4th week

SORRY ITS LATE... I was busy on Thanksgiving break, but here it is!

Querido familia y amigos,
Thank you for all of your letters and support, I love hearing from everyone so much, it just brightens my day! Things are going great here at the MTC, I still love spanish, still learning an insane amount of information each day. Yesterday Hna. Patterson went home on medical release so her companion is with me and Hna. Wardle now in a "tripanionship" as Addison calls it haha. She is really sweet, but we are having a rough time adjusting to teaching in a threesome and planning together.
RC on monday sucked. I think the whole District felt like crap afterwards ha ha. We all received a ton of chats so we didn't make many calls, and most of the chats were just people playing tricks on us, cussing us out, and saying things that are really crude. I had a really bad experienced that I won't discuss in detail, but I felt very discouraged and heart broken afterwards. I said a prayer for strength though and got right back to work. I tried to call the woman I talked to last week but she wasn't home, so I will try again today. I hope this means she found a job! I hope I can get ahold of her and see how she is doing.
Yesterday for the Tuesday Night Devotional we had the honor of hearing from Elder Dallin H. Oaks (one of the Twelve Apostles) and his sweet wife. Something that really stuck with me that he mentioned was that missionaries usually struggle with "becoming" a missionary, and said that something should change inside of us. As I pondered about how much I have changed I felt a little ashamed that I haven't changed that much since I have been set apart, or at least I don't feel like I have. After the devotionals we have a district discussion and I brought up my thoughts and the elders all said they feel like same way but that we really have changed, we just haven't noticed, so that made me feel better. We also all took a few moments to describe how it felt when an Apostle of Jesus Christ walked into the room. It was a beautiful experience and I loved watching the elders describe the feeling with tears in their eyes. I wish I had time to describe the experience but I could never do it justice, it was a true blessing and I know that he is a true Apostle of the Lord.
Happy Thanksgiving! I am super excited for tomorrow because we don't have any classes tomorrow wooooo hooooo! We have the big dinner in the morning and then we make sack meals for the rest of the day so the cafeteria workers can be with their families. Then we are doing a humanitarian aid project, I am not sure what it is, but I hope we get to color ;) After that we have study time and then at night we have a devotional, most likely another Apostle, wooooooo! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, I love you all so much!
Hermana Taets

WEEK 3 :D

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!
Time is finally starting to fly by, thank goodness! I am so anxious to get to Texas and start teaching people about the restored gospel! I love speaking spanish and think I must be learning because last week I was blessing my food and I wanted to thank Him for something but I could not figure out how to say it in english or in spanish! It was a little frustrating but luckily around 10 at night I remembered, MOTIVATED! Ha ha.
I had the most awesomest, lo maximo, experience in the Referral Center this week! Ok so every monday my district goes to the RC for an hour or so and in the RC we answer phones and make calls. I guess there are comercials on tv advertising free dvds and books and such and so when people call those numbers they call the MTC and we missionaries speak with them, and then we also call them back to make sure we received their items, and people can go to mormon.org and do a live chat and they can ask us questions. So before I made my first outbound call I said a prayer to be able to reach out and help God's children today and the very first call I made a man picked up and said that the person I was calling for was not home, that he was a roommate. So I explained I was calling from the LDS church and asked if his roommate received the free Bible he ordered, he didn't know. Then I asked him if he read the Bible, and for awhile we talked about what he liked to read and then I told him about the Book of Mormon and that it helps me to learn about Christ as well and then I asked if he would read it. He said YES and he said I could have missionaries bring him the Book of Mormon! I was so excited, and I think he could tell, haha!
Next, a chat window popped up from someone named "Jesus". I said hello and asked how he was doing, and he responded, "Madison, do you believe in me?" Right away I knew this guy was messing with me, so I said I believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior and that I also believed in the person I am talking to and that's why I am here willing to help him. Then he said "Do you believe it is I talking to you now?" and I said "Jesus Christ communicates with us through the Holy Ghost, not a chat messenger" and then he said, "Your lack of faith appalls me, SUCK MY....bleep....bleep...bleep". At this point everyone was looking at me because I had kind of yelped and put my hands over the screen, ha ha. I immediately signed out of the chat, took a few minutes to compose myself, and then I received an inbound call.
The call was this sweet woman, late 30's, from California, who was calling to receive a free Bible. I asked her if she attended a church, she said she started attending a Christian church recently and I said I was so excited for her and then I talked about how much I love the Bible and reading about Christ in the New Testament. Then I asked if she knew about the Book of Mormon and she said no, so I told her it was another testament of Jesus Christ and explained a little more about it. I asked her if she wanted one and she said, "Is it free? I have been umemployed since January and can't afford anything." I could just hear the sorrow in her voice and told her it was free and told her I was sorry for her situation. Then I felt it was appropriate to ask if I could pray for her and then she started crying over the phone and said, "would you please?" I told her I would and told her God loved her and as she prayed if would help her. I asked if it would be okay to send the missionaries to her because they could introduce her to the church's unemployment program and help her find a job but she said she wasn't ready yet, which is fine, I am hoping I will be able to call back next week and see how she is doing.

Well time is up, I love you all and love hearing from all of you! I love being here in the MTC and love helping other people come unto Christ :)

Te Quiero
Hermana Taets

Letter #2

Madison sounds so good! And it sounds like she still has her sense of humor! Gotta love that girl! Enjoy :D

Hola Mi Familia y Mis Amigos!
Things are going great here at the MTC, I feel like time is started to go by a bit faster (thank goodness, I am ready to get to Texas and get to work). One of the Sisters in my District got sick last week and she had all of the symptoms of swine flu so she was moved to the quarentine dorms and will be there until 5 days after she shows no symptoms. So, the health clinic put all of us in the District on a legit anti-viral called Tamiflu and I have felt no symptoms of flu, so don't worry! Because her companion is in the quarentine, My companion and I also have another sister in our companionship. Hermana Wardle says that this is all my fault because she knew I had been praying for charity and patience, and we are definitely struggling with that with our new companion. She is a smart, nice girl, I think our personalities just clash a bit. Yesterday I told her that her lunch smelled like dirty shoes and she told me that I was going to get colon cancer because I eat so much beef.....we get along just great :) I love Hermana Wardle, my real companion, we are like two peas in a pod, she seriously keeps me sane.

Last Saturday we had our first task in the Teaching Resourch Center (TRC). This is where members of the church from the Provo area come and volunteer to act like investigators and let us practice teaching them. First we had to contact two people in spanish and ask them if we can teach them more, that was fun, the first guy we didn't gage time very well so when our teacher said it was time to switch I hadn't even brought up the gospel at all, so I quickly said "Cree en Jesucristo.....Adios!" Basically I asked if he believed in Jesus and then ran to the next room haha. After contacting we were supposed to teach a 35 minutes lesson on the Restoration of the church as a companionship and me and my two companions were assigned to teach this older Japanese woman. We started the lesson by getting to know her and found out that she is very very negative, she felt like she had no hope in her life, that God didn't love her because he didn't help her, and she had no family, friends, or job. Instead of teaching about the Restoration we all taught her for 35 minutes that God loves her and will answer her prayers. As I taught her I felt such strong emotions, as if the lesson was real and this woman really felt this way, and I felt such a strong desire to help her and for her to know that God loves her. After talking to her and helping her to see all of the blessings in her life we challenged her to prayer to God and promised that she would feel His love and we promised to help her in anyway and to be her friends and not leave her alone. After this the woman buried her head in her hands and began to cry, and then we all shed some tears as well. I think the lesson was all too real for us, and not just pretend. I know the Lord is in this work, why else would I feel so much love and why would I feel so much sorrow for the pains of this stranger, who was merely pretending anyways. I know I am supposed to be on a mission and that there are people in Texas, specific people who the Lord has prepared, who need my help in coming unto Christ and finding lasting happiness.

I am so grateful for all of the letters and support I am receiving, I am truly blessed. After lunch when the District leader gets the mail it is seriously like Christmas morning and everyone is so excited. So, don't every worry that I am getting too many letters ;) I love hearing from all of you and love you all very very much!

Hermana Taets

YAY! Madison's First Letter!

So it got to me today! and I am so excited for you all to read it! She sounds so happy! And if you haven't written her yet, DO IT!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!
Today is my p-day (wednesday) so expect an e-mail from me every wednesday, and today is the only day that I am supposed to write letters home. The MTC is great! The long days were a little rough to get used to at first, we wake up at 6:30 am and have a full schedule until 9:30 pm, with 6 hours of class, 4 hours of studying, and other activities in between. My companion is Hermana Wardle from Utah and she is great, we get along perfectly and I am so grateful for her. We both are really committed to learning spanish and try and speak it as much as possible. I have a personal goal to meet 3 random people and get to know them in spanish each day and I have kept my goal thus far and feel like it has really helped me to feel comfortable speaking spanish. I also say all of my prayers in just spanish and feel it really helps my prayers to be more meaningful because I have to really think about what I am saying and then translate it.

I had a really great experience with spanish on sunday! During the week my teacher, Hermano Coles, was telling us that if we have true faith in Jesus Christ we can draw upon the powers of heaven and call down miracles. This struck me to my core and I knew that if I am a bold, courageous missionary, having faith that God will provide for me in the very hour of my need, then I can witness miracles during my mission. This sunday happened to be fast and testimony meeting and for missionaries who have just arrived they can bear their testimony in english if they want, everyone else has to do it in spanish in our branch. During church I knew it was time to exercise my faith and have courage, and I knew I needed to bear my testimony in spanish, even though I had only been learning the language for 3 days. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was in my throat, but I approached the stand and began to bear my testimony in spanish. It was really shaky at first, probably because I was so scared, but after the first phrase I really got going and was able to speak clearly and correctly in the spanish language. Ever since that morning I feel like I have been blessed with the Gift of Tongues in learning the language and being able to understand and communicate the language. When I speak to other spanish missionaries they are always shocked that I have only been here a week! :)

I am learning so much about the Gospel as well, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ has new personal meaning to me. I have felt so strongly the love of Jesus Christ and of my Heavenly Father during my short time here. Everyday I feel their love through the Holy Ghost and I know they are pleased with the decision I have made to serve their children in Texas. I know that I will be blessed for the rest of my life for this decision and my family will be greatly blessed in my absence. I love you all so so so much and miss you! If you want to write me and don't want to use postage you can go to www.DearElder.com and type up a letter to me and the MTC prints it out that day and hands it to me in class :) So yeah....write me, I haven't gotten any mail this week and would really like to hear from you, especially Mom, Dad, and Alli, I miss you so much, please write so I don't have to wait until next Wednesday to read an e-mail.

Te Quiero Mucho!
Hermana Taets