lance and Zack will know what I am talking about. It's really effective and we are also using We Invite, They commit, and We Follow up. We commit them to set up a return appointment by saying. We will be in the area next tuesday at 4 or 5. Will you allow us to come back and teach you. It works really great! The thing is actually getting them to be their when you come back. But we are still working with a lot of the same people. We did find a couple of new investigators this week! Tabby wants to be baptized but she lives in the Lancaster ward boundries and so we have to pass her on the the Elders to teach her. But we still helped get her there. Elder C. Scott Grow is coming to our mission this Saturday and we get to here from him! He is a quorum of the Seventy. I am excited! But time is up and I have to get going! I love you all so much!

Have a great week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANCE! I love you!

March 7, 2011

Hello...

I don't have a lot to say this week besides that I was sick almost all week! Blah!!! I had the flu. I was throwing up and had a little fever and now I have a cold and dizziness. We were inside our apartment from Wednesday evening until Saturday! Then I still almost didn't go to church yesterday and I am still not feeling like myself today! Being sick as a missionary is the worst! All you can do is lay in bed! No TV. to watch and I was to sick to really read anything! It took almost all my energy to even read 1 chapter in the Book of Mormon. Poor Sister Lillywhite has just been stuck inside to but at least she has got a lot of studying in. I have just slept and slept some more. But hopefully I will be able to get up and work this week!

To answer some of your questions... the weather has been up and down. It did rain a lot but I didn't really pay much attention. I was just in bed. Greg is not bothering us anymore. Chasity his girlfriend dropped us and doesn't want to learn anymore because she thought I liked him to and he is lying to her and we can't get a hold of her. It's sad because she was so prepared and was so excited to be baptized on March 26 but her dumb boyfriend had to get in the way. But I am confident that she will find the gospel again. That's cool that Julia is getting married! Sad I am missing it! It's funny that almost every single one of my friends has gotten in the last year! O well...

I did hear about the BYU thing. That's crazy... we were at dinner and it came up! Ha-ha... a non member actually brought it up and he said that he thought is was stupid that it made national news because if it was anyone but the Mormons it wouldn't have made national news. He said that he agrees with the school and doesn't like what some people are saying and bad mouthing Mormons because he really likes us. Just doesn't want to get baptized...

I will probably be sending an envelope home soon with my SD card and some picture c.d's from my comps camera. We mostly used her camera last transfer. Sorry you haven't seen pictures in a while. I don't really know if I need anything... hmm

But I forgot to mention. We did have a great beginning of the week! We are teaching Bob Stroshine and Whitney Stevens. Bob is what we refer to as an eternal investigator. He has gone through many sets of missionaries and he knows that the church is true but he can't give up coffee and cigarettes. Well he has been trying really hard to overcome the addictions and been doing pretty well. He is down to 1 pot of coffee a day instead of 3 and is smoking 1/2 a pack instead of 2 packs. Well we were in a lesson with him and we were teaching and I got an impression to set a baptismal date with him. So I asked him to follow Christ's example and be baptized on April 6, 2011! He said YES! He is really striving to reach that goal. It is going to be hard for him but I earnestly believe that he can do it if he wants it bad enough. Then there is Whitney, she has been meeting with missionaries for the past year. I have been teaching her for 3 months and we have become pretty close. She is 23 and has 3 children! I love her so much! Well a few weeks ago we found out that Whitney and her husband were having some martial problems and that they were going to separate and she was going to move to Arizona. Well they decided that they would try and work it out. So we continued to teach Whitney but she has always had a problem making commitments. We have tried setting baptismal dates with her in the past but she has never accepted. She would always just shrug it off and not really want to talk about "baptism." Well the other day we went over and we were talking and asked her if she knew if the Book of Mormon was true. She said "Yes." Then we asked her if from knowing the Book of Mormon is true if she knows that the church is true. She said "Yes." Then we asked the simple question- Then wouldn't you want to be a part of Christ's true church? Her reply was "You make it sound so easy!" Then we extended a baptismal date of April 12, 2011 and she accepted! YEAH!!! Then the following Sunday we got a text 10 mins before church from Whitney that said she was actually moving to Arizona but she wanted to know if she could get baptized this week. Sadly, we had to go and talk to her about it and she hadn't met the requirements and wasn't completely ready to make that covenant. But the miracle is that she still wants to be baptized and will continue to meet with missionaries in Arizona! Through following the spirit we were able to help her get to that point!

Anyways! I have to go and I love you all very much! Hope you have a good week! Pray for me to get better!

Love you! Love, Sister Whitney

February 28, 2011

Hey Family!!!

Can you believe it's time for another transfer already! Time goes by so fast. We find out Tuesday night and hopefully I will be staying in Mound builders with Sister Lillywhite. But you never know... This week has been one of the craziest weeks ever! It was just a UGH... week. A lot seemed to go wrong but it helps me learn patience. A lot went good to so it was just a 1/2 and 1/2 week. A few days we were scheduled back to back with appointments lined up all day. But one after another called to cancel. It was crazy. Especially Thursday. We get up to study and our first appt calls and says sorry, then the next, and everything to our service time we had set up to our dinner appt and the family home evening we had scheduled. O man... but it ended being good because we went and served the bishop’s wife, Sister Williams! I love her so much! We are actually going to go over their for p-day and play on her cricket! p.s. I want a cricket for Christmas this year! But we went and helped her clean her house and then we got on mormon.org at her house and then had dinner with them and family home evening. We ended up spending 5 hours over their on Tuesday. But it was good because it was still productive! It's so nice being around their family! They are so cute and she served a mission and so loves talking to us! We were still able to teach a lot of lessons though and it was a good week just a little crazy. We haven't taught the law of chastity to chasity and Greg yet. We are planning on teaching it tomorrow. Except we are having a few difficulties with them. Because Greg is attracted to me and he stares at me at the lessons and so we don't go over their until we have a male member with us. I actually had to call President Jensen about it and he told me to tell Greg that was inappropriate and so I did and it's settled down a little. Just awkward!!! And of course chasity is mad about it. He really is just a creep and she needs to dump him and he needs to learn from Elders. I am trying not to be judgmental in his case. I know that we are all children of God but he is just kind of a creeper and probably won't be getting baptized on March 26. It may take him longer if he does get baptized. I may be getting transferred because of him actually... We will see how it all plays out. But I am completely safe it's just weird.

hmmmm.... lets see what else has been going on. We were able to go to the Mission Home Fireside last night. It's where we go to the mission home with investigators or recent converts and hear President Jensen speak. It was really good. We went with Tevon and Bob. Krystal came to church and is doing better! She doesn't know if she will make March 12 as a baptism date but she is still working on it. It's a really hard thing to change your life.

Anyways... It sounds like things are going pretty well at home. It sounds like you had fun with Lisa and Corby and had a pretty fun birthday for mom. I love you so much and I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Madison Whitney

Dad... if BYU and OHIO State plays against each other I will have to go for OHIO State! Sorry... ha-ha! But honestly I don't really care! But I like winning the hearts of the Ohioans.