Sept 24, 2012 Letter

Hello Family and Friends!

 

We've had a good week in Highland Home! The weather is getting cooler (finally!) as we move into fall weather. We haven't had a day above the mid-80s in over a week now. The nights it has gotten down to the lower 50s, upper 40s.

 

I talked about Cubert and Becky's baptism last letter. I can't overemphasize how amazing of an experience it was for everybody involved. We had a lot of people there, and everyone said it was the best (most spiritual) baptism they had ever been to.

 

Biggest news is that they are splitting our area. Starting next transfer (2 weeks) Greenville/Butler County will have its own set of missionaries. This will be a great blessing for the members in the Greenville Area. Greenville hasn't had a convert baptism in recent history. By putting full-time missionaries there specifically hopefully that will open the doors for the gospel to start growing in that area. Funny enough Mom, I found this out from you in your letter I got Wednesday night because President put it on the blog. We called President N---- and confirmed what you had said Thursday Morning, and Friday President Holzapfel told us about it when we were in Birmingham. We haven't been in Greenville for about two weeks because of Cubert and Becky's baptism and other things that have come up in Highland, but this week we plan to get back over there.

 

Friday we had our temple trip. Our session was from 1 to 3, so with the 2-1/2 hour drive, plus the fact that we picked up a set of Montgomery elders, it was a day-long extravaganza. The Birmingham temple is one of those temples that doesn't really look that pretty unless you see it in real life, the pictures don't really do it justice. It was a great spiritual experience for me! Its a blessing to have a temple in our mission boundaries. Because the Provo Temple was closed for cleaning when I was in the MTC, its great to finally be able attend the temple while serving as a missionary!

 

Saturday I had a, well, unique experience. We were able to help Brother S---- and his wife load their square hay bales. I think its funny (and they think its funny) that I come from such a rural state yet I've never done something like that before. The funnest part was when Grandma S---- (who was driving the tractor) lost control of the vehicle going down a hill andalmost flipped us over. Didn't get hurt or anything, we weren't going fast enough for that.  Sure had fun though.

 

Yesterday (Sunday) we had our "Homecoming" in Highland Home. The branch invited former branch members back for a special, two-hour long sacrament meeting. All of the still-living former branch presidents and bishops spoke. We had some in-actives who have not been to church for a LONG time there that day. We had 121 people there at the meeting, and that was with a few people out of town and some of the "less active" families not there. It was a record number of people. We filled the whole room and the 4 overflow classrooms, and we had some people outside listening in the hallways. The meeting was perfect length (I thought) - none of the branch presidents spoke for more than 15 minutes. For a lot of the branch members it was a real spiritual experience - a lot of tears were shed. My eyes were watering a little bit.

 

Afterwords we had food - more food than you have ever seen in your life! I don't know how the Relief Society does it. There were probably 8 tables with plates and plates of food on them. We probably could have fed 250 people.

 

Elder and Sister Callister (senior missionary couple) came to the homecoming, and they did some teacher training with us after the activity. Something I guess I haven't really ever talked about in my letters, but that is so true, is the impact senior missionaries have on the missions they serve. I've had the opportunity to get to know Elder and Sister Blau and Elder and Sister Callister so well these past few transfers and have learned a lot for them. Every couple in the church should aim towards serving a mission, there are so many opportunities to serve

 

Not much else to report. We have a new investigator that we are going to start teaching this week in Luverne that "found" us through a member and wants to take the discussions. She was at church on Sunday. We are excited to be able to teach her the next few weeks.

 

Love you all!

 

Elder Coleman Madsen

 

September 17, 2012 Letter

Coleman and his companion at the temple (photo from mission pres blog)

Hello Family and Friends!!

 

A lot to report on this last week!

 

We went on an exchange with Elders Clanton and Dunn again this last week. I was with Elder Dunn again, this time in Montgomery. We had a two-day exchange, so I spent Tuesday and Wednesday night there. Wednesday during our lunch hour I was able to see the Martin Luther King Jr. home and take a tour of it. It was a neat, almost spiritual experience for me to see. The marks are still there from where the bomb exploded. A lot of cool history happened in Montgomery.

 

We had some really good teaching experiences while I was in Montgomery. Tuesday night we had dinner with a man they had met on the street with his family. It turned into a good lesson on our beliefs, and we were able to resolve a lot of their concerns about the church. When you are on exchanges and are in a different area its always a bittersweet experience having good lessons, because you really enjoy them but at the same time you know that you wont be able to teach these people. While we were there we spent a lot of time contacting former investigators. Wednesday night we were able to go on splits with the ward mission leader and teach some of the less active members in the ward. I enjoyed the experiences I had there. While Elders Clanton and Kaupert were in Highland Home Elder Clanton interviewed Cubert and Becky for baptism.

 

Friday we had the funeral for Chic, the less-active man who died last Sunday. I won't say it was a fun experience, because funerals never really are, but it was good to see the community there to support the family. A lot of the people in the branch were really supportive. Two ladies spent over 30 hours each this week helping the family prepare for the funeral. A brother-in-law who lives in Clanton (out of our area) who is an active member of the church "preached" at the funeral, and dedicated the grave. It was comforting that even though a lot of the family has distanced themselves from the church recently, they still had a Melchizedek Priesthood holder conduct the funeral. Events like this, sad as they are, sometimes open the door for us as missionaries to reach out to those who have experienced loss of a loved one. Hopefully this experience will open those doors.

 

Friday afternoon Elder Jensen (Elder Kaupert's previous companion) and his companion Elder Zundel came from Hamilton and spent the night with us. Although they didn't teach them the missionary lessons, Elder Kaupert and Elder Jensen did a lot of service for Cubert and Becky before I came, and they wanted him to be able to share the special day with them.

 

Saturday was the baptism. It was the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to, and everyone else involved said the same thing. A lot of Cubert and Becky's children and their families(who are less actives) came. President and Sister Holzapfel showed up, which was just as much a suprise to us as it was to everyone else. Cubert really enjoyed when President Holzapfel spoke to the branch on Pioneer day, that first Sunday I was here, so he was really happy to see him again. Elder and Sister Callister, the senior missionary couple who came with us to a teaching appointment with Cubert and Becky a month-and-a-half ago, came as well. Everyone was crying. Jerry, Cubert's nephew and the High Priest's group leader in the branch, conducted and gave a talk at the baptism. Elder Kaupert also gave a talk, and I accompanied the hymns and played the interlude music (Highland Home is short on pianists). Everyone involved was spiritually fed. President took pictures which should be on the blog soon. [I have one picture from the event but I think the one he has is better.]

 

Sunday we were able to confirm them members of the church (I confirmed Becky). Its hard to describe how amazing of an experience this was for me. Suffice it to say I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world right now than Highland Home. I have some more information on the baptism which I will send in a different letter.

 

Well, a lot to report on, and little time to do it in. This is just a brief summary of some of the good experiences we had this week, it would take me hours and hours to adequately describe them.

 

Love and Miss yall!

 

Baptism

On the property where he lives

More property shots

Storms 

September 10, 2012 Letter

Hello Family and Friends!

 

It's been a good week this week! We are moving closer and closer to Cubert and Becky's baptism, it's this Saturday!

 

I'll start out by answering a question that a few people have asked me in their letters. As you all know, Elder Kaupert and I actually cover two different areas, the Highland Home Branch (which is Crenshaw County) and the Greenville Branch (Butler County). Some of y'all've asked the ethnicity of the people I'm teaching (if I'm teaching black people or white people). In the Highland Home Branch the members are all white. When we tract in Luverne we find some black folks, but very few; Crenshaw is a very white area of Alabama. In the Greenville Branch the actives are all white (except one older lady) but there are a lot of black less actives. The majority of people we tract into in Greenville have been black, mainly because we have been tracting in black areas of Greenville. Sadly though, our tracting efforts and baptismal committments we've made in Greenville with these people haven't come to fruition. So, the ethnicities we interact with really just depend on where we are.

 

We survived "severe weather week". We had the hurricane/tornado warnings which I talked about last week, but that night the remnants of Isaac came back from the north - we got some pretty bad thunderstorms and 7 inches of rain! We had a Flash Flood Warning for the whole area, and there were a lot of roads closed. Within 1 week we had had 1 Tornado warning, 2 tornado watches, 1 severe thunderstorm warning, 2 flash flood warnings, and a flash flood watch.

 

I know I've mentioned the food in the past, but let me just say this - It's dang good! I love the fried okra! I don't know what people were saying that it was the most disgusting vegetable ever. I haven't tried it boiled or pickled though, which I hear is less good. We get to eat with people a lot; members, less actives and investigators. And it's all pretty good food (and lots of it).

 

The last week and a half or so I have been focused more on faith then I have in the past. I've been reading Ether Chapter 12 at the beginning of each daily personal study. There are so many things that can be applied to all of us - Faith really is the empowering principle of gospel lives.

 

The community was hit by tragedy last week. Two older ladies (members) are in the hospital, and one man ( an inactive member) drowned in a pool yesterday and some homes have burned down. I've never experienced a small town before, but its amazing how in a small town within an hour everyone has heard what is happening. People are a little distressed, hopefully this season of bad luck will end.

 

We had a zone meeting last week (and of course, I had to play the piano :/). We found out that our zone, which only had 4 baptisms in July, had 9 baptisms in August! We also heard that when Elder Koelliker came, he felt like our mission needs to attend the temple more often. Previous to now, missionaries generally get to attend the temple once every 7 to 8 months. We now have a temple trip scheduled for next Friday. I'm glad for the opportunity, its been a while since I've been.

 

The missionaries get to watch the CES firesides. Last night's CES fireside with Elder Holland was GREAT!! He is one of my favorite GAs and the message he gave is so applicable to everyone - I encourage y'all to watch it, I believe its on LDS.org.

 

We have no new investigators this last week, but we've recently got some referrals that I feel really good about. As we've gotten closer to Cubert and Becky's baptism weve been seeing them more and more. Hopefully will have more to report next week on that front. I'll send the pictures I've been taking next week as well.

 

Love y'all and miss y'all!

 

Elder Madsen

 

September 3, 2012 Letter

Hello Family and Friends!!

 

Well, I survived Hurricane Isaac! The Friday before the projections showed it heading straight towards central Alabama so it was kind of crazy here for a few days, but by Monday it was pretty obvious that it was gonna hit west of us. We got very little rain (for a hurricane), less than 1.5 inches from it. We had some exciting, suprising weather though! Hurricanes, as you know, often produce spinoff tornadoes (or, as they say in the south, "tornaders"). 4:00 Thursday Morning we were woken up by a suprise Tornado Warning, so we headed for shelter. We later found out that sirens went off in Highland Home, so I think they detected a funnel cloud, but no tornadoes touched down. We had a tornado watch the next day as well.

 

We had a really good lesson with Cubert and Becky this week on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything just seemed to fall into place. Becky has a sewing shop connected to her house that she runs with Wanda her daughter. Wanda is an inactive member who hasn't been to church for years, and is often in the shop when we teach her parents but she never comes and listens. This lesson she invited herself into the lesson, and was a very active participant. We talked about the importance of the sacrament with all of them, and I feel like it really sunk in. It was the perfect lesson for all of them.

 

Virginia is doing better, and she and Gary were both at church Sunday. Virginia actually got up and bore her testimony, it was a touching experience. The branch has been so good to both of them. They both love coming to church, they just need to be baptized.

 

I've not mentioned Sondra in the last few letters because we've not been able to contact her since that first lesson. She is in Mississippi right now helping family members who were hit by the Hurricane. Her husband should come back from Saudi Arabia in the next one or two weeks, and hopefully well be able to teach them and their children together.

 

Because of the holiday weekend, our Saturday in Greenville was really unproductive. We weren't able to get one lesson! Our investigators in Greenville are dropping like flies (pardon the expression). We've had amazing first lessons with people, even sometimes baptismal date commitments, but every one of them seems to fail. Its too bad really. But we'll keep trying there.

 

As missionaries we have the opportunity to teach the gospel essentials class in the Highland Home branch when we are there. Its a neat class and a neat program to help teach the adults who don't know as much, whether it's because they are recent converts or because they were once less actives. Its good to be able to refine my class-teaching skills since missionary lesson settings are very different. I had the opportunity to teach yesterday (this was my second time) about eternal families, and it went really well. I look forward to continuing being able to teach.

 

All to report now (or at least all the time to!)

Elder Madsen

 

August 27, 2012

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So its official - I will not be included in the transfer meeting on Wednesday - Elder K--and I will be staying in Highland Home. I can't believe its the end of my first of only 16 transfers! Time sure flies on the mission. Im really excited that Im staying here.  I've really grown to love everyone here, and I really wanted to stay for Cubert and Becky's baptism. My address will be good at least till Mid-October.

 

I hear that pictures from Elder Koelliker's visit are on the mission blog already - It was a wonderful experience! It was my first-ever zone conference, and I was able to see Elder F-- and Elder H-- from my MTC district. He taught and trained on a lot of different things, and I won't bore you with a whole lot of details. But he promised us if we can all successfully apply the principles we teach in our own lives so we can teach by example, that our baptismswill double, and I know its true. Something he talked about that really struck me is the importance of establishing standard patterns in our lives that enable us to maximize our potential; as people and, particularly, as missionaries. He talked a lot about a "sense of urgency" and getting excited about the work we do. President Holzapfel also trained us. Something I really like what he talked about is from Chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel about being a successful missionary. Often times we as missionaries are tempted to view numbers as an indication of our success, but If we are doing everything we are supposed to and have the spirit guiding our work, we are successful missionaries. There were so many things I learned, but not enough time to share them all here. I'll share some of them in later letters.

 

I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't excited about the Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaac. A hurricane is something I really want to see while I'm out, and this area is the southernmost area of the mission. Friday it was looking like Isaac was coming straight towards us, so a lot of people in the area were really worried, but as the storm has gotten closer projections have moved it towards Mississippi and maybe even New Orleans. People are still getting ready for it though. Sister M--'s sister from Orange Beach, Alabama is coming up today and staying with the M's for a few days - there have been ordered evacuations on the coast. This area was devastated by Hurricane Opal a long time ago, but that was a Category 4 and it came straight towards us. President Holzapfel has contacted us, is on the watch for potential weather issues, and will direct us via conference call Tuesday Night before the storm hits what we will do. Worst case scenario predicted for this area, according to Sister M--, is 45 mph winds and 8 inches of rain, so we should be fine. We're opening the church for people with mobile homes though, because a lot of the poorer people's homes aren't as stable.

 

Uncle John came a few days ago. Uncle John is Brother M--'s 92-year old uncle who lives in Tennessee, but spends a few months of the year with the M--s. Its amazing how so many of the really older people in their 90s are so full of energy (they've been working their whole lives) and the young people are just lazy (blunt, but true). Uncle John is 92 and he's out riding around the property on the gator doing chores and cleaning things. I hope I will be that way when Im old.

 

The work is going well too! When in Greenville on Saturday and Sunday we were able to recontact some previous investigators we had lost contact with. I think I have mentioned this in a previous letter, but Greenville is a pretty anti-mormon area. Its frustrating because most of the people we teach are very poor and in projects, and they don't stay in one area for long. But we are at least planting seeds, and we have a couple progressing investigators there. There's a man there that the missionaries have been friends with for a while. He's plays the piano and organ for a number of  churches. He took us out to dinner at Cracker Barrel Saturday night and we had some good conversation with him.

 

I'ts a blessing that we aren't being transferred this month, because we probably didn't have enough miles on our car to get us where we needed to be.

 

We had a nice dinner at Cubert and Becky's on Friday, where we left a spiritual thought with them. They are still coming to church and we are moving ahead with them. Yall are probably wondering why its taking a while with them, but remember Cubert and Becky are older, and, from what experience I've had, It often is harder for the older folks to have big changes in their lives, such as baptism. But we are so proud of them and are excited for their planned September 15th baptism.

 

Well, thats all here. Hope to hear from yall! Love ya!

 

Elder Madsen

 

August 20, 2012

Hello!

 

Hope yall are doin well. Things have been going well here.

 

Not a whole lot to report. We did companionship exchanges again this last week, this time with our district leader. Elder K---- and Elder C---(our DL) went up to Montgomery, and Elder D---(other DL) came down here with me. It was a big growing experience for me, as I had to pretty much run the show for a day. That day we were able to see Tiffany's children (I can't remember if I've mentioned Tiffany - shes a less active) and have a good lesson with them. We also biked up to Highland Home and saw Gary and Virginia. Virginia went to the hospital in Montgomery on Thursday for high blood pressure, and as far as I know shes still there. Please keep her in your prayers.

 

Its been kind of a weird week this week. We've pretty much been in the Highland area the whole week. Elder K--- front tire popped so we've been doing a lot of walking. Funny enough the day after our flat tire we got another flat tire - this one on the car. Evidently our luck was on vacation or something. Because of the exchange, we didn't have time to go to Luverne this week. We did a lot of service in Highland Saturday morning. We helped S----- put a tarp on her roof for leaks until J---- gets back and they can replace the roof. We spent late morning-early afternoon helping B---  and S---- put vinyl siding on their house. B---- and S---- are great people, and it was great to see them at church the next day. Because of the service in Highland, we weren't able to get to Greenville until after 3.

 

Church on Sunday we spent at the Highland Home branch. We had a great, really productive coordination meeting with L--- (the branch mission leader) and President H----. We had a high councilor speaker in Sacrament Meeting and a linger longer afterwords with sandwiches and treats. The linger longer ("Hat Day") was a success, but we only had 75 people (compared with 102 for the activity last month). We've had attendance at 69-71-75 the first three sundays of August. We need to have at least 65 people next week to get the 70+ monthly average for the new building.

 

As I said, not a whole lot to report this week. No new investigators. We weren't in Greenville very long, or in Luverne at all, so no tracting into new investigators this week. Danny, the newly called executive secretary in Highland, brought his grandkids to church yesterday though - we hope to teach them and their family in the upcoming weeks.

 

Haha, I just realized that I almost forgot to mention C--- and B---. They are moving ahead - we taught them the Plan of Salvation this last week, and are still set for the September baptism date. They've invited us to dinner for this Friday. They've been at church every Sunday, and are very much already a part of the branch.

 

I've been having to play the piano much more than I thought I would have to when I came out - for some reason there's a huge lack of piano players in the mission. Ive been having to play at our district meetings, and our zone meeting we had a few weeks ago. The mission conference we have on Wednesday this week I have to play for. Keep me in your prayers. Playing when there's a general authority is pretty intimidating. Ive been practicing but I need all the help I can get, and practice time on the mission of course is very limited. I have improved a lot with my playing since Ive come out though.

 

Weve gotten a lot of storms the past few weeks. Alabama rain is very different than im used to. It pours and pours and pours. And then it stops, just like that. But Ive never seen rain come down as fast before in my life.

 

I was able to catch most of President Monson's birthday fireside Saturday night. I hope yall were able to see that. It was very well done and they had amazing guest artists.

 

Well, I guess thats all for now. Yall are welcome to mail me letters, I love to read them! Its exciting to hear from all of you how things are back home. Hope all is well.

 

Love yall!

 

Elder Coleman Madsen

 

August 13, 2012

Hello Family and Friends!!

It is appropriate for everyone to email me at my residence address. I've gotten a few letters that people have sent to the mission, and while those letters get to me eventually, they are delayed about two weeks. (Why it takes them so long to forward them I don't know).

The last week started out well. Last Tuesday President and Sister Holzapfel came to our district meeting. It was a really good experience. I had another opportunity to interview with him. He's an amazing man. After the district meeting when we came back home, Elder K--and I did a practice baptism, so I'm officially trained and ready now to baptize people. So now we just need more people who are ready to be baptized! ;)

In my letter from Dad I realized that I haven't told you all a lot about Elder K--- besides what I put in my first letter. His family is from the Monterey Bay area of California. He's a fitness and health guru, and is the first person I've met (besides Mom) who reads the labels on my food more than I do. He's awesome though. He really likes listening to all different kinds of music. He's a great teacher and a great trainer. I'm blessed to have been able to get to know him.

We had branch conference in Greenville yesterday, so we actually spent two whole days there. Branch Conference was a good experience. It was funny because since so many stake people came down we had 40 people instead of the usual 15. I was able to meet the Montgomery Stake President. President Holzapfel and President B--- both went on a radio talk show about a month and a half ago and answered questions about the church. This was before I got here, but I tell you because it would be something interesting for you to look up and listen to. After Branch Conference we had a luncheon where we had an opportunity to interact with the Greenville members, which we needed.

I can't remember if I told you about Conrad last week. Awesome guy, awesome lesson. He flat out told us that he knew what we were teaching was true, then and there. We visited him again on Saturday and he's going out of town for about a month for family reasons, so we're gonna have to delay teaching him, which is a bummer but life is life I guess. We've been tracting a lot of government projects, which is good because often people are very receptive, but the bad thing is that people move out a lot.

  

J-- is in Saudi Arabia now and will be there for a month on an oil rig. S---(his wife) and the kids have committed to be baptized when he gets back, but definitely want to wait until then, which I understand. We went over and visited them again this week, and they are doing well. His mother and her "common-law husband" are also investigators and regularly attend church, but until they are married in an official ceremony they aren't eligible for baptism. I don't know if y'all know what common law is, I didn't until I got out here. Once a couple has lived together for six months, they can claim "common law" and receive the same benefits a married couple would without officially getting married. The difference between it and marriage is that a common law marriage ends when you stop living with that person, so you don't have to go through divorce. The church, understandably, doesn't recognize common-law marriages.

Wednesday we met the nicest 92-year old lady who promptly invited us in. Man, she was a talker. We sat there for an hour and fifteen minutes trying to start a lesson but every time we would start she would start talking about someone else. I feel like we normally do a good job with controlling the conversations we have with people, but we totally lost this one. We  plan to go back and teach her this next week though.

The food here is very similar to food back home. A lot of Buffet places, especially for an isolated place like Highland home. A couple from the ward took Elder K--- and I out to a buffet called "It Dont Matter" about a week and a half ago, and I must say it was pretty good. I tried fried ocra there for the first time. It was ok, but not something I would eat on a regular basis. Pretty much the only difference between food out west and food in the south is that in the south they fry everything and have about twice as many vegetables. Of course, all nutritional value that one could gain from these vegetables is negated by the copious amounts of oil, lard or batter that they are cooked in.

I think I mentioned this in a previous letter, but its kind of funny how up-to-date on current events we are from our conversations with people. We obviously aren't supposed to bring up subjects like that, but if they start talking about it we let them talk and just agree with what theyre saying.

One thing I have gained since I have gotten here is an appreciation for my gospel upbringing, and for the priesthood and temple blessings. There are a lot of people here who haven't received those temple blessings, even active members of the church, and its too bad, because the temple provides us with so much strength. As missionaries we try to help recent converts and less actives get to the temple, because its in the temple that the gospel blessings can be fully realized.

Let me know how yall are doing, I love you all!

Elder Madsen

Coleman and his companion