April 1, 2013

Hello Family and Friends!
 
Things have been going well in Madison! We were able to go to the temple on Tuesday. 
After the temple trip, we went on an exchange in Athens, which is about 25 minutes west 
of Madison. We spent the night there and came back to Madison Wednesday morning.
 
We committed Ed--- to baptism on Friday (April 12th). He's been to church twice now - 
sadly he wasn't able to come yesterday. He had to take some pretty severe medicine (for 
his MS) the day before and he just wasn't able to come. He's still really excited about 
everything though. He's been to church twice.
 
Er-- is another investigator we have. He's dating a member of the church and has been 
having the discussions for a few months. He just really wants to make sure that he is 
making the right decision, and that he doesn't join the church for the wrong reasons. 
He's come to church both Sundays, but between the two he got pretty sick so we weren't 
able to teach him this last week. We have an appt scheduled in a couple of days.
 
M--- is another investigator we have. He's also been investigating for a while, and 
really enjoys church. He is just having difficulty recognizing the spirit, and in turn, 
an answer of whether it's all true. He has been coming to church really regular, and for 
the last 3 sundays has brought his girlfriend with him. She's really felt at home in

relief society and we're trying to arrange for the sisters to go over there and teach her.

Mom to answer your question - Missionaries are organized into "districts" with 
a district leader, and districts are organized into "zones" with two zone 
leaders. Up until this transfer we had 6 zones in the mission and 12 zone leaders, but 
because of the rapidly growing numbers they created 3 new zones, so now we have 9 zones 
(18 zone leaders). The zone leader position is unique because our proselyting area is 
techniquely the whole zone (which is all of the missionaries in the Madison Alabama 
Stake). We go on exchanges a lot (at least once a week), and conduct training. Elder 
Oslapas ("oh-sh-la-paz") and I will be conducting a 3-hour long zone training 
meeting tomorrow.
 
We had zone leader council in Birmingham on Friday (probably on the blog) with all the 
zone leaders, the assistants, and a couple sister companionships that President specially 
invited. (Since a lot of the decisions we make are about sisters, President wants to make 
sure their voice is heard). By the way, you probably saw this but Elder Kaupert(Coleman's 
first companion) is the new assistant. It was over 5 hours long and it was a new 
experience to be trained by President in that kind of a setting (it was kind of intense). 
I enjoyed it though.

((from Susan - A good friend of mine growing up, Janet, lives in Decatur AL with hubby 

Jim and their kids--Colemans zone!!))   

Both the Decatur Elders and Sisters have mentioned in calls we've had that they've met 
Sister B-- and that she's asked about me. The Decatur Sisters asked for my address 
because evidently she wants to send me a package. We'll probably be headed to Decatur on 
exchange some time next week.

Well, I'm about to be booted off the computer. Hope y'all have a great week!
 
Love
 
Elder Coleman Madsen

March 25, 2013

Coleman was transferred last Wednesday.  He is serving as a zone leader and is in a 
new area in the north of the mission. Coleman's new address is:

194 Shelton Road #116
Madison, AL 35758


Hello Family and Friends!
 
Hello from Madison, Alabama! Wow, this is a really big change! So much to talk about this 
time.
 
I am serving with Elder Oslapas in the Madison 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wards. The 
Huntsville/Madison area is big on engineering. NASA and the DoD have operations here. The area has the 2nd most number of government contractors in the nation - 2nd only to the 
Washington DC/Arlington area. This attracts a lot of people from Utah and Idaho (Mormons) so there are a lot of mormons here (it's nicknamed "the mormon bubble"). It 
feels like I'm serving in Utah (no joke!).
 
Our zone covers the entire Madison Stake, which includes the Madison wards, the Decatur 
ward, the Athens ward, the Cullman ward and the Guntersville Ward. If you know anyone in 
those areas let me know - I'll probably end up going on exchanges in all of them.
 
We had an amazing music missionary opportunity this last weekend. The Huntsville and 
Madison stakes put on an "Easter Cantata" with a 90-voice choir and actors. It was a

community event and there were a lot of non-members there (we had 3 investigators). 
I was blown away-it was amazing. They had amazing sound - almost MOTAB quality, and 
that's coming from one of the harshest music critics you'll ever meet :) . They performed 
Saturday and Sunday Nights.

It was a little overwhelming being assigned to a completely new part of the mission as a 
zone leader. The first couple of days I thought I was going to die. But I'm a lot better 
now. God really is always there to support us when we need him. I feel like I'll grow a 
lot this next transfer, which is good. This area is about as opposite of Highland Home/

Greenville/Montgomery area as you can get, but there is a lot of work to be done here.
 
I forgot to mention this earlier in my letter, but since we are assigned to all 3 wards we 

attend them all, so we are in church from 8:30 to 4:30. I probably met close to 600 people 

yesterday between all 3.
 
As you know, sister missionaries continue to come and bless our mission. In Madison we 
also have a set of sisters (Decatur and Athens have sisters as well). I've only been here 
for a few days, but I've been able to see the amazing ways that only sisters can bless 
the lives of people they interact with.
 
Gosh, too many investigators to mention right now. One we've worked a lot these last few 
days with is E---. He is Puerto Rican and grew up in spanish Harlem.  We went over to his 

house and taught him Thursday and Friday, and he came with us to the cantata Saturday 

and to church Sunday. 

Bad news - the Madison library has really old computers that don't have SD card slots, so 
it will probably take a while for me to get my pictures to you - I've taken a lot in the 
last week.
 
Don't have a lot of time now --Love you!
 
Elder Coleman Madsen


Totally forgot to mention this - we will be going to the temple tomorrow! We are really 
excited for that. I don't think I'll see anyone from my old stomping grounds though, I 
think that Montgomery is coming another day.
 
You probably saw on the blog how historic this transfer was in the mission. So many sisters! 3 of our zones split as well  so now we have 9 zones.

March 18, 2013

Hello Family and Friends,

(this is in response to a question Susan had about the email policy--someone told me that it has changed and anyone can email missionaries, not just immediate family).  I only email y'all and the mission president. That's my preference. I think she may be right though that the rule has been changed, because pretty much every other missionary I know also emails other people.  It is MUCH more convenient for me to receive letters in the mail than via email. I only have 1 hour to do my weekly letter to y'all and my weekly report to the mission president. When people (including y'all) send me e-mails instead of letters, it is much less likely that I will respond, because it's not usually convenient to print.

Hope everything is going well. The weather has been beautiful here in Alabama. It has been a busy but good last couple of weeks.

 

Well, I'm leaving Highland Home. It doesn't really suprise me. I have now spent almost 9 months in my first area (Highland Home & Greenville) and, though I'll miss a lot of people, I'm ready for change. Elder Cusick will be staying on.

 

We've been working pretty hard this last week here. We've taught E-- two really good lessons, and she's been progressing really well. She has really become a part of the branch here the last couple of months. We've been continuing to work with V-- and her family. So far as we know she hasn't been back to the hospital. She came to the Relief Society activity, and she and S-- were at the branch Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday.

 

I'll find out where my new assignment is at transfer meeting on Wednesday.  I'll let you know where I end up, and will send you some final Highland Home pictures.  Missionaries tell me that the more north you go (in the mission) it is much more like out west. A lot of people from Utah live out there. We'll see!

 

Love you!

 

Elder Madsen

March 11, 2013

Dear Family,

Hope everything is well!  Thanks for your letters.  I enjoy hearing from you.

We've had a good week in Highland Home.  Because of spread out appointments, we spent every day in the Highland home/Sardis area.  We've really been trying to focus on contacting less-active families.

We've had some interesting experiences eating at people's houses.  I don't know if I have ever mentioned this, but southerners LOVE mayo.  They put it on everything.  The official worst thing I have had to eat so far on my mission is pears with dollops of mayo on them, sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese.  They call it "pear salad". (Could be much worse!!)

While in Highland Home this second time, I  have been serving as the branch pianist.  It's been a good learning experience and I've been able to expand my hymn repertoire:)

I've also had the mission violin for about 7 weeks now.  This last Sunday I did a 2nd musical number with our investigator E--- in Sacrament Meeting.  This has been a great way to help her feel like she's part of the branch.  She was kind of pushed by other missionaries into baptism.  She still has some unresolved concerns but they are being resolved, I think.  It may take her time but I'm pretty sure she'll be baptized in the next year or so.  For some people it just takes time.

B---'s (an investigator) brother has had surgery this last week, and it has kind of limited our opportunities to teach them.  Setting a baptism date with her is just going to take sitting down and asking her.  She already believes in the church and as been reading "Our Heritage" and the Book of Mormon.  Our toughest thing teaching them will be finding time that works--they are very involved people.

Next time you hear from me will probably be after our transfer instruction calls!  We get a whole ton of new sisters this transfer so there will be a lot of changes.  Both Elder Cusick and I have been here in the area 4 transfers now, so really anything could happen.

Well, sorry this is short!  I want to get  this out in the Tuesday mail so you can get it on Friday.  How are y'all doing in your Book of Mormon Reading?  Still alive?  (mission is reading the entire book of mormon by the 6 of April. They started in Jan and every family was invited to participate with their missionary).

Love you!

Elder Coleman Madsen

March 4, 2013 Letter

Dear Family,

Hope you are having a great day today (whenever you get this letter)! sorry that I wasn't able to email you during the normal time on Monday.  We had some extra things we had to communicate to President holzapfel, and it took most of the time. 

Well, V- is in the hospital again:(  We were able to get the Carter Hill Elders to go over and give her a blessing in the hospital.  She's supposed to get out soon, but this is probably the 4th or 5th time she's been in the hospital in the 2 transfers I've been back. I'd appreciate it if you'd put her name on the prayer roll of the Boise Temple.  I don't think she's been in very good shape.

Well, I'm more than 1/3 done! I can't believe it.  It goes by so fast.  I still can't believe I'm still in this same area:)

This area is different in ways than other areas of this mission.  It has the nicest people you will ever meet.  The work with the less actives is what is different.  The branch is used to the missionaries being the priesthood--we sometimes feel like the branch home teachers.  We just wish we had more time to find people.  I feel like we are moving in the right direction though.  We're focusing right now on contacting those we don't know on the roster (the roster has around 250 people).We hope that in doing so they will have unbaptized family members we can teach.

I wanted to tell you a little more about Elder Cusick.  I've enjoyed serving with him so much.  He was born in Germany.  His dad was in the military and his mom is a native German.  He went to BYU for 3 years before his mission and plans on majoring in history when he gets back. (history--this explains why Coleman gets along so well with him!)  He used to have long hair and a beard (before BYU) and wore kilts!

I don't know if I mentioned this, but Elder Hawley isn't in Greenville (my old area) anymore.  Elder Ellesworth from Springville UT is his replacement, a missionary 5 months out.  He and Elder Kelley are a good team!

The incoming hoard of sisters:) is approaching!  Last I heard, this next transfer meeting we will have 22 sisters and 1 elder coming from the MTC.  This is exciting!  More and more elders are losing cars though.  Salt Lake isn't really increasing the # of cars and they require every sister companionship to have them. It will be interesting to see the changes come.  There will be some tension in the mission, there's already a little bit.  I just try to sustain my leaders and keep working though.

I haven't explained a lot about our vehicles.  We have special devices called "tiwis" (tee-wees) that regulate the car speed, acceleration, etc.  If you go more tha 5 or 6 over the speed limit it barks at you.  Pretty much most areas (right now) have a car, but all (besides President and the assistants) have mileage limitations.  The zone leaders are given miles for the whole zone, and they in turn give miles to all of us.  All of our trips are included in those miles.

One Day later -- V-- is back from the hospital (thank goodness) but turns out that she had a heart attack in the hospital. They were doing a nuclear stress test on her heart and had to use chemicals to get her heart rate up. Somehow they forgot to have the chemicals on hand to take her out of that state, so the doctors frantically rushed to get them (the chemicals) while she went into the heart attack.  She survived it, but just barely.  She was dead for a minute or two.  So please pray for her!:)

Well I'm tickled (that's what they say down here) to have been able to have written y'all (and to have time to write).  Thank you for your packages and letters!  Congrats on the great festival scores for Spence, Rachel and Hannah!  I'm very proud!

Love,

Elder Madsen

February 25, 2013

Hello Family and Friends!

 

Great Week this Week! Having Elder Christofferson come to the mission was amazing! It would take me too long to adequately even summarize what was shared. We got to see him at the Mission Conference on Saturday and then at the Montgomery Stake Conference on Sunday. This was the third stake conference we've had in less than 6 months!

 

Saturday Sister Christofferson gave an excellent talk about how the Lord will give us only what we are prepared to receive. Elder Christofferson gave us the big news that 58 new missions are being created, and gave us training on working with local leaders. After his training he answered some of our questions.

 

We also heard from Elder Soares (opening our mouths), Bishop Causse (coming and following), and Elder Bluth (Area Seventy)(Keys for Receiving Revelation). It was amazing to hear from so many leaders!

 

Yesterdays meeting was also good. Best part: We had 65 members from Highland Home there! That is by far an all-time record for number of members who come up for stake conference (it's usually in the teens). What was really cool is that we had probably 8 people who haven't come to church in months and years!

 

There was a great spirit that we felt the whole weekend!

 

Today we are having a "zone activity" (party) in Montgomery from 12.30 to 4. I guess they have these once a year. Won't have a lot of time to email and all that preparation stuff, but I guess thats just how that goes.

 

We saw and taught W-- and B--  on Tuesday. It was longer than typical (and usually appropriate) but it was very beneficial and we got to know them very well. We're excited to continue teaching them.

 

We had the korean sisters (&american companions) come down yesterday after conference. The american sisters were able to work with some less-active girls in our area while the koreans taught the K-- family. Pray for their family right now, they are struggling with employment.

 

Love you all

Elder Coleman Madsen

Wow! 2 new missions in Idaho! (Twin Falls and Nampa!)

February 18, 2013

Hello Family and Friends!

 

Hope yall are doing great! We've had a great week in Highland Home.

 

Yesterday at church was good. S-- and S-- were confirmed, and we had a "linger-longer" yesterday after church with lots of food and fellowship.

 

We are very excited on working with C-- and B-- granddaughter B--- this week. She is not a member of the church.

 

The Highland Home branch has for a long time struggled with their young men and women. With S-- and S--s baptism and B-- coming to church this has been a great addition to their numbers. We plan on putting effort at inviting many of the less-active youth to church and activities. There is a lot of potential with these youth and their families. We feel if the youth start coming eventually the parents will come with them.

 

Love

Elder Madsen

If you all want me to respond to you personally, your best bet is to send me a letter in the mail. I just don't have enough time to do it via email. We have to do our emails to President in the same hour we email yall.